February 2017 | Business View Magazine

150 151 N ewton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachu- setts, approximately seven miles west of downtown Boston. It was originally settled in 1630, became a town in 1688, and a city in 1873. Known as The Garden City, Newton,with a population of approx- imately 88,000, has been consistently ranked as one of the best cities to live in the country. Setti D.Warren, first elected in 2009, is the current mayor of New- ton and the first popularly elected African-American mayor in Massa- chusetts. The following feature was submitted by Mayor Warren and details some of the city’s current programs and initiatives: “The reductions in budgets that cities and states across the country are seeing are a harsh but useful reminder that leaders need to be creative and data-driven in decision making and policy. Here in Newton, Massachusetts, a city of 88,000 in the Boston suburbs, we have used forward-looking financial planning and disciplined, outcomes-orient- ed, zero-based budgeting to make investments that improve the quality The Garden City Newton, Massachusetts Newton Massachusetts