Before even getting to the substance of the content, my first comment on the second draft of the Washington Street “Vision” was on the difficulty of actually reading it. Maybe it works better on one of those huge double-wide computer screens (anyone got one?), but on my MacBook Pro, the document is in a windowpane (is that the term?) embedded in a Planning Department web page, one quarter of which is taken up by other city links, leaving only limited space for viewing the document. You have to either scroll both horizontally and vertically to see even a single page at a readable type size (let alone a double-truck map or graphic), or click the ‘minus’ key to reduce it to where you can see the whole page, but in teeny type.
You can print out a copy to read, but because it’s in double page format, what you get on 8-1/2×11 paper is a vision test of how well you can read small type: 5pt type with 7pt leading. (For comparison, you’re probably used to reading 10 to 12pt type in newspapers and documents.) But if you want to read people’s comments (by clicking on the yellow circles), and comment online yourself, you have to go back to scrolling in the window.
There are 188 pages of Vision Plan and 228 pages of Zoning Code for Washington Street in Draft 2, with a one-month comment period with a deadline of March 13 for comments. Does the Planning Department really think this is a reasonable method and timeframe to get public input? Or is it designed to get people to give up in frustration?
There are links to the PDF version right above the embedded document, both double and single page format. If you want to see the comments the embedded versions can be viewed directly from Principle Group’s page, it’s slightly bigger but still a bunch of white space:
http://principle.civicomment.org/ (yes, that’s http and not https)
The direct link to the single page wide PDF is:
http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/95389
This is the link entitled Vision Plan (pages layout) on the Washington Street page.
Thank you, guys! The single page version is a big help, although I”m probably going to need new printer cartridges by the time it finishes printing.
I have read the print copy. Anyone who lives near Washington St.
ought to read the document carefully.
In it the city outlines in significant detail its vision for the entire length of the street.
It basically destroys the villages as we know them. The new vision
rebuilds our northside with dense housing and commercial enterprises. For many it is a very bad dream. Be sure to read the
Hello Washington sections. Who ever produced this vision lives in a fantasy world.
The Globe must be having a slow news day..
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/globelocal/2019/03/15/newton-walk-park-could-mean-hike-over-mass-pike/iz6clLOVsm3YMXmEJlDqqN/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook
@5G, I haven’t heard of this initiative and it’s useful news to me. Paris has done this quite successfully with its Périphérique highway, especially in the 14th arrondissement down by the Porte de Vanves. I’d actually prefer to see the entire Pike extension filled in with loam, but this would be the next best thing.
Building on the air-rights over the Pike is a great idea. The escalation of commercial property values along the Washington St Corridor has made the air-rights concept more viable than ever. Mayor Fuller should appoint a commission specifically to explore those development opportunities. It’s really something that should have been done a long time ago.