Allston-Brighton Infill and Small Developments

palindrome said:
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I've just created a 530 Western Ave thread here:
http://www.archboston.org/community/showthread.php?p=250579
 
my b. its at the intersection of fern st and franklin st. right here
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yeah that looks like the little triangle park in "LA"
 
There's a great column in the Globe today about Representative Seth Moulton taking down Secretary of State William Galvin over his NIMBY opposition to a proposed Veteran's housing facility in Brighton.

Brighton Marine Health Center sits on a small hill near St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. The health center there had a plan that had virtually every stakeholder who reviewed it nodding in enthusiastic agreement. Not Bill Galvin, a Brighton resident, who fashions himself as the unofficial mayor of his neighborhood.

Working with developer WinnCompanies, the health center is seeking public funds to help develop 108 units of housing. Most of those units would be below market rate. All of them are intended for veterans.

[...]

So Moulton and Galvin had a little talk. “He was trying to explain something about how he was concerned about the frontage on Commonwealth Avenue,’’ Moulton said. “I didn’t understand that. To me, there’s nothing wrong with having veterans housing on Comm. Ave. To me, that didn’t seem like a major concern.’’

[...]

And he told the same thing to Galvin this week in a blunt letter that immediately dislodged the Galvin-constructed roadblock that had threatened to derail or destroy the project.

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A day after Moulton’s letter, the long-stalled negotiations resumed.

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“The advocacy and stature of Congressman Moulton did move the needle,’’ said Michael Dwyer, chief executive officer of Brighton Marine Health Center, who had been perplexed — and visibly angry — at Galvin’s intransigence. “We took the high road. The street fight’s over. I won’t say we’re in the end zone, but we’re at the 50-yard line. In the next 30 days, we have to come together as a group.’’

[...]

Galvin wouldn’t talk to me about any of this.

[...]
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I don't want this to get sidetracked into some stupid political pissing contest (both pols here are of the same party, after all), but hats off to Rep Moulton for calling Galvin on his bullshit and getting this project moving. We need more elected leaders who will step in to get good projects built. Moulton definitely seems like the type of guy who's destined for higher office.
 
JumboBuc said:
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I don't want this to get sidetracked into some stupid political pissing contest (both pols here are of the same party, after all), but hats off to Rep Moulton for calling Galvin on his bullshit and getting this project moving. We need more elected leaders who will step in to get good projects built. Moulton definitely seems like the type of guy who's destined for higher office.
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As the Globe article notes, Brighton isn't in Moulton's district, so in one sense, he was treading on another Congressman's turf.

When Moulton ran in 2014, among the contributors to his campaign were several former generals who were the overall commanders in Iraq / Afghanistan. I'll give high odds that he'll be a U.S. Senator someday, and good odds that he'll be a Presidential candidate in the more distant future.
 
I'm curious about the shape that Galvin's 'roadblock' took if a simple letter from an unrelated Congressman could dislodge it.

Also: fuck Galvin. "Mayor" of Allston/Brighton? I never voted for his ass. Not even as Secretary (I undervote). He needs to retire, pronto.
 
stellarfun said:
As the Globe article notes, Brighton isn't in Moulton's district, so in one sense, he was treading on another Congressman's turf.

When Moulton ran in 2014, among the contributors to his campaign were several former generals who were the overall commanders in Iraq / Afghanistan. I'll give high odds that he'll be a U.S. Senator someday, and good odds that he'll be a Presidential candidate in the more distant future.
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Stellarfun -- I think that the key to the progress on the project is that Moulton is a Veteran -- the only member of the Massachusetts US Congressional Delegation who is a veteran -- a far cry from the past
 
dwash59 said:
Every time I look at the renderings for this project, I just think they are horrible. Is this just laziness or do they really plan for the building to look like that?
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It really does look bad. Is it the black hole windows?
 
dwash59 said:
Every time I look at the renderings for this project, I just think they are horrible. Is this just laziness or do they really plan for the building to look like that?
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It's the path of least resistance for developers. Propose something that looks vaguely "New Englandy" and the masses are less likely to yowl, gnash, and chew on the furniture in outrage.
 
Couple of new approvals from feb's BRA meeting - no images since theyre embedded in the BRA pdfs:

1. 89 Brighton Ave approved this month (former Internl Bike):

Presentation from developer here
Review from bostoninno here - read both and you will see the changes the neighbors (neighbors? who the fuck would ever live in this neighborhood unless they were in college, anyway?!) forced them to do - the original building looked better, was larger, taller, and had less parking. Oh well.


2. 392-398 Cambridge St - this is the grassy lot right next to the old Do Re Mi... say bye bye to one of the last pieces of grass in the area... this building looks pretty damned ugly, would rather have left the grass and demo'ed just about anything else on this godforsaken stretch...

Images here..
 
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aaaaaa said:
I would live in that part of Allston in a heartbeat. It has so much: good restaurants, bars, and more energy than most places in Boston.
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eh... i know that area all too well. yeah, it has life, and a few good restaurants but not as many good ones as you think. it's not a great place to live. and the specific area bounded by the pike/tracks, brighton, harvard, and BU/Shaws/Packard's corner is definitely the dregs of the party house scene. You can argue all you want about college kids ruining a neighborhood with out-of-control parties, but whenever theres a story about some poor family who's a lone holdout on Pratt or Gardner Street complaining about noise, I think, Why would you ever live there?

Other quarters of Allston are not as uniformly like this, but this is just one section that 100% is.
 
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