the view from Bram Way
Several years ago, the Newton Centre Task Force studied what was good about that village and what needed to be fixed. One of the few points where I think everyone agreed was that Union Street was a gem, with its cozy streetscape, passageways and courtyards.
Walking around Newtonville with some planners from the MAPC last year, some noted similar potential in Bram Way, not far from the Austin Street lot under consideration for development. There are several alleys cutting through the adjacent block, between Walnut Street and the Austin Street lot, which could be inviting passageways between stores and parking or perhaps even courtyard dining. Today, they lead only to desolate private parking lots, uninviting for pedestrians or business development.
Much thought is going into how to improve the Walnut Street streetscape. What if businesses faced Bram Way? Perhaps Bram Way could become another Union Street, providing a solid connection between the new Austin Street development and the Walnut Street shops?
Lia Fahey, made her debut on Twitter yesterday pointing to her new website, announcing that she’s running for alderman from Ward 2.
Lia, a Republican activist and the daughter of Newton activist Dan Fahey, joins declared candidates Emily Norton and Jack Leader in a contest to replace Alderman Steve Linsky, who has decided not to seek reelection.
If all three candidates read more…
Tomorrow starts the annual round of Village Day activities throughout the city. These events are great places to meet up with neighbors and friends, and as this is a municipal election year, talk with candidates to sign nomination papers during the spring days and decide who to vote for in the fall.
So why to you always spend time at a Village Day or why do you avoid them?
Here is the list I have of dates for those wishing to either attend or avoid.
- Waban – Sunday May 19
- Nonantum – Saturday June 1 & Sunday June 2
- Newton Highlands – Sunday June 9
- Newtonville – September 29 with Area Council Election
- Newton Upper Falls – September 29
Note to Village Day organizers, let me know if I missed one or need to update dates.
After I realized that I no longer had a reason not to get a dog, my family recently adopted a five-year-old rescue dog named Stella. I’ve fallen in love, of course, and want to provide her with better medical care than I ever gave my children. I want someone who is going to get to know her since we don’t know much about her.
Any suggestions? I don’t mind leaving Newton but the closer to Newton Highlands, the better.
Besides a vote to tie a final bow around the budget, the aldermen look to be tying off other loose ends in their committee agendas this week.
In the Bigger Fish to Fry category is Riverside: including work on parking, traffic, landscaping, etc. Incidentally, parking spaces, and waiving minimums, seems to take an inordinate amount of aldermanic time.
Capital projects continue to work their ways through the process, including Carr, Angier, fire stations and more.
And an interesting question: should the Aldermen be able to participate in meetings by Skype? Vote by email? That’s coming up in Programs & Services. What do you think?
The Newtonite reports on Black Culture Awareness Day, held at Newton North High School.
Here’s two excerpts from three different students who were on a panel..
“The METCO office is like a home and a safe-haven,” said freshman Roxanne Wint. Another student claimed, “I’m not just another read more…
For nearly three years, Wendy Schapiro has been Newton restaurant owners’ best friend.
A regular food columnist for Newton Patch and author of the “Newton in the Kitchen” column (and an active participant on this blog), you’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant in our city that she hadn’t visited or a chef she didn’t know. And, as someone who used to compete against Patch in a prior life, I can tell you that, when it came to restaurant news, it was virtually impossible to not get scooped by Wendy.
Recently, I had a chance to work with Wendy when she agreed to help the Newton-Needham Chamber with our annual “Spring Seasonings: A Taste of Newton & Needham” event. She was a total pro, but just as importantly a blast to work with.
Alas, Wendy is leaving Newton in a few weeks to move to Los Angeles, something that’s been in the works even before Melanie Graham’s recent departure. Both are a big loss for our city.
If you’re a parent, you’ll want to strap on your walking shoes this Friday evening, May 17. One in three adolescents in the U.S. experiences dating violence, but few report it. The consequences linger into adulthood.
To highlight these grim statistics and outline supports available to teens, eight ninth-grade Newton Girl Scouts will lead a walk around Crystal Lake this Friday.
The walk starts at the Hyde Center around 7 pm and should wrap up by 9. Among the VIP guests are Mayor Warren and Newton South Principal Joel Stembridge. You could be one, too!
The “Love is Respect” walk is part of Troop 63053’s work toward the Gold Award (the Girl Scout version of Eagle Scout), a group service project for the Visionary Award—the final step before the gold.
Already, the troop has crafted and sent giant thank-you cards for the senators and representatives in Washington who were instrumental in passing the expanded Violence Against Women Act this year: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Gwen Moore, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Patty Murray, as well as Vice President Biden and President Obama–these were posted & signed by dozens of students at both high schools.
The walk is open to all. Please come, learn and support!
Ed Hauben is the director of Newton Community Education. That’s why we call him Newton Community Ed. Over recent years he’s brought us several series on Mindfulness as well as a very wide range of courses for people of all ages. Now he has some questions for you.
Newton Community Education (NCE) is a self-sustaining arm of Newton Public Schools that provides educational, social, cultural, and vocational programs to adults and children, using school facilities outside of school hours (and other facilities in Newton). Self-sustaining; high quality; low cost: Not bad.
Now NCE is stretching to envision its future. In a few weeks, Ed and the NCE Commission will meet to review questions such as:
- How can the mission of NCE be better accomplished? What else should NCE be doing?
- Do you have a different vision for NCE? If so, what is it?
- What programs and classes not yet offered should NCE offer?
- What wild ideas might you have about NCE’s future?
Ed welcomes hearing your opinions and ideas. Share them here — or if they’re too wild for Village 14 (!), you can email Ed directly.
Under the Newton City Charter, neighborhood area councils have been approved as citizen-instigated elected grass-roots advisory organizations for several decades. But, for many years, only one neighborhood took advantage of this most local of all loci of our city’s government.
Out of the death knell of the Woolworth’s store on Lincoln Street rose the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council, a group of nine elected Councilor volunteers who have worked diligently on behalf of their Village (particularly to keep the Hyde School open and to create the Hyde Center) by informing their neighbors about these and other city matters directly affecting them and by bringing that neighborhood’s concerns directly to City Hall with a bit more weight than an individual could.
Newton Upper Falls was second. In January 2012 their nine member council was sworn in and they have been operating since then to address their community’s needs.
Newton Centre tried to develop an Area Council, but read more…
Scott Lennon will be the only candidate on the ballot for Alderman At-Large in the special election June 25 to fill the seat left vacant following the death of Carleton Merrill. Vote in our poll and explain your choice in the comments section.
Former Newtonian and political activist Ed Prisby left Newton in 2011 and clearly took his sense of humor with him.
Photo via The Grafton Villager.
Human Resources Director Dolores Hamilton is leaving Newton to become the personnel director in Framingham at the end of the month and performance manager Michael Herbert departed recently to become Ashland’s assistant town manager, the Globe’s Deirdre Fernandes reports.
Newton-based nonprofit, the McGrath family’s Highland Street Foundation, announced today that for the fifth straight year it will continue to give folks the chance to visit many of the state’s top cultural institutions, for free every Friday this summer.
I’ve got a few friends raising chickens in their backyards in Newton. From what I’ve heard, there’s been a huge upswing in backyard urban/suburban chicken farming in recent years.
I’m curious just how many chicken farmers we’ve got here in Newton. Do you have chickens in your neighborhood? Which village do you live in?
