Vision
Lynnfield is a quiet, suburban community with outstanding schools, friendly neighbors, and a transparent, modern government. People can walk, bike, and roll safely through town to get to school, shops, and recreational areas. Lynnfield Center and Post Office Square are vibrant retail centers with local businesses that cater to residents’ needs and help create a sense of community. New housing provides opportunities for seniors to downsize and young families to buy a home. Affordable housing is expanded to allow Lynnfield workers to be closer to their jobs. The town acts in a fiscally responsible way to maximize resources and manage individual tax burdens. Economic development opportunities are explored to better balance the local economy and tax base. Actions are taken to preserve existing natural resources and make the town more resilient and adaptable to future impacts of climate change and other natural hazards.
Guiding Principles
A vision describes where a community wants to be in the future; principles provide guideposts for how to get there and give town officials a common framework from which to make municipal policies and administrative decisions, which strengthens accountability and improves community confidence. Community engagement for this plan indicated support for establishing the following principles to help advance municipal governance in Lynnfield:
Fiscal Responsibility
Lynnfield considers cost-savings measures like exploring shared services, co-locating municipal services in public facilities, forecasting maintenance costs for long-term financial planning, etc.
Transparent Communication and Representation
Lynnfield continues to find new ways to keep residents, business owners, and other community members engaged in local governance and decision-making. Town Meeting is a welcoming and modernized process that allows for a variety of residents to participate. Boards and committees comprise diverse voices and lived experiences.
Lifelong Community
Lynnfield offers quality services and amenities for residents of all ages and abilities. Housing choices support a variety of lifestyles, from new graduates and young families to aging adults.
Environmental Stewardship
Lynnfield considers impacts of decisions on existing natural resources and continues to find ways to preserve environmental resources necessary for climate resilience and adaptation.
Balanced Growth
Lynnfield recognizes that growth is necessary to maintain quality public services and amenities and community vibrancy, but this growth should be balanced by strong land use, transportation, housing, and economic development policies that maintain Lynnfield’s small-town feel, natural resources, and quality of life.
