In the Chinese Zodiac, 2025 was the Year of the Snake, a time for shedding the old and making room for the new. And 2026 in the Chinese Zodiac is the Year of the Horse.

The horse represents energy and speed, hard work and determination, freedom and success.

Newton is coming out of the gate with a burst of new energy. There’s a new mayoral administration and an almost entirely new School Committee. And there are seven new city councilors to add to that spirit. There’s a contested congressional election.

How long that energy will last, and whether it will bring freedom and success, remains to be seen.

Here are some things to look out for in Newton in 2026:

Mayor Marc Laredo prepares to sign the City Council’s historical record book after being sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

City Hall

New Mayor Marc Laredo has said he’s going to change the way City Hall operates and does business, and he’s shaping his administration’s leadership to get things going.

Dana Hanson, who worked for U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss and, before that, served as chief engagement office under Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, is Laredo’s new chief of staff. And Josh Morse, former public buildings commissioner who helped transform the city building-by-building, is now the city’s chief operating officer. Lauren Berman of All Over Newton is now economic development director, with former City Councilor Cheryl Lappin as deputy director. And those are just a few names that have joined the Laredo administration.

The new administration will be working with a new City Council, which will include seven new councilors, the majority of whom Laredo endorsed during the campaign. And on the School Committee, six new members were elected, all of whom Laredo endorsed.

In his inaugural speech on Thursday, Laredo quoted President Harry Truman when he said, “The buck stops here.”

There’s a new police chief coming soon, too. We just don’t know who that will be yet.

And with Barney Heath and Jen Caira having left Newton’s Planning Department, Laredo will be filling that department’s leadership soon. And that could help shape development for the next year and beyond.

School bus parked in front of Newton South High School. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Schools

If the Groundhog Day that is Newton’s long-term school budgeting misery is any indication, Newton will have a school budget problem this year,

How that budget problem is resolved with a new mayoral administration and a new School Committee is what will set the tone for how the city tackles its long-term school budgeting challenge afterwards.

It’s practically unheard of for a mayor to ask for a Proposition 2 1/2 override in their first year. But looking at the math and the city’s annual revenues, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller last year said there would be an override needed at some point in the next few years to help NPS keep up with rising costs.

Laredo has not committed to asking for an override, but this year he and Chief Financial Officer Maureen Lemieux, along with Superintendent Anna Nolin, will have to figure out how to keep current services going with whatever the city can pay for, or there will be cuts.

But enough doom and gloom. There’s good news, too. The Horace Mann Elementary School building renovation is expected to be done in time for the start of the 2026-2027 school year in September. The project, which was approved with a Proposition 2 1/2 override a couple of years ago, will add a two-story addition and upgrades.

Then, the new Countryside and Franklin schools won’t be far behind.

All of this will be happening while Superintendent Nolin works overtime to both make sure the schools get what was offered as part of the deal to fund the schools this fiscal year and advocate for more money to get the schools closer to her “thrive budget” dream in the years to come. May her coffee mug always be full.

Design for Newton Crossing, a mixed-use development coming to West Newton. Mark Development

Development

While Northland is still more than a year out from completion and Riverside will take years, the Newton Crossing development—formerly known as Dunstan East—is set to be ready for move-in by late 2026.

There’s also a large apartment complex on Crafts Street likely to be finished this year.

The City Council is now led by John Oliver, who has not been shy about his opposition to large-scale development, and he and several city councilors who now have committee leadership roles have signaled that more scrutiny will go into permitting when it comes to development in Newton.

What that means is unclear. Mayor Marc Laredo has said he expects development to continue but with more input from residents and abutting property owners, and that echoes what Oliver has said. So, maybe development will take longer because public hearings will be more numerous and more consequential than in years past.

And the Zoning and Planning Committee will continue its discussions, and possibly move some ordinances forward, related to those huge palatial homes people keep building on small lots.

