two important public hearings Thursday

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

There are two important hearings in Somerville tomorrow. I'm mainly posting because I think we can't sit back any longer while our communities get transformed without our input.

The first hearing is about the new ZONING IN UNION SQUARE.
6PM at Somerville City Hall

The second hearing is a public safety hearing on the BU BioLab (bioweapons research lab) in Roxbury/South End

BU BIO LAB HEARING THURSDAY,
7 PM at SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

HEARING ON UNION SQUARE ZONING
6PM at Somerville City Hall

Unfortunately without rent control it will be difficult to prevent the displacement of working families from Union Square -- but Union is next in line for the attack on our neighborhoods that is gentrification/homogenization.  It's all happening under the guise of an artists overlay district -- but how long before even the artists will be outpriced from the community they help build?

These zoning changes ask for a paltry 15% of housing units being developed in the new Union Square developments to be kept affordable, and yet the City of Somerville has refused to go along with it! Maybe we can show up in force and let
them know that even 15% is not enough!!!

Thursday April 19th
6PM at Somerville City Hall

The Planning Board and the Land Use Committee will host a public hearing on Thursday, April 19th at 6:00 in City Hall to hear public comment on amendments submitted by the SCC's Affordable Housing Organizing Committee (AHOC) to increase the affordable housing requirement in Union Square.

Over the last five months affordable housing advocates have been the loudest voice in the debate around zoning changes, unified in our call for development that benefits the working families in Union Square. Thank you for joining the Affordable Housing Organizing Committee in this important campaign.

Despite our hard work, unified voice, and support from residents all across Somerville, the City is determined to go forward with zoning changes that ignore our proposal to increase affordable housing requirements to 15%. While a higher affordable housing requirement is only a small part of tackling the problem of squeezing out working class families, it is a critical step that we simply can't afford to have the city ignore.

The City's proposed new zoning combined with the Green Line extension will entice the kind of high-end development that will dive up housing costs and create an even greater burden for working people in the neighborhood. Your help is needed to bring the message: "Keep our families in Somerville: Zone for People."

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The second hearing is about BU and the Dept of Homeland Security placing a bio-weapons research lab in the heart of  the densely populated Roxbury/South End community. Brookline and Cambridge both passed resolutions opposing this lab, and Somerville is having a hearing tomorrow:

BU BIO LAB HEARING THURSDAY,
7 PM at SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

Dear Friends,

This Thursday, April 19, we have an opportunity to express our opinions at a public hearing about the proposed biological weapons research lab that Boston University intends to build in the South End/Roxbury area.  This lab, just a few miles from Somerville, would study the most dangerous pathogens in the world, including lethal self-replicating organisms.

SMUJP, in cooperation with Mass. United for Justice with Peace, opposes the lab, and is asking the Somerville Board of Aldermen to pass a resolution stating their opposition.   Brookline and Cambridge have already passed similar resolutions.

There are many reasons to oppose the lab (see below for more information) .

We're asking all Somerville/Medford UJP members and supporters to help:

* Spread the word.  Forward this email to others who might be interested.

* Come to the public hearing on Thursday, April 19, 7PM at Somerville High School, 81 Highland Ave.  Learn more about the dangers of operating a Level 4 lab in our densely populated urban environment.  Tell the Aldermen what you think; they want to hear from us.

*******

Press Release
Public Hearing on Proposed B.U. Bio-Lab, April 19, 2007 , 7:00 pm
Somerville High School Auditorium - 81 Highland Avenue

A public hearing on Boston University's proposed bio-weapons research laboratory will be convened by the Public Health and Safety Committee of the Board of Alderman at the Somerville High School Auditorium at 7 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2007.  The purpose of this hearing, requested by Somerville/Medford United for Justice with Peace, is to take testimony regarding the Bio-Safety Level 4 laboratory that Boston University is building near the Boston Medical Center, and potential risks to the surrounding communities, including Somerville.


According to SMUJP member Duncan McFarland, "We're concerned about the risks of building this lab in a densely populated area, and of its potential effects on surrounding communities.  An accidental release of deadly pathogens, contact with infected lab workers, or the laboratory becoming the target of a terrorist attack can disastrously affect our community as well as the immediately adjacent Roxbury/South end neighborhood. We're asking the Aldermen to sign on to a resolution calling for National Institutes of Health to halt construction of the bio-lab until a more adequate environmental impact review, ordered by the courts, is completed.  Brookline and Cambridge have already done so."

