The comments accompanying last week’s Boston Globe article about the proposed revisions to a mixed used development at the Riverside MBTA station, included two very different views of long-time Newton City Councilor Lenny Gentile:
“S&J’s Dad” writes…
…Councilor Gentile is an obstructionist who represents a minority viewpoint. He shouldn’t be allowed to continue to prevent progress toward modern development at Riverside.
But “Preserve our Neighborhood” write…
…City Councilor Lenny Gentile is a hero, a rare honest and brave elected leader who has the guts to stand up for residents and against the worst excesses of privatization of public property.
What’s your view? Is Gentile “an obstructionist” or “a hero”?
Obstructionist. We desperately need more housing, and areas near public transit are ideal.
I don’t know enough about him, but that seems to be too simplistic a question.
Obstructionist ???!!!!
This is beginning to border on the absurd !
Lenny is the clarion call to the economic future of the City. If anyone understands the debt that we are under and how it might be dealt with it’s him.
That’s the infamous and illusive $1 Billion!
And Mr Huruska,.. Who are the “we”, that desperately needs housing ? I have a roof over my head,.. as I expect you do too. Why do we need MORE housing? And as someone who DOES live near the antiquated ( and unfunded ), third world MBTA, I certainly don’t need more housing in my back yard , in proximity to this transit !!!
Yup,.. that makes me a nimby,.. and an outspoken one at that!
Blueprintbill: Housing prices in Newton are increasing much faster than inflation. This indicates that supply and demand are not in balance. Our future depends on people being able to thrive in our city.
It’s great that you have a place to live, but what about others who want to live in Newton but can’t afford to do so? I care about them too.
re: “we need more housing.” How do we know this right now? We have a lot of new development coming up – shouldn’t we see how those apartments fill up before we assess the need for apartments by Riverside? I’m not saying we do or we don’t need more housing, but I think it’s hard to definitively say that we need the amount of housing that’s being proposed. I’ve heard that there are a lot of vacancies in newer Watertown buildings and if that’s true I think we want to avoid that happening here. On the flip side, if we have all of this new housing come up at once and they fill rapidly, the school district needs time to prepare for an influx.
I do have reservations about the amount of development that’s being discussed, but I overall think better development of Newton is a good thing and Riverside would be a good location for it….I just don’t think it’s a simple choice.
David,
If you care about others who might want to live in Newton, and can’t afford to do so , you must have been in support of a moratorium on demolition delays and the preservation of whatever is left of our naturally affordable housing stock ???
Current overly generous zoning regulations promote the demolition of affordable housing and their replacement with their outsized and consequently out priced McMansions. It’s time to get on board and input the the current rewrite of our zoning code if you are really concerned!
But Mary Mary,
Wouldn’t Riverside and the city be better served with an office building or two ? It’s time to start promoting a commercial tax base ,.. witness lower taxed Cambridge !
@MMQC: It’s not just Newton, Greater Boston has a well-documented housing shortage.
@Blueprint: We have also have a well-documented labor shortage, which can be directly linked to our housing shortage.
I’m a big fan of commercial development in Newton but employers will only come here if they can attract employees and employees need a places to live.
Don’t we think that the way this question is framed is by default divisive? Is there a better way to frame the question which could lead to more thoughtful analysis of one of our public servants?
@Ave: That’s a reasonable point and of course there’s more. The headline choice — and decision to quote these two very different comments — is merely a device for the purpose of jump-starting a conversation. It’s what we do here: start conversations.
@Greg “I’m a big fan of commercial development in Newton but employers will only come here if they can attract employees and employees need a places to live.”
Employees of Newton business don’t have to live in Newton. There are other more affordable housing options in Waltham, Dedham, West Roxbury and Watertown which are doable commutes. And if the focus at Riverside is commercial, then that opens up a whole population of potential employees who could do the reverse commute out to Riverside.
