Quincy

Quincy Municipal Water Report Information

In Quincy, urban planning focuses on striking a balance between development and open space to ensure our growing community remains comfortable, healthy, and attractive for residents and visitors alike. Comprehensive city planning in Quincy dates back to at least 1946, when the City Council adopted a master plan to address housing, recreation, education, transportation, parking, and public transit needs. Maps from that era showed the city's street grid extending east only to 30th Street.

Until the mid-1980s, Quincy relied primarily on external urban planning firms to create specialized studies and propose revisions to the official plan and zoning ordinance. While many recommendations were successfully implemented, some initiatives fell short, such as a 1965 downtown plan advocating for high-rise apartment buildings around Washington Park and a pedestrian shopping corridor along Maine Street.

The mid-1980s marked the establishment of a community development office to manage state and federal grant programs. The transition from external consultants to local planning staff gained acceptance during this decade, particularly after city staff revised the Comprehensive Plan in 1986. By 1994, the City organized the Department of Planning and Development to consolidate zoning, assessment, community development, planning, and historic preservation functions under a single director.

Recent initiatives include area planning studies based on neighborhood input, resulting in the local land use plan adopted in 2013. This plan features a future land use map to guide development and a community profile tracking demographic trends. In March 2018, the City Council approved the Quincy Next Strategic Plan, which aims to promote quality, forward-thinking growth through investments in people and infrastructure over the next 10-15 years, focusing on economic development, downtown/riverfront improvements, transportation, and tourism/arts/entertainment sectors.