By Linda Scott
Watertown Resident
Part One: Preserving Our Neighborhoods
“Preserving neighborhood character involves balancing tradition with growth through strategies
like historic designation, context-sensitive zoning (scale and setbacks), protecting green spaces, community engagement, and rehabilitation of existing buildings, all while fostering a sense of place, often focusing on a neighborhood’s unique look, feel, and activities, rather than just enforcing uniformity, to maintain stability and appeal.”
The above AI definition of preserving neighborhood character is a far cry from the standard, knee-jerk response to the phrase “preserving a neighborhood’s character” as a racist construct. (See also this AI definition: The phrase “preserving neighborhood character” has a complex history rooted in racially exclusionary policies [often referred to as redlining] that were used to maintain segregation in housing in the United States. While seemingly neutral today, the language was historically used as a coded way to prevent people of color from moving into predominantly white areas”).
Can it be used for these purposes? Sure. That’s why it is so important that we be vigilant and mindful of our final goals and plans.
The State of Play:
Ironically, these new plans for behemoth buildings with ridiculously meager parking availability and with no immediate and corresponding real time plans for transit improvement to lessen the impact of these restrictions, are being proposed and approved all over the City. (For the latest building approval at 33 Mt. Auburn St. (40 units, 20 parking spaces) and the very interesting public comments that ensued, see the story below:
Here’s another pending development just next door on Mt. Auburn Street (45-59), which is planned for 153 units and 94 parking spaces:
https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=133612&repo=r-5ece5628
See Willow Park, with its parking ratio of 0.8 (a former CPC member fought hard to get this up from a 0.5 ratio). In other words, at a 0.8 ratio, when this project is built, there’ll be just 111 parking spaces for 138 units. This effectively will put a “You’re not Welcome” sign up for the working poor, many of whom currently call this site home. Many will find it difficult to return if they don’t have a parking space once this construction project is completed. As an added stressor, this affects an already tight neighborhood parking situation.
With the necessity of holding down multiple jobs in multiple locations, a car is essential for these folks, not a luxury. As with many of these plans that are fundamentally well intentioned, I believe that it will prove to further gentrify our community rather than foster and welcome diversity of incomes.
And as our commercial resources dwindle (new commercial spaces left empty for long periods of time, possibly due to higher rents in new buildings), the need to rely on Amazon and FedEx trucks or cars becomes more necessary. (Are we the only community in the Boston area that needs to leave the City to post an important letter at the U.S. Post Office on a Saturday?).
Are we losing the Watertown Stop and Shop? I’ve heard unconfirmed rumors that something is being proposed on that lot on Watertown Street. If that is the case, where would that leave our community? Are we destined to become a quasi food desert as well … plenty of housing and bio labs, but with few sustaining (and walkable and bike-able) community resources?
On that note, are you aware that the property at 485 Arsenal Street (Atrius Health) is up for sale? We would almost certainly be losing a major Watertown health care facility if it weren’t for a very strong and long lease they hold on that property. (It was tried before and failed). As we move forward in this new year, I hope that we all make a commitment to vigilant and watchful participation in the Watertown development process. No, it certainly isn’t easy standing in front of the mindless (but very profitable) steamroller that’s been steadily on the roll over our City.
What’s at stake:
A friend of mine who immigrated here in the past 10 years from a country that has more than embraced density, explained his perspective on this:
“As density increases in a neighborhood, people start competing for limited resources. (Note…could one of those resources be parking?)
When that happens, the environment in the neighborhood changes … it gets more and more unpleasant and often less friendly.
The more unpleasant it gets, the more people are not willing to commit to living in the neighborhood for a long time.
Then the neighborhood is occupied almost entirely by people who are willing to put up with the unpleasantness for a short time. They live there, but don’t get involved. It’s a downward spiral from there.”
Tomorrow:
Part Two: Do You Know Where Your Neighborhood is Going? Looking at Trends