@Claire: You’re missing my point and/or misunderstanding the reality. Our housing crisis is regional. It isn’t just that we’re not building enough housing in Newton it that’s were not building enough housing regionally.
This isn’t fake news It’s a documented fact.
@Bill, affordable? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Lenny Gentile is my definition of what a true and committed public servant should be. Every dealing I’ve had with him has been honest, up front and above board. And he reflects much better than his opponents the real fiscal pressures and development concerns that many older homeowners on fixed incomes like me have about staying in this City. Lenny doesn’t mix words or play loose with the facts as he sees and judges them. His word is his bond.
Why does the continued service of just this one Councilor cause such consternation among those with a different vision for what this city should look like in the years to come? We area damned lucky to have him on our side.
For folks who are strongly in favor of newton building tens of thousands of new units of housing:
please go ahead and create an accessory unit in your home and rent it to a deserving family for 1000 a month. .. it will go a long way in relinquishing your guilt that Newton is somehow obligated to build new supply so that a family of 4 earning 70k can live in Newton instead of another town…
I believe new housing should happen naturally as we have no idea what the real demand is…
Greg, just need to share that you often come off a bit condescending. I do not “misunderstand” the reality. I am well aware that the affordability and availability of housing is a regional issue.
I think you actually missed my point which is we don’t necessarily need housing AT Riverside to make that an attractive location to businesses given how accessible it would be from the D line and 128
@Claire: When you write…
…then no, I don’t believe you’ve demonstrated that you are “well aware that the affordability and availability of housing is a regional issue.”
Newton needs to play a role addressing our regions’ housing crisis and not just look to our neighbors to solve it on our behalf.
@Claire
In today’s culture, many younger professionals prefer to live super close to where they work. The old commercial park model is outdated.
@Bugek
I don’t know anyone who wants to build “tens of thousands” of new units. Thousands, for sure, as a means to meet demand, which as Greg mentioned has been well documented.
@Andy, I am aware of that also. And they also like to live near were they play. And for more a more a car is optional given Uber. So I’m not seeing a lot of young people gravitating to apts at Riverside. Nor do I see a developer building affordable apts that young professionals can afford. I’d love to see a proof of concept in place somewhere.
@Andy,
It will be interesting to see how many young professionals that occupy Washington Place / Austin St will work in a super close location, how many seniors down size from existing units in Newton, how much road traffic increases, and how the schools cope.
In the interim I believe Lenny Gentile has the right idea.
@Greg
Newton can not afford to keep taking on these huge building housing projects.
It needs to get its finances in order, and for that we our commercial tax base to grow and share the burden.
Waltham in particular has done a good job of that.
Andy, do you really think “young professionals” would flock to live in apartments at Riverside? Speaking as a millennial (albeit on the older end), I wouldn’t! I would be looking at Newtonville, West Newton, Newton Centre, etc where I could get to bars, restaurants, and a CVS within a 5 minute walk. Having the T and highway access is convenient, but that’s about it. I’m not saying build it/not build it, but I can’t imagine it appealing to my demographic or younger millenials. Especially not with the inevitable price tag.
When I read things like “we need a Newton shuttle bus” or “we need a continuous commuter rail”, I truly believe these people must live in a sheltered cocoon. It’s pure folly. They have absolutely ZERO data to support their feel-good ideas about where people are coming from, where they are going, when , and at what cost.
Here’s the pure folly of it all: does anyone suspect for one minute that the head of a Cambridge biotech firm or a large Boston consulting firm who lives in Newton drives to work because the commuter rail doesn’t run all day?
I prefer to give to the charity of my choice, not that of the pro development, politically motivated do goodies.
I agree with Bugek,.. this so called “demand “should be met naturally not by executive fiat.
MMQC
Maybe there would be a pharmacy, bar and eateries there at Riverside. There should be. It is such a big property and the commercial aspect of it would be supported by the residential. And it is obviously a good spot to commute into Boston.
