Jeff Speck shares his vision for Riverside station

Jeff Speck shares his vision for Riverside station

City planner and urban designer Jeff Speck is the lead designer of the soon to be proposed designed for the Riverside MBTA station (and also the guy behind this vision for Washington Street). He submitted this guest blog post.

As the lead designer of the proposed development at the Riverside T Station, I have been asked to write a post explaining the thinking behind the plan. While I believe that the principles and goals outlined here are shared by the entire development team, the thoughts that follow are my own

As seen below, the site is a special one, adjacent to the Charles River greenway, flanked north and south by open space and golf courses, east and west by mostly low-density development at some distance, adjacent to a major highway

Gentile on Riverside : ‘obstructionist’ or ‘hero’?

Gentile on Riverside : ‘obstructionist’ or ‘hero’?

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”?

This should be ‘one of Greater Boston’s best transit-oriented opportunities’

The Boston Globe’s Jon Chesto reports on the latest plans for the Riverside MBTA station

The new Riverside complex could be the biggest project Newton has seen in recent memory: a collection of several buildings that would include an office tower, a hotel, hundreds of apartments, and a Green Line garage. The developers are considering a direct highway connection to minimize the additional traffic on Grove Street, which passes by an elementary school and through two residential areas.

Riverside law suit dismissed

After the Board of Aldermen issued a Special Permit for the construction of the new development at Riverside, a group of neighbors from Lower Falls and Auburndale filed suit against the Board or Aldermen, the developer (Normandy), and the MBTA, challenging the...
Election Day shenanigans

Election Day shenanigans

A very reliable source sent us this… The attached photo is of a a truck belonging to a Zervas teacher, who said the Union told her it was OK to park within 80′ of the door to the polls with a “Newton Teachers support Setti Warren” sign. She...