About

Green Streets Arlington believes all residents deserve the same natural environment that is beneficial to everyone:  shade trees, open spaces, and safe, pleasant, walkable accessible streetscapes.

Available tools for this work include overlays of Arlington’s street tree inventory, inclusive of available and unavailable public planting spaces, Arlington’s heat island maps, and satellite views of Arlington’s urban tree canopy.

Green Streets Arlington’s first project, in 2023, was to advocate for certain provisions to be included in the new state-mandated MBTA Communities multi-family zoning consistent with the vision of a green streetscape and a healthy, walkable community.  Green Streets Arlington recommended minimum setback requirements in harmony with existing streetscapes, the use of incentives for additional green and public spaces, a required tree canopy in outdoor parking lots, using native plants to support wildlife and pollinators, adherence to Arlington’s Article 16 Tree Preservation and Protection bylaw, and the expansion of Arlington’s zoning bylaw 6.3 to residential districts.  See below for these successful 2023 MBTA Communities Zoning initiatives.  Read about our success.

We are Arlington residents active in our community and dedicated to sustaining and enhancing our green streetscapes, vibrant ecology and healthy urban environment.

We believe that with increasing heat and intense weather, the Town must build climate resilience into every decision it makes, particularly as to zoning, land use, open spaces and trees, and that this can be done in harmony with other town needs and goals, such as housing, energy and transportation.