The Berkshire region is a world renowned destination for natural beauty, arts and culture, rich history, and New England charm. However, the region faces a number of challenges including housing affordability, rural sprawl, and economic development. That is why we’re working to proactively plan and implement strategies and investments now that will help ensure the Berkshire region is a great place to raise a family, do business, and enjoy a superior quality of life now and into the future.
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Business and Economy
About Business and Economy
The goals and policies established in this section will focus on the needs of current and potential new businesses to successfully compete in a global economy from their location in the Berkshires. This includes the physical space and infrastructure to meet business needs but also the region’s ability to provide the quality of life amenities to attract and retain businesses [Read More...]
Local Food and Agriculture
About Local Food and Agriculture
Agriculture is part of the region’s history and landscape. As the world faces record global food prices and insecurity, local food has gained momentum and prominence as a means of achieving multiple environmental, economic, and health objectives for municipalities and regions. In the Berkshires, a burgeoning local food movement provides an opportunity to reverse decades of agricultural sector decline and [Read More...]
Conservation and Recreation
About Conservation and Recreation
The Berkshires are noted for their scenic natural beauty and are fortunate to have large areas of permanently conserved lands to provide diverse habitat and recreation opportunities. From the economic development standpoint, conservation and recreation lands hold a number of key benefits including year-round tourism revenues, ecosystem services that save municipality’s money, and recreation opportunities to promote healthy lifestyles. This [Read More...]
Historic Preservation
About Historic Preservation
The historic resources of Berkshire County are rich and diverse, ranging from historic farmsteads of early settlers to grand estates of the Gilded Age. This section of the plan will inventory the existing resources, preservation challenges faced in communities, and research tools and techniques for different types of preservation activities. It will build off of the recent work of the [Read More...]
Health and Wellness
About Health and Wellness
This section of the plan focuses on community health challenges and the ways the surrounding natural and built environments can help – or hamper – community health and wellness. This planning effort will include contemporary efforts of local hospitals, boards of health, and others to offer and support active, healthy lifestyle options for all ages.
Housing and Neighborhoods
About Housing and Neighborhoods
The region has 32 cities and towns with different types of rural, suburban, and urban neighborhoods. Each type of neighborhood offers residents different amenities and challenges. This element of the plan will evaluate neighborhoods across the region to determine their sustainability strengths and challenges. Discussion will be fostered around such issues as walkability, stability, diversity, proximity to jobs and services, [Read More...]
Community Capital
About Community Capital
Community capital refers to the human resources that make up a community: friends and family, groups, and associations, and other types of networks that engage and invest individuals in their community and region. These connections have positive benefits to individuals and can be a real engine for positively impacting the areas, age-groups, or causes on which people are gathering. Community [Read More...]
Energy
About Energy
For this element, BRPC will work with its partner the Center for EcoTechnology to develop a regional energy plan with a focus on both energy efficiency and renewable energy generation. This will include a detailed municipal and region-wide energy use baseline, projected future demand, and establishing reduction targets based on state and international climate policy recommendations.
Municipal and Regional Services
About Municipal and Regional Services
Municipal and regional services in a community have a direct impact on the local economy and on residents’ quality of life. In terms of infrastructure and services, municipal services include water, stormwater, wastewater, and solid waste delivery and removal mechanisms but also emergency response and disaster planning. Efforts in this area will include a comprehensive inventory of services offered throughout [Read More...]
Transportation
About Transportation
This plan topic will build off of BRPC’s regular four-year Regional Transportation Plan, last updated in 2011. Given the amount of baseline data about vehicular transportation already existing, this section will focus more emphasis on bicycle, pedestrian and rail options for increasing the viability and use of non-auto modes of transportation. Goals and policies will help establish a long-term view [Read More...]
Future Land Use Plan
About Future Land Use Plan
How will we grow in the future? Development patterns on the ground significantly impact other community conditions or functions such as whether we walk or drive, where we can afford to live, the quality and viability of habitats to support biodiversity, and how much food we can grow locally. Development patterns also help define the community character such as unique [Read More...]
