Did anyone attend the CRUNCH! neighborhood meeting?

[keithn.livejournal.com]

If anyone here attended this meeting, could you report on it?

I have a feeling that there is coordinated opposition to CRUNCH! given the wording of the Davis Action Group e-mail regarding this meeting, and the fact that Alderman Gewirtz chose to attend this meeting instead of the BiBim meeting.

Given the drama involving what is now "Rock N' Fitness," I was hoping CRUNCH! might be able to serve as a viable alternative, especially since I have little faith that "Rock N' Fitness" will survive more than a year.

From what I gathered, the opposition centered around the fact that the gym will have no parking, there are already "enough" gyms in the area, and the belief that the business isn't viable because membership goals are too high.

Comments

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

That said, the fact that business plans get scrutinized for viability by the government -- as did the Pinkberry or other froyo one -- is pretty weird and business-hostile.

[ron_newman]

There's a balance to be struck between local democracy and free enterprise. Perhaps Somerville leans too far in one direction, and you'd like it to lean in the other?

[keithn.livejournal.com]

And others would argue that democracy and free enterprise are strongly linked. If the community doesn't want bibim, they won't eat there, and the owners will close the restaurant and it will be replaced by something else. If the community doesn't want a gym, they won't become members, and it will close up shop and be replaced by something else. Over time, the square will mostly be filled with businesses that are supported by the local community, because those businesses will be the ones that survive.

Many of us who live in the Davis Square area are anti-McDonalds people. That's fine. We had a McDonalds. We didn't eat there. Now it's gone. The city government didn't have to go in and shut them down.

Obviously there are some types of business that the community needs to have a say over. Strip clubs, casinos, sports bars, dance clubs. But a Korean restaurant? A gym?

The city gets to hold bibim hostage because they want a liquor license. Having a licensing process makes sense for liquor licenses. But should bibim really be controversial? Why subject the owners to community meetings?

In the case of Crunch the city gets to hold that plan hostage because the city has some ridiculous law that says your business must have so much parking or else you have to apply for an exception. Do gyms that open in midtown Manhattan need to provide parking? This regulation is completely ridiculous. Davis Square is an urban area that is extremely well served by public transportation and businesses that open here should have to provide NO parking whatsoever. Residential streets are protected with the residential permit ordinance. Making these companies request an exception to the parking rule is just a way to try to force them to do things completely unrelated to parking - such as making sure the gym plan won't interfere with one particular alderman's organic grocery store dreams.

[ron_newman]

If we end up with a gym and a grocery, I'll call the city's process an unqualified success. We'll see.

(I agree with you about parking, and would like to see the city abolish minimum parking requirements in all zones for all developments.)

One problem with the untrammeled free market is that it can produce the distorted form of democracy known as "one dollar, one vote".

[keithn.livejournal.com]

That last line makes it sound like 1. you are making a straw man argument, since nobody is arguing for an "untrammeled free market" (I even listed a bunch of instances where the government clearly should be acting) and 2. you are trying to invoke Citizens United for an emotional appeal when it has nothing to do with the matter at hand. A dollar is a dollar, and renting/leasing and buying/selling are done in dollars. Nobody is saying here that wealthier businesses should get preferential treatment from the government. The point is that everyone should get equal treatment, which I'm sure is what you mean anyway.

[ron_newman]

The distinction I'm trying to make is that the business where the most dollars would be spent is not necessarily the same as the business that most local residents would patronize.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

While I agree that the parking requirements are over the top, comparing Davis Square to midtown Manhattan is kind of ridiculous. There is always street parking available within a few minutes walk from Davis.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

The point is that urban areas clearly do not need to always have parking requirements for businesses. The point is not that finding residential parking in Davis is as difficult as finding it in Manhattan.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Keith, Ron is incapable of feeling empathy for business owners and what they go through.

[ron_newman]

Really? I'm all in favor of Bibim and the gym and the grocery, and would like to see parking requirements abolished along with the artificial cap on liquor licenses.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

You're in favor of those things because they benefit you and the community. You are regularly dismissive in posts of the expenses/risks a business owner faces. The term "unqualified success" above is an example. If you had empathy, there would be a qualification.