People are invited to give testimony at the meeting about the impact of the bio-lab on our community. Those who wish to speak can sign up when they arrive at City Hall.  There is a three-minute limit on testimony.

Top Ten Reasons To Oppose the BIolab:
www.ace-ej.org/BiolabWeb/Biolabdocs/Ozonofftopten.pdf

Comments

[thegecko.livejournal.com]

cut please?

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

seconded. this is damn long!

[ron_newman]

Thirded. Here is how to add an lj-cut to your post.

"affordable" housing really isn't much help

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Having a few designated "affordable" housing units is probably necessary, but don't forget that every subsidized unit drives up the cost of the remainder, which is passed along to you and everyone else. Fifteen percent seems (offhand) like an awfully high number of units to keep below market rate.

Want everyone to be able to afford houses? Push for more housing to be built at all price points.

Re: "affordable" housing really isn't much help

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

or, you could work on giving people better jobs and more education so they can afford better places.

Re: "affordable" housing really isn't much help

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Both would be good.

But price controls just don't really work that well.

Re: "affordable" housing really isn't much help

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

hear hear. i'd be curious to know what the city is offering.

Re: "affordable" housing really isn't much help

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

actually the real problem is what came after rent control -- because we are subsidizing astronomical market rents. what you are suggesting -- "let the market take care of it" -- is the mentality that leads to such displacement. everyone's out there trying to make a profit (landlords, developers, realtors) and they pour money into the political process and distort some basic democratic principles. and the local politicians are all too happy to have property values go up because it means more tax revenue. cambridge has seen so much displacement that it's disgusting, and somerville is now going through the same thing. how would you like to not be able to afford to stay where you grew up?

the 15% thing is exactly what you suggest -- pushing for more housing to be built at all price points. if not for the zoning requirement, it wouldn't happen because there's less profit in it.

Re: "affordable" housing really isn't much help

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

how would you like to not be able to afford to stay where you grew up?

well, it would suck, but i also recognize that the ability to have whatever i want at any price isn't an unalienable right. :)

if not for the zoning requirement, it wouldn't happen because there's less profit in it.

what do you think happens when developers are forced to create low-income housing? shoddy workmanship, which frequently drives up extras like heating costs. i'm not opposed to creating some cheaper housing, but the rest of us pay for the subsidies and pay because non-"affordable" housing is scarcer.

Re: "affordable" housing really isn't much help

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

actually the real problem is what came after rent control -- because we are subsidizing astronomical market rents

In this sentence, I'm not certain who the "we" is, and what "subsidizing" means. Yes, rents in Cambridge shot up after the end of rent control, largely fueling the early 2000's boom in Davis Square. But nobody's "subsidizing" those rents; they're being paid by the tenants.

And the rent market has stabilized. Anything left unoccupied in September 2001 (after students had settled in, and the dot-coms had crashed) became became hurt merchandise, and the market flipped from renters-chasing-apartments to apartments-chasing-renters. And now, a lot of those speculators who bought crumbling multi-family houses and remodeled them into shiny new condos are eating the mortgage payments as the condos sit empty, because they can't find anybody to sell them to.

Eventually the speculators will lower the prices to what the market will accept, and the units will sell. (Even if the speculator takes a loss, he still needs to sell!) And there you wind up with improved housing stock, and more homeowners overall, because a building which once housed one landlord and two renters is now housing three condo-owners. I see that as a win.

[ron_newman]

You did not need to shorten the post, just use an lj-cut. The full long text is still useful for people who want to read it.

thanks for the cut advice

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

sorry but it was my first entry (i was guessing it would be automatically shortened)!
thanks for for the pointer.

Wednesday NOT Thursday

[bostonartist.livejournal.com]

The Union SQ Zoning meeting is TONIGHT (Wednesday) at 6:30 PM.

http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/calendar/eventdtl.cfm?id=4349

Wednesday AND Thursday

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

Sorry! Should have been clear.

There are TWO UNION SQ ZONING Meetings.
One is tonight and one is tomorrow night.

Tonight's meeting is the City Planning Department's public meeting, so people can learn about the Arts Overlay District and Economic Development plans for Union Square. It's at 6:30pm in the SHS Auditorium.

Tomorrow's is a public hearing on the proposed zoning changes, 6pm at City Hall, where you get to give the City a piece of your mind!

