Page 11 - 2023 Annual Report

E N V I R O NME N T & H O U S I N G

The Bureau released a thorough analysis of Worcester’s AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR 2020 SUMMER
environmental situation using Environmental Justice as the
theoretical framework in Environmental (In)Justice. This
report presents a comprehensive exploration of Worcester’s
environment using data from the City of Worcester, CDC, and
more. Beginning with the origins of the Environmental Justice
(EJ) movement, this report explores Worcester's environmental
outcomes, geographic distribution, and its correlation with social
vulnerability, highlighting clear differences in some areas of the
city. It intertwines current trends with the 1936 redlining map to
explore if and to what extent it still shapes Worcester’s present
reality. The report concludes with a review of existing policies and
investments at the federal, state, and local level, including: the
federal grant Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods,
the State's Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program, the
City's Green Worcester Plan and Urban Forest Master Plan. To
educate the public about these plans, The Research Bureau
released Bureau Brief: Worcester’s Urban Forest Master Plan.
This brief covered the health and societal benefits of trees for PERCENTAGE OF SURFACE COVERED BY TREES
urban residents, as well as the recommendations of the Master
Plan and the potential costs that transitioning to a proactive form
of forest management would produce.
Worcester City Council adopted Massachusetts' "specialized
stretch code," a new set of building standards for new
residential construction aimed at creating a net-zero economy in
Massachusetts by 2050. Massachusetts allows communities to
opt-in to the stretch energy code and into the specialized code;
Worcester was already a stretch code community. The Research
Bureau released a short report, Energized? No, Specialized:
Decoding the New Specialized Stretch Code, the aim of which
was to explain to readers the ins and outs of the new building
standards. The report broke down the requirements for new
residential construction, studies that described the potential
costs and savings of the new code, and explained the difference
between HERS, TEDI, and Passive House building standards.
Housing continues to be a priority of The Research Bureau. In late
2022, the Bureau released Static Income, Rising Costs which
broke down renting trends in Worcester and an analysis of renter- SCAN FOR MORE:
households over time. This report included the 1936 Redlining
Map, which marked the first time this Map has been made public Environmental Energized? No,
(In)Justice
Specialized:
digitally. To facilitate public awareness of this map, The Research Decoding the
Bureau partnered with the Worcester Historical Museum to New Specialized
host a forum, Worcester’s Redlined History, which featured a Stretch Code
renowned expert from the Mapping Inequality Project to discuss Bureau Brief: Static Income,
redlining across the country and local context of redlining from Worcester’s Rising Costs
the Worcester Black History Project. WRRB presented its report Urban Forest
Master Plan
and findings on housing trends and its relation to redlining.
WRRB was also asked to present this work at the Federal
Reserve Bank of Boston’s community conversation on the
Massachusetts Economic Conditions and Household Opportunity

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