6 thoughts on “Developer Eyeing Spot on Major Watertown Intersection for 40B Housing Project

  1. Bad location for such a large building, in my opinion. We need open space, and this developer wouldn’t have any place to put it!

  2. I think it’s the perfect intersection for it. It’s not one of the busiest intersections, and there are already traffic patterns and (long) lights in place. Not knowing the actual building plans, or number of stories, it’s hard to give a true opinion. But with that hill behind it, it could be 4 stories and still not change the skyline from Nichols St. I think.
    Actually, just thinking about that intersection, it occurs to me that all that “open space” there is just asphalt, not green space. Maybe we could add a rotary to both add some green and get rid of that long light.

  3. I live right around the corner from this property and wholeheartedly approve of it becoming becoming housing (or anything but self storage, for that matter). This place is a totally eyesore now, and has been for far too long. I really feel like a mix of high end/affordable units would be perfect for the neighborhood – adding to the population density and bringing in a number of highly educated folks who could contribute to the economy (and hopefully improve the schools as well).

    Let’s face it – East Watertown will never have babbling brooks, rolling fields and top ranked schools. If you want that type of thing, move to Concord or Lincoln. What we do have here is a vibrant, urban (but still tight knit) community comprised of immigrants, long time townies, tech folks, and creative types who have been priced out of neighboring towns. Let’s keep that going and keep progressing.

  4. Take a ride up to Cushing Square, look at the monstrosity of a development there and how it has TOTALLY changed the character and fabric of the neighborhood, adding a decidely urban and congested character to a neighborhood that was once rich in suburban values. You want more of that for Watertown, really? Move to Concord or Lincoln for the relaxed suburban affordable feeling, yeah, right.

    • I’ll take a mega condos any day over crumbling, abandoned factories, sidewalks in disrepair and sub-par schools.

      A lot of the push back on these housing initiatives seem to be coming from folks who want Watertown to return to the Watertown of 40 years ago, rather than look ahead to what this city has the potential to become. Also, you can’t compare the Watertown of today to the Watertown of yesteryear, but you can compare it to surrounding towns and cities, most of whom have much pricier housing and significantly better school systems. The best comparison might be to Arlington, who once had a similar blue collar population and currently has a similar population density. You’ll find that homes in Arlington sell for, on average, ~$100 more per square foot than in Watertown, and their schools are significantly higher ranked than ours. We can do better. Building new condos where crumbling buildings ones once stood and luring upwardly mobile families to the area is a good way to start the process.

  5. I’m not opposed to this in principle –not a bad idea to add to the housing (and affordable housing) stock near our budding techie corridor. But have any of the commenters above had to drive down Grove St or Arsenal St in the morning? Grove St (along Mt Aub Cemetery) is bumper-to-bumper at 7:30 AM with most of the traffic coming from Belmont and beyond. It’s a convenient cross street and alternative to Fresh Pond Parkway. And it’s very very busy already. Will only get worse with this unless the city and 40B authorities come up with an abatement plan –which is hard to imagine unless we add cross roads…

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