Plans for Mormon Church, plus private homes, concerns Oak Hill abutters
Mount Ida College has sold an approximately five-acre parcel of land along Carlson Avenue to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (proposal here) and some abutters are “fighting mad,” the TAB’s Julie Cohen reports. Resident Pamela Burton said...Newton joins coalition committed to new housing
Newton has joined a coalition of 14 Boston-area cities and towns have pledged to work together to address the region’s severe housing shortage. The groups goals, according to this story in the Boston Business Journal, include.. Speed up housing construction Create...
Which Issues are Most Important to You
It’s great this election has prompted more civic involvement – It would be even greater if it translates into more residents staying involved long afterward – but first, be sure to get out and VOTE! On November 7, 2017. Newton is a lovely city with a...A vision for the Washington Street corridor
Jeff Speck recently presented his vision for the Washington Street corridor to the Newton-Needham Chamber, building upon the recent plan for West Newton Square, extending through Newtonville towards Newton Corner. The main theme is a road diet. By eliminating underutilized roadway, Newton could create a far more attractive streetscape, open up new opportunities for recreation, transportation safety improvements, public transit, and yes, development.
A road diet might even improve traffic conditions, channelling traffic and eliminating conflicts that come with vehicles changing lanes. A two-way cycle track along the pike could provide top-notch bicycle facilities The idea of a road diet and cycle track along the pike is not new; it has been the subject of previous studies and TAG has been pitching it for several years now. With
Nonantum building owner seeks to put housing above shops
Looks like the hotly-contested City Council contests in Ward 1 has been been handed an interesting campaign issue. John Mula, owner of the building on Watertown Street where Salvi’s barber shop and Johnnie’s Pizza & Smokehouse is located is looking to...
Malakie: independent advocate for residents, parks, trees and neighborhood preservation
For those who don’t know my background: I’m an almost lifelong resident of West Newton. I graduated from the “old” old Newton High School in 1973, went on to graduate from MIT with a bachelor’s in Economics, and earned an MBA at the University of Chicago. I spent most...
The Saga of the Newtonville listserv
Recently there was another digital scuffle on the Newtonville listserv. This time it was over the use of the word “assimilation” in a discussion of whether at-large elections promote diversity – not over whether or not diversity is beneficial as some...
How bad is the housing crisis in Massachusetts?
In light of all the recent conversation, both at the local and the state level, about development, I wanted to share for discussion this recent presentation by the non-profit Massachusetts Housing Partnership.
Some of the highlights:
- Housing production has sharply declined in Massachusetts despite increases in population and employment
- Massachusetts now has one of the lowest rates of housing production in the U.S.
- Without adding any new people or new jobs, the state’s housing supply is already about 44,000 units short of demand. Most of that shortfall is in metro Boston.
- Most of the regions with which we compete for skilled workers are building more housing and have lower housing costs
I pose this question to my neighbors: At what point does this become our problem?
Surrounding communities that welcome development such as
Don’t like density? You might be showing your age
A study just released by the Boston Foundation suggests that how much you believe dense housing developments make a community better or worse might depend on how old you are.
Hearing tonight on proposed Newton Highlands Local Historic District
The proposed Newton Highlands Local Historic District, for which many people I know, including V14’s Bob Burke, have spent countless hours on research and outreach, has its public hearing tonight at Zoning & Planning. (Agenda here.) Having seen and written...Advocates: Think twice before creating new local historic districts
Kathleen Hobson and Andrea Kelley had a column in this week’s TAB laying out reason why we should be “thinking twice” before giving into the recent trend of historic district mania.
We believe local historic districts are a blunt instrument that should be used only sparingly. Historic preservation is an important community priority, but it should
