Davis Square Cleaners closing

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Davis Square Cleaners is closing, citing rent. Last day is March 31! If you have clothes there, best pick 'em in the next three days.

ZBA hearing this Wednesday on West Somerville Group Home

[crankyoldguy.livejournal.com]

As some of you are aware, a group home for Developmentally Disabled young adults is planned for 50-52 Whitman Street. The organization is 3L Place, headed by Deborah Flaschen. The Whitman Street site will eventually be the dormitory for the 3L Life College, located at a site TBD in the Davis Square area. Initially, all residential and college activities will apparently be at the Whitman Street site.

Wednesday's (4/2) ZBA meeting will address the request to increase the building's FAR (Floor to lot Area Ratio) from the current 1.0 to 1.25. Current zoning limits the FAR to 0.75. The purpose of the variance is to finish the basement and construct an additional three bedrooms there.

I have mixed feelings about this project. On the one hand, resources for young adults are really needed when they turn 22 and "age out" of the existing state funded support programs. On the other hand, locating on Whitman Street is far from desirable, given the traffic and parking congestion of the area. Also, converting a two family which in recent history housed five to six people to a group home housing twelve residents and a rotating staff of ten people per day (minimum) seems excessive, and will definitely change the tenor of the neighborhood.

The high number of proposed residents and the lack of any private common or recreation areas in the floorplan really has me wondering when housing for the disabled crosses the line and becomes warehousing.

What are some other peoples thoughts?

-Gary

Event Space Rental

[blendedchaitea.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for a space to (hopefully cheaply) throw a party for ~100 people. This was the post I could find about the same topic, but after looking up a few of the places suggested I can see that some of them are out of date. Does anyone know of event spaces that are currently available for rent? Right now my list of places that MIGHT be available are VFW, the Museum of Modern Renaissance, and...that's it.

On the same topic, has anyone rented space at the Sons of Italy hall on Broadway? They have a sign up front, but nothing online from people who've rented the building for events.

Thanks!