Everett is part of a $4 million government program announced recently known as The Metro Boston Consortium for Sustainable Communities.

It is led by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

It is all about consortium, bringing together many communities with similar needs and working together for the greatest gains having to do with local planning and zoning activities and urban green infrastructure planning along the Rutherford Avenue corridor in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Everett.

In this instance, it will help to fund activities ranging from rewriting local zoning laws to developing transit oriented neighborhoods, all designed to make Greater Boston a more prosperous and equitable place to live.

This is the type of government effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that shows some vision about the future and more importantly, develops the protocol and framework for making common sense decisions about projects that have great local impact.