Hello Washington Street! October 24, 2018 from NewTV on Vimeo.
When the Hello Washington Street event kicked off at Newton North on Wednesday night, the room was packed. By the time public comment started at a little after 8pm, and the first pitch had been thrown at Fenway, the room was far emptier and, from the sounds of those few who (before I left myself) it sounded like the majority of those who stuck around were opposed to much of what they saw.
The true test will come online, where people can leave comments without having to attend a meeting that happens to run concurrently with the Red Sox, daycare pickup time, and dinner. Video from the meeting as well as the plans will be online soon, as well an online platform allowing for comments.
This meeting focused on a few major concepts, but most came back to the tension between the car and the human.
First is the road diet that Principle Group has suggested before, only this time they noted that we people have been loud and clear: we want protected bike lanes. Along with the road diet, they suggested ways to incorporate more trees and greenery along the road, which are there not just to give Newton back its “Garden City” feel, but also to help clean the air coming off of the adjacent highway, and to provide a more human scale to the area.
Along with that, they suggested traffic calming measures on side streets to avoid the issue of traffic increasing in nearby neighborhoods. I overheard complaints about the number of cars on Washington Street and the fear of traffic getting horrible. One commenter pointed to Needham Street as a failed road diet. (Side note: Given how differently both streets are designed it’s difficult to compare the two. Needham Street is plagued with curb cuts and streets that don’t line up, it’s all being rebuilt by the state.)
They also pointed out that we can make some of these changes immediately with paint and potted plants to test them out.
Another key feature of the plan is what they call “courtyards” for development, which is built around parking. The idea here is to create shared underground parking for a block or area and then divide the lots into smaller parcels. Zoning can handle the rest, creating humanly scaled neighborhoods that allow for new development that would look more like what we have now. The process is to excavate, build a platform, then build the properties on the platform. I know that developers talk about the high cost of underground parking, so I’m curious how this process works from a financial perspective.
They also showed alternatives to that, which included either reducing parking requirements or letting the market simply build what it wants. The last option, they pointed out, often results in what they call “vertical sprawl.” That’s when a developer builds a multi-family or commercial building around the parking, essentially wrapping a parking deck in a building.
In the ending comments, I did hear people complain that some of the drawings showed buildings that were 6 to 8 stories, and this had many, including those from Newton Village Alliance, up in arms. The buildings, they say, should be no more than 4 stories. Another commenter accused the Principle Group of imposing its vision on Newton.
The challenge here is balancing people’s real desires with the economic realities of both Newton and the region. This is like the old adage about getting a job done fast, cheap and good. You can only pick two.
If you want a neighborhood that is walkable, human in scale, with local shops, and somewhat affordable, you may need to allow for taller buildings or for more parking, or for other things that you personally think are out of character. You can’t demand public transportation and then restrict the number of people who move in, it doesn’t work. You can’t ask for a walkable area and then demand a four-lane road, it doesn’t work.
The consultant’s job is to identify what the aspects of “character” the people most want and then return to us a path for getting there. Not everything is going to align with the specific vision each of us has, we will all need to give up a little something. The hope is that in 30 years, this is a city that our children not only want to live in but can still afford to do so. And one that, as an aging population, we can too.
Thanks to Stephen Kessinger and NewTV for making the video available so soon after last night’s meeting.
We’ve heard feedback from residents, but what about businesses?
Have they given input as to improve both retail and offices? Their input is important to enable the area to thrive..
Last night’s meeting was a complete waste of time for residents who live near Washington St. and object to the development and road diet that Fuller supports. There is no public mandate to rezone Land Use north of the Pike.
Russ Preston repeated himself again which has been going on since the summer. With such a packed room and grave public concern no one could ask questions at the onset. The crowd was manipulated and dumbed down by Fuller’s unwillingness to
conduct a town hall meeting which is badly needed.
People have been patient and tolerant so far; but this may change.
Colleen, are you not paying attention?
This is a public process that is BUILT on engagement. They opened a storefront right on Washington Street designed to invite people to give their feedback. They’ve held multiple meetings for people to give their feedback. They held this meeting AND ASKED FOR FEEDBACK. They are launching an online tool TO GET MORE FEEDBACK. They even held a weekend BBQ to bring out families who couldn’t make it during the week just to HEAR THEIR FEEDBACK.
The part that caused me to stand up and walk out was when Peter Harrington said that this wasn’t the vision of the people. WRONG! This isn’t the vision of Peter Harrington, nor of the NVA, but it does reflect the vision of the people who provided feedback, which is a remarkably large group.
A town hall-style meeting does not provide anyone with real feedback, as the only people who come out are those with the most time, usually retired people or those who really, really, really, want their voice heard. That huge population in the middle, those with kids who need feeding, or homework that needs doing, or after-school classes that need picking up from, or those who are getting home from work late, or those who had a networking event… they don’t come out.
This is a process designed to hear from the people what they truly want. If that doesn’t conform to your vision, then you need to look elsewhere for the real problem.
Was there any discussion of improving public transit in Newton? Building car parks will bring even more cars into Newton. (Though I like the idea of moving current parking underground.)
According to the consultant’s report recently done for Newton’s Economic Development Commission, Newton currently has enough population density to support more mass transit.
Yes, that was a portion of the conversation especially around the rebuilding of commuter rail stations and with the hope of regional rail.
But a lot of that depends on deals with developers who can pay for (or build) the upgraded stations, much like what happened in Boston Landing, as well as with the MBTA. There was also a short discussion of ideas around Newton Corner, which would include a station there too.
