PROCESS

Work began in 2017 with outreach, data collection, and analysis. Through a comprehensive review of previous plans and studies, as well as on-the-ground research and observation, MAPC staff identified physical, social, and cultural assets, including small businesses and cultural programming. The report also included a review of successful precedents for arts and cultural districts, particularly those that included redevelopment of a community theatre, as well as innovation districts that demonstrated models for mixed-use and local workforce development. The resulting report identified district approaches to strengthen Upham’s Corner as a cultural hub and examined the potential of the Strand Theatre to serve as a major cultural facility accommodating a broader mix of uses.

Following this report, MAPC focused on identifying strategies to ensure that forthcoming redevelopment would support the residents and businesses that have established Upham’s Corner as a cultural and commercial hub for Dorchester’s diverse ethnic communities. Recommendations for the Arts and Innovation District fell in three broad categories:

• Land Use Regulations, such as a zoning overlay to expand allowable arts uses and provide a defined area in which to pilot new programs, such as regulations restricting Formula Retail (chain) businesses or programs that support legacy businesses.
• Strategies for Mitigating Commercial Displacement, such as creation of a subcommittee to facilitate collaboration among small businesses and community and economic development stakeholders, a commercial tenants assistance program, and tax credits for industrial businesses in a designated geographic area.
• Strategies for Mitigating Residential Displacement, such as increasing the supply of deed-restricted affordable artist housing and implementing programs to ensure artist eligibility for housing, amending the City’s Condominium Conversion Ordinance to limit the number of condominium conversions and preserve rental housing, and pursuit of an anti-displacement legislative agenda.

In addition, the plan offered a set of recommendations to support workforce training and employment opportunities aligned with emerging opportunities in the local creative economy, particularly around the Strand Theater and neighboring library branch redevelopment. Notably, these recommendations were not limited to calls for access to technical training and service sector jobs. Instead, the report analyzed opportunities to tap into existing youth development programs to prepare local young people for careers in the performing arts, as well as opportunities to integrate performing arts training programs with college readiness services.