We chronicled the student experience of the Fall 2010 MIT@Lawrence Practicum through a series of blog posts on MIT CoLab Radio. Check them out at the links below:

• Taking Back Lawrence, Massachusetts: First Alleyways and Canals, Next Abandoned Residential Properties
• Students Discuss What it’s Like to Collaborate with a City Government and Each Other
• Steps a City Can Take Towards Fixing a Vacant Property Problem
• Representatives from the City of Lawrence come to MIT for Further Collaboration on Fate of Real Estate Owned Properties
• Planners Present Tactics & Tools for Real Estate Owned Property Surplus in Lawrence, Massachusetts
• The Idea of Reciprocal Knowledge: Eighth Graders from Lawrence visit MIT monthly
• A Year of Accomplishment for the MIT@Lawrence Partnership

Please find the Spring 2010 MIT@Lawrence Bilingual Practicum Report here.

Please find the Fall 2010 MIT@Lawrence Bilingual Practicum Report here.

Patricia is a Fulbright Scholar who is completing a one year research stay with MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. This paper was written as part of her coursework for Professor Susan Fainstein’s Redevelopment Policy class which is taught at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Patricia also engaged with civic leaders and residents in Lawrence as a student in the fall 2010 practicum.

Join Lawrence CommunityWorks, Secretary Greg Bialecki and the City of Lawrence to celebrate the start of construction on Union Crossing.  Union Crossing is the redevelopment of an historic but underutilized complex of mill buildings along the Merrimack River into a thriving new neighborhood with housing, jobs and services for Lawrence families and businesses. Union Crossing Phase I is being developed by Lawrence CommunityWorks, in partnership with Lou & Juan Yepez.

A poster advertising course 11.423: Information, Assets and the Immigrant City sparked controversy when it first appeared along the corridors of Buildings 7 and 9 at MIT in early February 2010.  The poster’s question referred to the ongoing debate in the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts over ownership of the alleyways and canals in the city.  Some say these spaces are owned by the Enel Corporation, the Italian energy conglomerate that, many believe, assumed ownership of these assets when it bought the Essex Company, the group that first constructed the city.  Others argue that the City government is the rightful owner; still others maintain that abutters (property owners whose land is immediately adjacent to an alleyway, for example) own them.  While the debate continues over ownership, some residents have tried to maintain the spaces, but most of the alleys and canals have fallen into grave disrepair.

So what do you do?  To find out, download and read the final report, Taking Back Lawrence and watch the class reflections.  You can also read more about the class’s journey via a series of CoLab Radio posts found below.

- “What Do You Do?” March 17, 2010.

- “Who’s Got the Power?” March 27, 2010.

- “Findings on City Alleyways and Canals.” April 22, 2010.

- “Bringing Together Lawrence 8th Graders and MIT Grad Students.” May 2, 2010.

- “Lawrence Practicum: Final Presentation.” June 3, 2010.

THESIS ABSTRACT: In “Manufacturing Recovery,” Marianna compares workforce development planning in Lawrence and Lowell, Massachusetts. She specifically examines local planning processes around job creation in the clean technology sector. She aims to show that the differences between the two cities’ approaches to workforce planning (1) Reflect differences between them that date back to their original physical designs, (2) Contradict the myth of Lawrence and Lowell as “urban twins,” and (3) Highlight the need for stronger, place-specific green job creation policies for the state’s post-industrial “Gateway” cities. She concludes by proposing a collaborative and networked planning model that, with support from the State, might help Lawrence and Lowell to better leverage their respective assets and support a regional green economy.