Harry Fig cartoon from boston.com

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Comments

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Yes, a whole three blocks south and one block east.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I agree that it isn't very far, but it's definitely a lot further than the CVS is from the Brooks. And it's no longer "in" Davis Square. Leaving us with zero bookstores and two chain pharmacies.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Don't worry; the Brooks/Rite Aid/whateverthehell may be converted into a hotel. Won't that be an improvement!

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

A hotel? Well, it would certainly do well; at least that's not redundant.

Is this just inevitable evolution via market pressure? Is Davis Square as a place to live, except for a select elite, history? Does it even make sense to try to preserve affordable housing and green space, or is it like trying to hold back the tide?

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

My understanding of the hotel project is that the city government is trying to find a developer to put one up in Davis Square; the city thinks 100 rooms is what it needs, but they're waiting to hear what prospective developers say, so it could be smaller (though I think not bigger, given the zoning restrictions on height and such). I don't know the reasoning behind it, though.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Well, it's doggone difficult to find a hotel that's not either way the heck out, prohibitively expensive, or already full, so it seems like a workable idea. I'm just hoping they incorporate parking into their design...

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Yes, they are requiring that the developer include parking (underground, because the sites they are considering are currently parking lots: the Day St. lot, the lot where the Rite Aid is, and a lot on Buena Vista). And I think it's not just hotel parking, but enough to make up for losing the surface parking, too, though I wonder if there might then be something funky re:security in that case.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

*looks at a map* How are you defining "block" here?

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Aye. According to my highly sophisticated Google map calculations, it's more like 8.5 blocks.