After years of data collection, research, and community engagement, the City of Somerville published its first comprehensive Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) to guide the next decade of urban forestry planning and policymaking. 

In recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, and Recovery Month in September, the City of Somerville will plant 14 purple flags on the lawn of City Hall in memory of the 14 Somerville residents who died of an opioid-related overdose in 2020. A larger flag will also be on display in recognition of all Somerville residents who have died of an overdose. City Hall will be lit with purple lights through September to bring awareness to Recovery Month.

If you would like to vote by mail in the September 14 preliminary election, your completed ballot application must be received (not postmarked) by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8.

Voters can download an application at somervillema.gov/VoteByMail or pick one up at the Elections Department in City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue. You can fill out and submit your application on the spot. Please remember that face coverings are required in all indoor public spaces in Somerville.

Come sing along at “Strike Up the Bands,” the September installment of Somerville’s SomerStreets festival, on Sunday, September 19, from 2 to 6 p.m. on Highland Avenue between Central Street and Lowell Street. SomerStreets is the City’s take on the internationally-renowned Open Streets concept, closing busy city streets to vehicles and opening them up for cycling, walking, dancing, running, and other modes of activity.

Learn more at www.somervillema.gov/WNV

The City of Somerville is seeking to extend its eviction moratorium through November 30, announced Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone today. With the current moratorium otherwise set to expire on September 15, the Somerville Board of Health will consider the City's extension proposal at its September 9 meeting. The administration’s request comes as COVID-19 cases rise and amid President Joseph R. Biden’s call for states and cities to enact local eviction moratoria after a Supreme Court ruling ended the federal moratorium. 

The City of Somerville’s Economic Development Division recently published its second Diversity Catalog, which highlights women-, minority-, veteran-, and LGBTQIA-owned businesses in the city. The Diversity Catalog can be found at www.somervillema.gov/diversitycatalog. 

Although both the federal and Somerville eviction moratoriums have been extended, Somerville is urging low- and moderate-income tenants and homeowners struggling to pay their housing costs to seek supports now to avoid later threats to their housing security.

The Somerville Board of Health (BOH) voted to extend the city’s residential eviction moratorium to April 30, 2022, at its September 9 meeting.

Due to rain expected on September 28, the Healey Community Play Area ribbon cutting ceremony at 5 Meacham Street has been rescheduled for Thursday, October 7, at 1:45 p.m.  

Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 4 City Councilor Jesse Clingan invite you to a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly renovated Healey Community Play Area, 5 Meacham Street, on Tuesday, October 7, at 1:45 p.m.