Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has appointed Brian Golden director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Walsh announced the permanent appointment of Golden, who had been interim BRA head, while addressing the city's business community Wednesday morning at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Copley Sq. Walsh covered a number of topics, from housing development to the public schools.
Golden will oversee Walsh’s plan for more affordable, or so-called “workforce housing,” along the MBTA's Orange Line in Jamaica Plain and along the Red Line in South Boston.
“In some places, density is not only appropriate — it is badly needed," Walsh said. "It is needed to bring prices back within reach. It is needed to spur retail investment. It is needed to breathe new life into underdeveloped streets.”
Walsh said the city is already making strides with housing.
“I’m thrilled to announce that with 3,859 units under construction, we have broken the record for annual housing starts in Boston,” he said.
Walsh said he’s narrowing down the candidates for superintendent of the Boston Public Schools and says he’ll make a decision by mid-February.
“The most important decision that I have to make as the mayor of Boston is the next superintendent of schools, because those children are the future of our city and we have to get it right,” he said.
He also made another promise: universal pre-kindergarten, "to ensure that every 4-year-old in our city will have access to high-quality, full-day pre-kindergarten by 2018.”
In keeping with his earlier requests that business leaders see themselves as members of the community, not just workers here, Walsh asked the audience to become part of a new youth mentoring program.