Blueprintbill, Bugek: I’m curious what you think a “natural” approach to development would look like. Right now, Newton’s restrictive zoning is artificially restricting the supply of new housing. A more natural approach would be to scale back the zoning laws and let the market dictate what is to be built (if we did that, I would imagine development would increase dramatically).
@Greg, get off your high horse.
“there are other more affordable housing options in Waltham, Dedham, West Roxbury and Watertown which are doable commutes”
Waltham, Dedham, West Roxbury and Watertown ARE all MORE affordable than Newton and they are reasonable commutes. That does mean they are affordable to all, but if I cared to look up the average as well as the range of rates on rentals and homes sales in all four of those communities the data would bear my assertion that they are all MORE affordable that Newton
@bugek I would LOVE to put in a low-priced unit. Unfortunately my house is on a small piece of land (4000 sq ft) and given the bedroom configuration for the number of people we have in my family, any possible expansion would be for another room.
Back before we bought our house the previous owner tried to put in rental property in the upstairs, but because of how close the house is to the property line she was unable to put in a external entrance to make it work.
I would also love to make an apartment so my in-laws can move up from their current home in Pennsylvania, but that isn’t possible either. We’ve tried buying something for them in Waltham, but get priced out of there too. We’ve found places, but they’re often purchased by builders (if they’re two families or single family homes) or the sellers want all cash. Watertown too.
Chuck,
It looks like your only alternatives is to create a first floor master suite and create a living area in the attic.. only for family since you wont have a separate entrance. 4000 sqft is smaller side even for Newton..
Regarding natural growth
– make any house within 0.5 miles radius of t or commuter rail an multi residency. After 7 years if school enrollment and services are not overehelmed, increase that circle to 1 mile or loosen zoning a little more, increase height restriction. Small increments and review every 7 years..
– i suspect the recent accessory ordinance did not make a dent. Loosen a little more, perhaps any lot over 12000 sqft is mr2 and condo-mizable but only via addition and not tear down.
It seems the past leadership just sat on this, does not mean we have to rush to make up for lost time
@bugek. Already have a bedroom on the 1st floor and at a 1.5 story, there is no attic.
Chuck,
If zoning was allowed, would you consider adding another floor? Very expensive, but maybe cheaper than buying a separate place for the in-laws, just curious if Zoning is stopping you from doing so..
Unless there is a recession, I don’t see Newton building enough units to being down housing prices in the area without totally destroying the schools. Because it would take 10’s of thousands of units to bring the prices down to say 400k for a 3BR condo or 600k for a non tear-down single family
@bugek we thought about adding another floor. But one of the attractive features of our house is the roofline–it’s one of just a handful of Sears homes in the area and has a low sloping roof. Adding a floor would greatly alter that.
It was a tough call, but we chose to keep a smaller house to maintain what makes it unique.
Also, given the configuration, changing the roofline wouldn’t add all that much to the layout. It would give ceiling room, but not all that much by way of floor space, so the tradeoff wasn’t worth the change.
Perhaps it’s just my perspective, but it seems to me the majority of people who comment on here own “smaller” homes.
It would be interesting to have one of those surveys posted to see.
The last plan for Riverside was focused on the car, a “traffic-oriented development”. It was all about the connection to I95/128/I90, a metro westward-looking exurban car commuter development rather than an inner-beltway development. Reverse workforce commuting on the green line was pretty much ignored in spite of the fact that it would stimulate Newton jobs.
The developer should avoid that mistake and propose a walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented development mixing retail, office, and residential, with amenities for the local community, including making “River Side” live up to its label with multi-use paths.
I don’t suppose there’s a chance that he could be something in between?
Of course not.. thanks for contributing to the journalistic polarization of America
@Yuppiescum: That’s the problem here in Newton and beyond – there is no “in between” anymore. You are either “for” or “against” something. There is no “in between”.
Tough times for us in-betweeners.
@Jane,
At least your predictable 😉