George Proakis

George J. Proakis, AICP is the City Manager in Watertown, Massachusetts, a community of 36,000 adjacent to Boston. In Watertown, George and his team are implementing a new comprehensive plan, an aggressive climate action plan and a strategy for renewing Watertown’s downtown into a more walkable square with additional housing.

As the former Executive Director of the Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development in Somerville, Massachusetts, one of New England's fastest-growing cities, George facilitated the implementation of the SomerVision city plan, with a focus on such varied topics as zoning, urban design, stormwater recharge, backyard chickens, dining decks, and dormers. Mr. Proakis and his team coordinated the development of the Somerville by Design neighborhood planning process, facilitated economic development and small business programs, managed substantial mobility and public space projects, coordinated an extensive inclusionary housing program, facilitated state and federal grants, managed a client-service based anti-displacement program, and worked to implement Somerville’s newly adopted form-based zoning ordinance.

George has served as a board member of the New England Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism and he is a member of the Steering Committee for the Form Based Codes Institute at Smart Growth America.  

He created and taught a course in Economic Development Planning at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, and given many guest lectures and presentations. 

George has a Master in City Planning degree from MIT, an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University.