[ron_newman]

Not sure how I feel about this, really. Part of me says "this is a Union Square issue, and it's not my place as a Davis Square resident to butt into it."

el pueblo, unido, jamas sera vencido

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

the people, united, will never be defeated.

divide-and-conquer is the game they play.

if we don't unite with the people and businesses who got ousted from harvard square, then central square, then davis square, then union square... then it'll go on and on and on.

we will lose Somedays, La Contessas, McIntyre & Moores, ad infinitum. How much longer can Sacco's, Mike's, McKinnon's, Sligo's hold out? what will Davis Square look and feel like in 20 years? better? shinier? hipper?

Re: el pueblo, unido, jamas sera vencido

[ron_newman]

But -- is it my place to say what zoning is best for Union Square? I don't live there and I only occasionally eat or shop there. The people there have a better understanding of their neighborhood's needs than I do.

[rekling.livejournal.com]

Having lived in Davis Square for 2.5 years, and then in Union Square for 1 year, I think it absolutely is important for Davis residents to be involved. Here's why:

1) Somerville is NOT a huge city. The two squares are relatively close to each other, and what effects one can have an impact on the other.

2) Davis is already well into the gentrification process, while Union Square only beginning the big shifts into trendy cafes, more white people with money, more condos, less affordable housing, etc. I think it can definitely help to have voices from Davis who can speak to the importance of preserving neighborhoods.

3) Regarding the BU Biolab: Well, that's a no brainer. The damn thing isn't in Somerville, but if something goes wrong, it will effect people in Union, and Davis, and in quite a lot of other places too.

-Rek

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Hi elibeck,

These are insteresting issues for me, as I'm watching similar changes in my home town (for better and worse), as well as making some friends who grew up in both Daivs and Teele about 20 years ago, and hearing their opinions on these topics. It doesn't say so on your profile; are you from Union Sq., yourself?

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

no, i lived in davis until i couldn't afford to stay... now actually in cambridge (only able to afford it via the kindness of friends)... and trying to figure out where i'll end up...

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

You've got one thing right--the cost of housing around here is nuts. And now those damned developers are threatening to build more housing?! Like, in response to demand? Bastards. Before you know it, if we let those developers run wild, they'll build so many of those yuppie "pied a' terres" there won't be enough of those damn yuppies to buy all those condos! Then they'll have to cut prices and stuff. That'll show em.

Dude, (tongue removed from cheek), go to some place with zero zoning, where developers really can do whatever they want. Like Houston. Housing is cheap there with a capital C. Granted, aside from housing prices, Houston sucks, but in general, zoning and barriers to the creation of housing (such as requiring developers to subsidize the development of low-income housing rather than having all taxpayers pay for it with their tax dollars) makes housing expensive.

The reason the Cambridge housing market went insane after rent control ended is because (a) the change in the law corresponded with the largest inflation-adjusted rise in the price of homes in the history of America (we're about 100% over the historical average right now) and (b) rent control had caused under-investment in the Cambridge housing stock for decades and once it ended, the money rushed in.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

To be fair, cost of living and wages in a place like Houston are generally much lower, and they have a lot more land/space to work with, both of which also affect housing prices. Comparing an area with huge amounts of urban sprawl to New England isn't especially useful in this respect. I'm from a place that DOES have lots of zoning laws and is still like 1/3 the cost of Boston.

[elibeck.livejournal.com]

OK, so part of my ire has to do with what the real estate industry is doing statewide and nationwide. And the basic idea that housing is considered a commodity rather than a right.

Communities are busted up very consciously and carefully by the industry because there's more profit in that. I like to think that we can consciously build and maintain communities over the course of centuries. We have a variety of tools in the toolbox to maintain our communities but they have been getting taken away one-by-one.

The real estate market is driven by profit motives, not by human needs. Our housing policies are the only place where we can define an agenda driven by human needs. But even in the policy realm -- human needs are neglected because of campaign cash and other benefits to appeasing the real estate industry.

Things like affordability, open space, sensible transportation options, and sensible development are not going to take care of themselves. And when there's more money to be made in destroying communities, destroying land and ecosystems, destroying local economies, rather than preserving and maintaining them, then that's the direction we go. When will enough be enough?

Back to Jersey

[cvs-is-king.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised that lots of you folks are afraid of decent things like rent control and reasonable zoning rules for our city.

Go back to New Jersey.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

I'm all for the lab. What Davis really needs is population control anyway.

And I do find it slightly amusing that a majority of the individuals who will (or did) attend these meetings are by and large the same individuals who have contributed to the skyrocketing cost of living in Davis Square that has essentially driven the born and breds out.