Thankfully, there has been growing awareness in Newton of the need for good pedestrian accommodations in new development projects. With development like the Newton Nexus (on Needham Street at the former TripAdvisor site) coming on line, it would be useful to understand what good pedestrian accommodations actually means in practice. This is the first installment (of what I hope will be a series) of videos looking at what works and doesn’t work around Newton, focusing on recent development.
In this installment (actually two), I look at the pedestrian pathways that connect the north and south retail sections of Chestnut Hill Square.
Full and fair disclosure: I was a long-time vocal critic of the project design. Now that it’s been around for a while, I find that I’m partially vindicated and also pleasantly surprised. Second video and written summary after the jump.
Bottom line:
- The north and south sections of the upper part of Chestnut Hill Square are too far apart, separated by an unfriendly sea of parking — bad
- There are nice pedestrian paths, with landscaping and seating, safely connecting the two sections — good
- The design of the paths does not encourage folks from parked cars to use the paths (except from a few spaces), more or less forcing drivers and passengers to walk in the parking lot, in and amongst the traffic — bad
I should note that I looked at only one of the paths connecting north and south. There are three such paths.
This is great Sean. Thanks for posting, looking forward to more.
The developer certainly delivered a pleasant, beautifully landscaped path. As I recall, the parking lot was touted as open, green space. Oh yeah, that old blog says so.
I wonder what the data says. Is this all just for show? To your point about connectivity, who actually uses these paths? In my experience, I’ve never seen anyone sitting at those tables — even though they’re in the middle of the parking lot, they seem somewhat pleasant. What proportion of people walk through the parking lot or drive from one side to the other, or don’t even bother making the trip because it’s not welcoming enough?
Thanks, Sean. Walkability should be a paradigm – not merely a feature – for evaluating new development in Newton.
I think it will be a much more interesting project if they ever construct Phase II – the housing portion. This was supposed to be a mixed-use development and the housing piece was an important element.
I live near the Square and walk there several times per week. I almost never drive there.
I find it to be pleasant, walkable area with a nice variety of retail stores.
With the Route 9 traffic improvements the developer paid for, I’d say the overall traffic flow in the area is about the same as it was before the development opened.
It’s surprising the developer had the patience to wade through a decade-long permitting process. If there’s anything to learn, it’s that we should do more to encourage such developments.
The development brings in over $2 million annually to the city from property taxes. A few more developments like this would go a long way toward easing the property tax burden on homeowners.
It would be interesting to see how that all works when there is a lot of snow and ice.
Sean. Thanks. This is very informative and enlightening.
Do people use the tables along the paths? Based on the five times I’ve visited in the past month or so, I would say the answer is yes. They aren’t packed, but they were never empty. If you saw the plans, you might not think they would be used, but the execution of the seating and the plantings is pretty good.
Given that the food places have only minimal outdoor seating, the tables seem to provide a substitute for sidewalk cafe space (which is also often in close proximity to cars).