The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) "plans Boston's future while respecting its past.” Working with the private sector, the BRA helps guide physical, social, and economic change in Boston's neighborhoods and its downtown. The agency’s homepage features an interactive map of the city that allows visitors to view current and future development projects. Additionally, users can search via parcel...

The Boston Foundation has worked for over a century to improve the lives of Boston-area residents through its investigations into the housing market, economic development, and the future of public schools. This 56-page report on Boston's innovation economy was released in March 2012, and it looks into how Boston will remain competitive in a range of 21st century industries over the coming years....

Data visualization has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and the MetroBoston Data Common is a fantastic initiative in this area. The DataCommon is "an interactive data portal and online mapping tool that provides a wealth of information about the region's people, communities and neighborhoods through a wide variety of topics." New visitors may wish to start by looking over the...

The Boston Foundation has recently completed a study of the past five years of structural change in Boston's public schools. This report, released in January 2014, is a welcome contribution to research on the state of U.S. public schools and includes updates on grade-level evaluations, school autonomy and “unresolved issues.” There's a nice timeline that runs alongside the text of the report that...

Coordinated by the partnership of the City of Boston, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and the Boston Foundation, the Boston Indicators Project "aims to democratize access to information, foster informed public discourse, track progress on shared civic goals, and report on change in 10 sectors: Civic Vitality, Cultural Life and the Arts, the Economy, Education, the Environment, Health,...

How does one begin to understand the workings of a major metropolis? It can be a tough job even for a seasoned expert in urbanology or governance. The Boston Foundation has offered up this area of its website to bring together resources that address the thorniest issues facing the Hub, including public schools, public health, transportation, and housing costs. First up is the Research, Reports,...