Thank you Officer Adam Gabriel

I don’t typically write about my daily life here, but this story is too good to pass up.

My wife and I drove to West Newton last Saturday. We parked in front of Harris Cyclery and went to the Farmers Market, followed by L’Aroma and then Sweet Tomatoes. All in all, it was a flavorful way to spend part of our Saturday.

But when we got back to my car, about 90 minutes later, there was an unsigned note on my dashboard from a good citizen saying my car was

Fuller eyes plan to convert armory into affordable housing

Fuller eyes plan to convert armory into affordable housing

From Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s budget announcement:

I am excited to announce that we will explore preserving the National Guard Armory building on Washington Street at the edge of West Newton Square and repurposing it as 100 percent affordable housing so more people of modest means can make this good city of Newton their home. The commonwealth is willing to sell the building to the city for $1 only if it is used for affordable housing, a use in which I believe deeply, and which also allows the city to control what happens to this important building.

Patch’s Jenna Fisher has more here.

Proposal would create new parks in Newtonville and West Newton

The Globe’s John Hilliard explores the proposal for park decks over the Mass Turnpike in West Newton and Newtonville that’s part of the Hello Washington Street visioning process.

Under proposed zoning for the area, developers would be able to build commercial buildings of up to 10 stories by special permit, but would also have to contribute to a fund to help support construction of the park decks, as well as improvements to the city’s commuter rail stations, [City Councillor Susan Albright] said.