One portion of the plan focused on the land currently occupied by Whole Foods and Marty’s Liquors. Without going into specifics, it was pointed out that the Whole Foods is a very short walk from the end of the MBTA platform, but it’s not something most people consider since that corner isn’t very walkable. It does, however, mean there is some potential for mixed-use development.
Chuck, you’ve clearly over-imbibed on the Principle Group’s kool aid! Do you live near the Washington St. corridor? Those of us who do are not happy about this proposal. Citizen input may have been taken into account, but not that of the most local citizens. Those of us who live near Washington St. do not want to see it turned into another Needham St. — and yes, the comparison is quite apt, for under this unrealistic proposal there will be one traffic lane in either direction with cuts for turns that will unquestionably get backed up and cause bottlenecks. And if all those 6-8 story buildings get built, it’ll only be worse! I’m staunchly pro-development but even I think these proposed building heights are too much! It seems to me that either we need to start over, or ultimately as with the cannabis stores this, too, will need to be brought to the voters. Otherwise our out of touch politicians might just approve this backward-looking traffic-worsening plan.
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” is Newton’s first law. Why do some eggheads call it “third”?
Yes, I live in the area. In fact, my house is relatively equidistant to West Newton Square, Netwonville AND the Whole Foods area. I bike, drive, and walk on Washington Street regularly, it’s a big part of my life. My son worked at West Newton Cinema (he walked, since he doesn’t drive) and all my children bike across Washington Street to get to and from Newton North.
I also happen to work on Needham Street, where I also walk, bike, and drive. Given that I need to watch carefully for speeding cars as I try to cross to the Starbucks, I would say that for a good portion of the day traffic moves very well. Are there times it backs up? Sure, and there are many reasons for that, as indicated in numerous traffic studies. One reason is the light at Oak and Christina, which is being rebuilt (delays are thanks to the utilities, not because of the city). Another is the overabundance of curb cuts that let people randomly jut out into traffic, many of them taking left turns. The state’s redesign eliminates these cuts.
The point being, people tend to look at single points in a large, complex problem. Washington Street should be about people. Making it 4 lanes makes it about cars.
Sometimes, when I’m biking to Trader Joe’s, I look at that massive amount of asphalt and wonder how we got here. With the parking lanes, there are 12 lanes for cars between one side of Washington Street and the other side of the Pike. Not small lanes either, very wide lanes for speeding vehicles. How do we transform that into something where people want to live? It’s not easy, it takes changes.
If it was easy, it would already be different.
To answer a question from above, the business community has been welcome to take part in the feedback sessions, though I know that doesn’t get to the heart of your question.
The Economic Development Director was at the meeting, and some of that business voice is captured in the Economic Development study that Camoin is in the process of wrapping up.
@Chuck: “One portion of the plan focused on the land currently occupied by Whole Foods and Marty’s Liquors. Without going into specifics, it was pointed out that the Whole Foods is a very short walk from the end of the MBTA platform, but it’s not something most people consider since that corner isn’t very walkable. It does, however, mean there is some potential for mixed-use development.”
I’m sorry – can you remind me who owns that property?Sorry to have missed the meeting – my mother is back at Norwood Hospital. Has there been a comparison of the Jeff Speck vision of Washington Street and the Principle’s Groups?
Like Chuck, I live in Newtonville and am looking forward to the improvements and am excited about the potential.
@amy, if you’re asking whether Mark Development owns the property, I do not know. The assessor’s database indicates that it’s owned by a trust in New York. I believe Mark Development owns the property behind Whole Foods, but that is just one small part of what exists in that area. The Marty’s Liquors property has another owner.
It’s hard to call this an all-out plan, as it was really about options that would result in a given type of development. An example is how they looked at the crossings in West Newton. One idea was to put a platform over the Pike with a park (you may be familiar with that concept). Another was about lining the bridge with retail to provide a streetscape. Another showed development on properties along Border Street that are, today, much smaller. But this was about zoning and how it would look long-term, not about who is going to be developing in the next one to two years.
I was able to attend most of the presentation, which I thought was thorough and well done. Unfortunately, I had to leave before being able to spend time looking at each of the possible solutions or the follow up discussion.
For people in the categories Chuck mentioned (and other categories as well), will there be a place or an opportunity to view the visuals that were presented at another point. I happen to like the lobby of City Hall as a venue for such a display because so many people from different walks of life pass through it.
This is a bit off topic, but, I wonder if with all we know about Facebook now, that the Hello Washington Street should remove its Facebook account? Do we need our city to be using a for profit company ‘s service when that company has at best a very controversial reputation for supporting the public good ( regardless of their stated mission statement). I believe the city of newton should not participate in Facebook or other social media accounts for which they do not control the content.
I’m getting a little tired of leaving feedback. First we had the sticky notes and face to face at the old ski an bike shop. Now, an online document “draft” for bubble comments?? Meetings , Hearings, blah blah blah etc. I think the plan is going to be whatever the mayor wants. It’s over with.
Building over the pike ( I’d love that ) is never going to happen in my lifetime. Planting more trees? Well the $#@*&%! MBTA just clearcut all the vegetation along Washington Street inside the fence along the pike to install new safety equipment. It’s great to have the train be safer, but they clearly took the cheap way but just nuking everything along the fence. The city says they will do what they can to mitigate the loss, but there’s not many places with enough dirt an this side of the pike to plant anything.
And I could give a fig about bike lanes. I’d rather see a light rail connecting newton corner with woodland green line. That would be something with year round use, and usable by elderly and families with young children. Or even light rail between west newton and newton corner. Recall, the green lune used to go all the way down Galen street, through oak square. Even I remember that. The bike lanes in Cambridge are used, but it’s very small number of people relative to the population. It’s not a good solution to traffic congestion,