Porter Square Rezoning

[ward2.livejournal.com]

All,

While this isn't DS-specific, it does involve our neighbor square (Porter).  Apparently the city is totally re-zoning the area to bring in huge buildings and displacing residents.  The comments in the news article bring up good points ... among them, redevelopment and revenue might be good, but to what cost?

Seems very similar to the discussions many of us had regarding the Winter Hill Bank/Dilboy Post recently.

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/22981

Comments

[ron_newman]

I'd be happy to see any development that bridges over the Fitchburg railroad chasm along Somerville Avenue.

[gingicat]

Agreed, there.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

That area is such a disaster--it would be beneficial to both Cambridge and Somerville to bolster and improve those few blocks.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty busy strip of Elm street that they're talking about, and I don't think that adding a few businesses (or allowing some of those homes to be converted to businesses) would really damage the character that much. These don't seem like huge changes.

The six-story buildings would be permitted for the Somerville Ave strip and... no, I don't have a problem with that either.

Sounds like a good idea to me!

[rigel.livejournal.com]

Given where I live, I'd prefer not to be surrounded with multiple story buildings, but.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Small apartment buildings (45-55 feet tall is not huge) with ground-floor retail are *exactly* what this stretch of Elm needs.

If we want to reduce the cost of housing, we need more housing. And what better place to put it than within walking distance of the Red Line and two great neighborhood business districts?

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

I hope they rezone Somerville Ave next.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I lived in that neighborhood for six years, and it was difficult enough getting the city to acknowledge that it was a residential area even without the rezoning fiasco. No one ever seemed to get ticketed for flagrant parking violations along Somerville Ave. that made it difficult for residents to park, and the Somerville Ave. reconstruction project was a years-long disruption with little communication from the city about what was going on. At the end of the project, there was even less parking for residents than before. I loved living in Porter Square, but I really think the area gets short shrift from Somerville city government, and this is confirmation.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I live right on Somerville Ave and things have changed A LOT. I see Parking Enforcement on a stretch of the road every day while I'm walking my dog. Local businesses have also stepped up by asking their patrons to not park like total dickheads, although apparently it has no effect on La Ronga and Woody's Liquors shoppers.

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

Looks good to me. We need more residences. And We need the one story retail buildings to get some height. (In many parts of Cambridge and SOmerville, those one story shops used to have offices above, but when the Depression emptied the offices, the landlords shaved the stories off to save oon property tax. SRSLY.)

[cden4.livejournal.com]

I am also in favor of the rezoning plans, which have been a few years in the making after a thorough community process. I live off of Elm St near Wilson Square, and indeed the area could use more small businesses and development above the commuter rail tracks. I'd be very happy to see the strip-mall style buildings and gas stations replaced with buildings fronting the sidewalks directly. The important thing about the rezoning along Elm St is that it's up to each property owner whether they want to take advantage of it.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I'm all for the residential rezoning: demand far outstrips supply and it's starting to annoy even the landlords in the area (my landlord apparently gets two or three calls a week about his double duplex, even though he hasn't had a unit to rent for months.) By all means, build more apartments!

I question the wisdom of the commercial zoning, though. I live in the area and work from home, and it's not like it's short on businesses in the first place; on Elm between Porter Square and Wilson alone you've got Eddie's, a nail salon, the Caning Shoppe, Big Fish Little Fish, Lucky Mart, a realtor, a Mexican restaurant and a skateboard shop. Go up Somerville Ave and you've got a gas station and a strip mall with a Starbucks, a laundromat, a Cambridge Savings ATM, a Subway, and a dry-cleaner's. Even the little road across from Porter Square Shopping has a yarn shop and a home decor shop.

I'm not really sure what you can put in there that's not easily accessible somewhere else. Porter Square Shopping has a bookstore, a hardware store, a grocery store, a drug store, a liquor store, a toy store, a dry cleaner, a natural supplements store, two gyms, and soon it's going to have a craft store.

[cos]

Based on the Somerville News article, it seems to me lik "residents'" concerns are primarily the minority of residents who have been in Somerville for a long time and own houses, while the majority - who have been in Somerville ten years or less, and many of whom rent - aren't really included. Perhaps because few of them are participating. Is this perception accurate, or is the article's portrayal a bit misleading?

[ward2.livejournal.com]

Cos,

From my understanding, the public meetings were attended by lots of people both long term residents and also newer ones. I only saw one resident quoted, so it isn't clear what the breakdown is. Also, while renters' opinions are nice (since they do choose to live in the neighborhood), I can understand why owners' opinions might count more since they've invested more in the neighborhood - whether they've owned for a long time or a short time.

Also, from what the article says about the Option Two idea, it allowed complete redevelopment all along Somerville Ave and most of Elm Street (and over that railroad chasm). I think it only preserved the two blocks of Elm Street from the Kennedy School to White Street (that strip mall would have been zoned to allow bigger development, for example).

[dimocmm.livejournal.com]

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