Around Town

Boston Magazine Names Watertown One of the Best Places to Live

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The following announcement was provided by Boston magazine:

Watertown has been named a 2022 Top Place to Live in the upcoming issue of Boston magazine. Each year, Boston magazine’s Top Places to Live highlight the region’s most coveted communities, breaking down one of the nation’s most intricate real-estate markets into a comprehensive guide featured in the March issue. The magazine’s Top Places to Live is considered an authoritative source for what’s trending in the greater Boston real estate market. 

The most recent Top Places to Live names 18 communities as Top Places to Live – examining each based on current trends, values, tax rates, education systems and much more. This year, with feverish demand, rising prices and low inventory, the guide focuses on six key trends driving the market.  

Watertown was recognized as part of the retail development boom, as homeowners continue to seek a level of accessibility and urban appeal found in new developments similar to larger urban centers. The magazine cites Watertown for its close proximity to the city and mixed-used developments such as Arsenal Yards, noting the development, “boasts housing as well as brands including Shake Shack so you can grab a burger on the way home from work”. 

According to the magazine, the median single-family home price in Watertown is $785,000, with a residential property tax rate of $13.25. 

The March issue of Boston magazine, with the full Top Places to Live guide is available on March 1, 2022.

Around Town

Watertown-Based Group Advocates for Teaching Media Literacy to Children

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A Watertown-based non-profit group seeks to make sure that students learn about the messages they are getting from television, video games and social media, and how they impact their lives. Media Literacy Now was started by Erin McNeill who first became aware of the impact of media on children in 2011. “What really pushed me to do this was I could see what was happening to my own kids, and how much they were influenced by messages they were getting: mostly at that time from television, and then as time went on, video games and now it has gotten more extreme — wall-to-wall messages,” McNeill said. “The messages tell kids who they are and what they should be. They are powerful, parents are powerful too, but multi-million dollar corporations are influencing children.” McNeill knows about the media having worked in the industry, including covering policy and how it is made in the United States while working for Congressional Quarterly.

Board of Health

Indoor Face Mask Requirement Lifted by Watertown Board of Health

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The indoor face mask requirement in Watertown was lifted by the Board of Health on Wednesday night. The latest face covering mandate was put into place on Dec. 22, 2021 when COVID cases were on the rise when the Omicron variant hit the area. Watertown reached a peak of 1,131 active cases on Jan. 19, and they have declined since then, said Watertown Health Director Larry Ramdin.

Schools

Outdoor Spaces Planned for High School Project, Committee Wants More Details

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Ai3 ArchitectsThe outdoor space around the new Watertown High School will include an amphitheater west of the school, an outdoor learning area to the east, and a grassy area to the south. Designs for the new Watertown High School are coming together, but the School Building Committee would like some more specifics about the area east of the school. Landscape architects made some changes of the outdoor area along Common Street, said Arthur Eddy of Traverse at the Feb. 16 School Building Committee meeting. “You asked us to reduce paving within the site along Common Street,” Eddy said.

Sports

Taylor Lambo Joins Watertown Girls Basketball’s Elite 1,000 Point Club

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Charlie BreitroseTaylor Lambo, second from left, poses with her family after scoring her 1,000th point on Saturday against Weston. A 33 point performance in just three quarters on Saturday vaulted Watertown High School senior Taylor Lambo over the 1000-point mark in the Raiders’ victory over Weston. Lambo knew she was approaching the four-figure mark before the game in the WHS Gym, but she wasn’t given word by Watertown Girls Basketball Coach Pat Ferdinand until just before she reached 1,000. “I had talked to him about it, I wasn’t super close to it, so it wasn’t definite that I was going to hit it,” Lambo said. “He didn’t even tell me until like two points before, and he was like, ‘Your next layup is 1,000.’

Sports

Watertown Sophomore Finishes Among Top Runners at Divisional Meet

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown sophomore Anna Lonergan ran against some of the best milers from across the state Friday. She finished 6th at the Divisional Meet. BOSTON — While just a sophomore, Watertown High School’s Anna Lonergan ran one of the fastest miles at the MIAA Div. 5 Meet at the Reggie Lewis Track Athletic Center on Friday evening. She finished sixth place at the meet where she competed against the best runners from around Massachusetts of similar size to WHS.

Homepage Featured

Watertown Police Arrest Man Who Smashed Cruiser Windshield, Punched Two Officers

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A Watertown man faces multiple charges after he smashed the windshield of a Police car and punched two police officers before he was talked down and placed under arrest early Thursday morning. One of the officers went to the hospital to have a broken nose treated, and the man was determined to have a history of mental issues, according to Watertown Police Lt. James O’Connor. Shortly after 3 a.m. on Feb. 17, officers at the Watertown Police Station spotted a man on security cameras coming down the driveway and walking up to a cruiser parked near the city park in back of the Police Station. He then hit the windshield of the car several times with what was later discovered to be a hammer.