Around Town

LETTER: State Legislature Should Go Back Into Session and Pass Multiple Bills

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I was excited this year for our state to finally have a Democratic governing trifecta, with a Democrat leading in all three offices of Governor, Senate, and the House. However, this trifecta has been much less productive in passing legislature than I expected. As has become the norm on Beacon Hill, the House and Senate ran out the clock on many important priorities, adjourning on the morning of August 1st with a long list of unfinished business. After the hottest summer on record, they didn’t manage to pass a climate bill. Several other bills, among them economic development bills and bills to address the Steward crisis, are stuck in potentially dead-end negotiations, and that’s not to mention all the common-sense bills that never even made it that far.

Around Town

LETTER: Resident Seeks Help Recovering Lost Items

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Dear Watertown MA News,

Please see the attachment (at bottom) and brief summary regarding a recent incident at 48 Bridge street in Watertown, Ma 02472 In May 2024. I am avidly looking to recover these items, and asking for help if anything has showed up? Thank you for your service in the community of victims suffering loss to theft. SUMMARY:

My items were placed at the outside walkway of 48 Bridge St., Watertown, MA 02472 momentarily on the morning of Thursday, May 16, 2024 around 9:45 a.m.

Unfortunately I was brought to Mt. Auburn Hospital in an ambulance and my property was left at the strangers outside walkway by accident.

Around Town

LETTER: Green Infrastructure Must be Part of the Watertown Square Area Plan

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The following letter was submitted to be read at the June 13, 2024 Watertown Square Area Plan meeting:

Dear Vincent, Watertown Planning Board, and Watertown City Council:

I am sorry I cannot attend in person this evening, so I hope that this can go on the Public record as my comment:

—–

First, I just want to say that I have been excited to hear about the plans for Watertown Square to develop the area — much-needed improvements in public transportation, walkability, bike-ability, drive-ability, housing, local businesses, and our community as a whole, and I can say that the people of Watertown have very much appreciated your including the residents in the planning process. We have had the chance to voice our concerns, and we are grateful for that. 

Thank you to all of those who are working to make this the best plan for Watertown. I realize there is momentum to give the plan a GREEN light. However, please hear me out when I say tonight that I think that as good as this plan is, there is still a huge, critical piece that is missing and a means to make this plan much better for the future of Watertown. I hope that with my speaking up tonight, members of the Planning Board and City Council, and hopefully also any residents of Watertown who are listening, will consider taking the necessary steps to further optimize the plan to encompass that which is missing: 

Urban Ecological Planning and Living Green Infrastructure.

Around Town

LETTER: East End Resident Says Streets Have Become Cut Throughs

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Good day,

We have become the new cut through streets to Cambridge. Because Cambridge made a mess of their part of Belmont Street it has caused drivers to cut through our five East End streets: Prentiss, Keenan, Brimmer, Francis and St. Mary’s. 

Many times these people come down our streets at a high rate of speed. Speaking to some of our neighbors we think that speed bumps should be put in. I tried to contact the Town or City manager about this issue with no reply.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Business Coalition’s Asks for the Watertown Square Area Plan

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To Our Neighbors on the City Council & Planning Board,

We are writing to you today on behalf of the business community in and around Watertown Square. The Watertown Business Coalition (WBC) considers itself a community organization, so the thoughts presented herein are a balance between what is best for all stakeholders (residents, businesses, property owners, nonprofits and more …) in Watertown Square. The WBC has been actively engaged with the community since the Watertown Square Area Plan (WSAP) efforts began in Fall 2023, from holding WBC community events, kitchen table conversations, business roundtables, one-on-one meetings, and taking part in the several phases of planning run by the City. A myriad of ideas and suggestions have come from this process to lead us towards the proposed redesign and transformation of the Watertown Square Area. Two themes that continue to dominate conversation are traffic and housing.

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LETTER: Resident Explains Withdrawal from Human Rights Commission

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To whom it may concern,

It is with a heavy heart and disappointment that I am submitting my resignation from the inaugural Watertown HRC Committee. For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been a resident of Watertown since 2018. I credit Nicole Gardner for getting me looped into the community and caring about my neighbors. I’ve been an active moderator for the Facebook Buy Nothing Watertown South group for a few years and I was the 2023 recipient of the World in Watertown Social Justice Scholarship, so when Nicole reached out to me about applying for the HRC Committee, I jumped at the opportunity. I believed that with my multiple identities as a person of color, immigrant, and queer, I could give a voice to those underrepresented within our community.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Housing Group Supports Proposed Watertown Square Area Plan

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As advocates for housing availability and affordability in Watertown, we have closely followed the Watertown Square Area Plan process since its kickoff last Fall. Throughout the kitchen table conversations, online surveys, and countless community meetings that we’ve participated in, we’ve watched a plan emerge that manages to balance a wide range of perspectives. As a result, the core elements of the plan garner support from two-thirds of recent survey respondents. Supporting the Plan

While we believe that significantly more work needs to be done to address the housing crisis, this plan represents an important step toward allowing more housing in our city. We strongly urge all who support more housing, a more walkable and bikeable community, and a more vibrant downtown to attend this Thursday’s meeting at the Middle School and speak in support of it.