Tearing down a modest-sized house to build a mansion on a lot can cause flooding in surrounding lots, as storm water has fewer places to run off when you build on top of a yard. The practice also leads to fewer affordable “starter homes” and an inflated real estate market, like Newton currently has.

The Zoning and Planning Committee is looking at ways to preserve existing homes and keep any more of the city from being redeveloped into a sea of McMansions with underwater basements.

The Newton Food Pantry will be moving into its new building later this year.

And the West Newton Armory is expected to be ready for occupancy later in the year as well. There will be 43 apartments permanently set at low-income affordability rates.

There’s a roadway project underway that will turn the intersection of Auburn Street and Commonwealth Avenue into a roundabout.

And construction is set to begin on the Newtonville commuter rail station improvements.

Wonder Group is coming to Needham Street in Newton. Courtesy photo

Business

Newton has seen businesses come and go in recent years, and during the campaign, a common theme emerged: It’s tough to open and maintain a small business in Newton.

Economic Development Director Lauren Berman has said that her department, along with others at City Hall, will be doing a deep dive into what makes it difficult for new businesses to come to Newton and stay afloat, and coming up with ideas to help alleviate that.

It could be permit streamlining, adjusting inspection scheduling, moving some things online—no one is sure yet, but economic development is keeping its priority status at City Hall and that likely means changes in how businesses and City Hall cooperate.

As far as specific new businesses go, we’re set to see Wonder Group open a delivery-focused dining hall-style establishment in Upper Falls.

There’s also a chance Newton’s recreational cannabis industry could be wiped out of existence by a ballot question later this year.

The city is also going to look at ways to combine economic development with arts and culture. Meryl Kessler is the new Arts and Culture director for the city, and Laredo has pledged to elevate arts and culture throughout Newton to keep the city vibrant and inviting.

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss talks with Chamber President Greg Reibman about ways he and other Democrats are dealing with the new Trump administration. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Elections

Newtonians spent a lot of time and energy last year expressing their thoughts on the policies and behaviors seen in the current presidential administration and federal government in general. In 2026, people will have to turn those thoughts into votes.

Will there be a massive blue tidal wave that ushers in Democratic control of Congress, or will the nation stick with President Trump and the Republican party?

Newton will play a small role in that outcome, as U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss is up for a fourth term. But he has a primary to get through before that happens. AI professional Jason Poulos and public school teacher Chris Boyd have launched Democratic primary campaigns for that seat.

The U.S. Senate race has a primary, too. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is up for reelection, and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton has launched a primary bid for that seat that puts an 80-year-old progressive icon who’s asking to be kept in office until he’s 86 against a 47-year-old moderate Marine veteran who once led a failed coup attempt against Nancy Pelosi.

The congressional campaigns are definitely horse races worth watching, for the fireworks alone.

There’s time for even more candidates to emerge in all the races. The primary for the 2026 congressional midterms and state legislative seats is set for Sept. 1.

So far, no one has announced a run against Newton’s state representatives or state senator.

Newton Centre Plaza on a cold night in December 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

The plaza pushback

When the City Council adjourned for the year on Dec. 15, it pushed a bunch of docket items off for the next City Council to handle. The next City Council is here, and one of those docket items was a repeal of the Traffic Council’s recent vote to leave the Newton Centre Plaza standing until late October 2026, after which it would be reevaluated.

Councilor Tarik Lucas has a docket item to repeal that decision as well as a related Traffic Court ruling that got rid of a ban on left turns from Beacon  Street into the Langley Parking Lot.

The Newton Centre Plaza sits on several parking spaces in that parking lot. And opponents of the plaza have said those spaces matter, and having people drive around Newton Centre looking for parking creates even more traffic than that village center was already getting.

But the Newton Centre Plaza has become popular since it was built last spring, so there is bound to be a spirited debate around its potential repeal.

Saddle up and grab the reins, Newton. You’re probably going for a wild ride. Whether the horse gallops into blissful triumph or ends up suited for the glue factory will be up to the fates—and chronicled by the Newton Beacon.