During 1983-1984 a group of Franklin folks worked with Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) on a Downtown Franklin Plan, not unlike the Franklin For All report that came out in 2022.
As the UMass Boston students will be reviewing a number of planning documents in preparation for their study per the Economic Development Subcommittee, key sections of those prior planning docs (Franklin For All, Master Pln, etc.) will be shared here.
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"INTROOUCTION
Franklin is located in the southwestern corner of the Boston metropolitan area and is typical of a small New England community. It has maintained a traditional character and among those features which have survived are examples of period architecture, Dean Junior College, and a friendly, small-town atmosphere. However, Franklin is beginning to feel pressure from modern day changes.
With the completion of Interstate Route 495, the terminus of the commuter rail line located in the heart of the downtown and the beginning of development expansion in the area, Franklin is changing.
The demands of modern transportation and marketing have been disruptive to the fabric of the community. The ability of towns like Franklin to adapt to the rapid growth and change will be a major determining factor in the quality of their future.
The town has made an effort to meet this challenge. A committee of townspeople, made up of merchants, officials, bankers, and citizens, has worked with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to develop a comprehensive program of town center improvements.
The Franklin Center Revitalization Committee has been active for just over a year now and much has been accomplished. The fundamental outlines of a committee endorsed plan are in place. By direct vote or by consensus the Committee has addressed a wide range of questions and embraced approaches to their solution.
The plan is designed around the market study - the physical changes envisioned in the center are in support of its character as a place to live and work and shop, not vice-versa. The market recommendations contain a number of special actions that will allow the center to function as a better, more organized unit and to permit it to serve its patrons and compete with other areas better. Without attention to this area (marketing and organization) it is unlikely that physical or other changes alone will make much long-term difference.
Physical changes to the center have been designed in support of these goals. Complaints about traffic and parking have been heeded and effective solutions proposed. Techniques of urban design and planning have been applied to help the center both look and function as a more vital place, responding to the character and values of the community it serves.
Implementation of this program will be a major undertaking and will constitute the core of the Committee's work for the future. There is no simple, "quick-fix" way to go about it - no magic wand of planning, no miracle grant from the Feds to do the job. It will only be accomplished through hard work and close cooperation between the private and public sectors in accomplishing the l1undreds of individual actions that will make up the final shape of your center. Frustrations are likely to mount as approvals and agreements stretch out for years when it seems like they should happen at once. But there is no easy way. There is only agreeing on an approach and pursuing it with energy and in a cooperative spirit."
You can find the PDF of this intro section here
You can find the PDF of the original doc here
