​The places we live, the streets we walk every day, our physical proximity to our neighbors, these things matter. Other cities struggle to develop walk-ability and character while Salem is rich with historic neighborhoods and commercial areas that allow residents to feel connection to their place in history and geography.  The character of these neighborhoods, including the public spaces and pedestrian walkways that embroider the historic fabric, is vulnerable to new development that is out of place, or interrupts and overloads these historic areas.

Historic Salem works to make sure that the inevitable changes in our city enhance and add to the historic character of residential and commercial areas. Historic Salem provides public comment on new development projects that will impact historic character of the surrounding buildings and neighborhoods. We encourage the application of neighborhood specific design and planning requirements that are outlined in documents such as the Downtown Renewal Plan and the North River Canal Corridor Master Plan.

New development is happening in all of Salem’s historic neighborhoods, with each area offering different challenges and opportunities.

You can read our position statements for recent projects on our blog. 

To track many of the ongoing projects in the city we subscribe to city permitting board agendas. These include the Salem Redevelopment Authority, Zoning Board, Planning Board and Historic Commission.  Members of the public can receive these agendas, and more, from the city by subscribing here.