Imagine Salem

The Open Space and Recreation Plan update is a continuation of master planning reports and plans performed by the City in 1996 and 2007. This report represents a continuation of the planning and foresight of the community in planning for the current and future needs of its parks and open spaces, and reflects the community’s commitment to enhancing the City through a comprehensive, and diverse fabric of recreational opportunities for its citizens.

The Salem For All Ages Action Plan focuses on supportive community and health services for all, civic engagement and participation, employment and volunteer opportunities, respect and social inclusion, appropriate housing in a range of affordability, vibrant outdoor spaces and public places, and effective, sensible transportation options.

The Salem Bicycle Master Plan was created to establish a vision and plan of action for making Salem a place that is bikeable for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds.

Each year, the City of Salem receives federal funds for housing and community development activities. The City uses these funds to undertake housing, community and economic development projects and programs that assist low- to moderate-income individuals, families and neighborhoods. In order to receive these funds, the City must prepare a Consolidated Plan every five years, as well as annual Action Plans to implement the five-year plan.

The Salem Community food Assessment was designed as a tool to create a more equitable food system. The findings of this assessment are used to set goals and make policy recommendations to improve access to healthy, affordable foods for all Salem residents.

It is Salem’s priority is to remain a vibrant, livable City that has a strong economy and continues to be a destination for visitors from around the world. For this reason, Salem recognizes the importance of being prepared for climate change and has produced this Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan. The Plan investigates some of the most serious climate change impacts, the resulting stresses to different sectors in the City, and outlines project ideas to address some of the most critical issues.

Hazard Mitigation planning is a proactive effort to identify actions that can be taken to reduce the dangers to life and property from natural hazard events. In the communities of the Boston region of Massachusetts, hazard mitigation planning tends to focus most on flooding, the most likely natural hazard to impact these communities.

This Historic Preservation Plan Update seeks to serve as both an educational tool for fostering greater awareness and appreciation for Salem’s historic resources and the role these buildings, structures, objects, landscapes, and burial sites play in visually defining the City’s character and unique sense of place, and as a guidance document to prioritize local preservation efforts.

Each year, the City Engineer posts its plans for street and sidewalk paving and improvements, along with status updates and general information about this work.

In recognition of the value that public art can bring to the cultural, aesthetic and economic vitality of the community, the City of Salem worked with numerous partners to development of a Public Art Master Plan that outlines recommendations for a basic administrative structure for Salem’s Public Art Initiative and potential public art opportunities.

In this strategic plan, the Salem Public Schools lays out a vision for the kind of school district they aspire to build for the 21st century, one that ensures that future leaders and contributors will be equipped to strengthen and expand on what Salem’s forebears have created: a diverse, creative, and prosperous city.