CITY’S SOMERVISION PLAN TO BE HONORED BY AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION, MASS. CHAPTER

SOMERVILLE - The City's 20-year
Comprehensive Plan, SomerVision, is set to be honored by the American Planning
Association's Massachusetts Chapter on December 14^th as part of its
Annual Awards Program, honoring innovative planning efforts across the
Commonwealth.  Somerville is one of
thirteen communities to be honored in 2012, and will receive the Comprehensive
Planning Award for a municipality with a population of over 50,000.  The Comprehensive Planning Award honors a
plan, program, or process of unusually high merit.  Somerville will share the distinction with
the Westford Strategic Planning Retreats, given to the Town of Westford, MA for
the community with a population of under 50,000.  Awards will be presented during an Annual
Holiday Awards Luncheon on December 14^th.

 "In Somerville, we are proud to be on the
cutting edge of public policy issues.  Unlike many states, the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not require municipal governments to prepare
comprehensive plans for the future, but Somerville's residents and elected
officials stepped up and demanded one," said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.  "The
SomerVision plan reflects our shared values of making Somerville a great place
to live, work, play and raise a family, and it lays out an ambitious yet
realistic policy framework for achieving our goals."

"We are honored to be recognized
by the Massachusetts chapter of the American Planning Association.  One of
the elements that plans were judged on was readability," said Planning Director
George Proakis.  "SomerVision is the result of the input of so many
residents and stakeholders, and it really shows what can happen when a diverse group
works together and makes compromises to achieve a larger goal.  The resident volunteers who spent three years
working on SomerVision really wanted the final document to be accessible and
fun to read, and to tell interesting stories about the great things happening
in our city.  We've gotten a lot of positive feedback so far - pick up a
copy at City Hall or download it from the City's website and let us know what
you think."

SomerVision is the City's 20-year
Comprehensive Plan, which serves as a blueprint for a sustainable, equitable development
future.  SomerVision is based on three
years of extensive community input from residents, businesses and other
community stakeholder, and incorporates a series of research reports in areas such
as demographics, economics, housing, and transportation and land use.