Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

FK4 said:
Looking at that map, it looks like Foss Park probably got eaten up by the McGrath - that corner is cut off...

My friend's GF was hit crossing 28 a few weeks ago, almost died... they live in Ten Hills which is now close to the new T stop. Better crossings are needed all over this area - but I am confident and hopeful they will come.

As an aside, I am NOT confident the casino will help this. I hate the idea of the casino and always have, and without a doubt, they casino will be a force that will be very much favoring and pressuring higher speed roads, as well as fostering bigger footprint development that also kills streetlife and makes the streetscape more of a car only place.
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That corner was indead eaten up by McGrath Highway. It looks like Foss Park was quite a lovely place back in 1874, with ponds, fountains, and curvilinear paths:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastatelibrary/9682478216/in/set-72157635399194596


By 1895, the fountains were already gone and the ponds had been combined into one:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastatelibrary/7936712096/in/set-72157631419997216

And now, in the 21st century, we have to settle for a dustbowl soccer field, outdated pool, poor drainage, an oversized parking lot, a badly designed layout with no landscaping of interest, and a prison-grade fence on two sides. There was talk of the city taking ownership from the DCR a few years ago and possibly a new Somerville YMCA on site, does anyone know if either of those are still a possibility?

In regards to the crosswalk near McGrath, they really need to put a stoplight there. It's a wide roadway with no lane markings and high speed traffic, and no one even notices the flashing crosswalk sign. On the occasion someone does stop for you, another driver will often swerve around them and then act surprised when they nearly run you over (Really? You thought that driver in front of you just stopped in the middle of the road for no reason?).
 
whsurveyor said:
There was talk of the city taking ownership from the DCR a few years ago and possibly a new Somerville YMCA on site, does anyone know if either of those are still a possibility?
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City is pushing for control of both this park and Draw 7 by Assembly, which is also DCR. Word on the street is the attention has shifted to Draw 7 rather than Foss because of the growth at Assembly. But both remain in the long-term plans.

Twice a year the city does Ward meetings called Resistat meetings, and I have regularly asked Curtatone and other city officials for a Foss update. As with the Star Market, there's still nothing new to report.

However, the Pollyanna that nestles deep within my soul is piping up to remind me of something: The city planning staff have given strong indication that central Broadway improvements are creeping up the priority list and could be submitted for city budget funding next year. If that happens, then it makes sense that we'd redouble our efforts to reacquire control of Foss.

Anyone interested should come to the meeting January 15. This will be the last public meeting before the city draws up a formal design plan for the neighborhood. http://www.somervillebydesign.com/somerville-design-winter-hill/
 
datadyne007 said:
AK - you can use the multiquote feature to quote multiple posts in 1 reply:

Just click on the middle icon on each post you wish to quote and then click the "Post Reply" button:
dKvR5Wc.png


This button on each post is a toggle, much like a checkbox.
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Does that work across pages?
 
So, I have been apartment hunting as of late and am looking into possibly moving to Assembly Row. Does anyone reside here or have any friends who do so that I can figure out if I would actually like living here?
 
pel_north said:
So, I have been apartment hunting as of late and am looking into possibly moving to Assembly Row. Does anyone reside here or have any friends who do so that I can figure out if I would actually like living here?
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Been hanging out there lately. The development is like being on a movie set. I do believe its very pricey--Might be able to get an apartment in the Backbay for what they want for rents in this area.

But all the amenities are downstairs from you--Retail stores, Coffee shops, bakery, Restaurants & bars, Movie theater.
Also you have the orange line as the stop with a view of some water.

Not sure on the actual Rents- I heard 400sqft they are asking $2,100 (Not sure if that is true)

P.S. Ask them if your able to go to the movies for FREE since you live in the area.

Good Luck
 
There is someone on here who lives at Assembly Row. They were active a few months back.
 
AmericanKryptonite said:
I do live in Assembly. Rent is 2,380 for 720sqft. Yeah it's pricey, but at the same time, it's new construction and the location is awesome. I can get to Costco, groceries, transit, highway in 5 mins or less. Wegmans is only 20 mins away and soon there will be a casino about 5 minutes away.
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Good God. When I was at UNC, (2012-2013) I was paying $900 a month for 764 square feet in a new building. That included all utilities, cable, and high speed internet! Of course, Chapel Hill ain't Boston, but that's a pretty stark difference.

When I last lived in Davis Square in 2011 I had a 2 bedroom, ~1000 square feet, that was only $1420 a month. 4 minute walk to the Red Line. The prices here have gotten out of control in a very short amount of time!!!!!
 
Well, housing is getting slimmer and slimmer everyday. That'll drive the prices up and up.
 
I was driving down 93 today, and saw 2 cores here between 4-5 stories high. It's coming along!
 
The prices here have gotten out of control in a very short amount of time!!!!!
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That is crazy, though it does follow trends. I was paying nearly the same amount for an identically sized one bedroom in Beacon Hill in 2008.
 
Just moved here from Fenway where we lived for past 5 years. Got tired of the parking, baseball crowds, college students, and poor public transit. Plus a lot of the neighborhood seems to have disappeared and gotten more sterile with Canestaros gone and more chain restaurants. Figured if that's the way Fenway is going and nothing for sale in our price point may as well get some amenities while still being within close proximity of the T (when it's not horrible during a snowstorm).

It definitely is expensive and although Ava is advertising towards millenials the residents tend to be late twenties and thirties, some with kids. There's a spattering of rich asian/middle eastern college students but that's a small minority.

In terms of value we're paying an extra $1,000 compared to Fenway and get:
- An extra bedroom/bathroom and 600sqft of space
- In unit laundry, huge amount of kitchen space
- A gym, public hang out areas, private patio, gas grills to use whenever
- cheaper and easier parking than Fenway
- A door-to-door commute to the financial district that is 25min vs 35min from Fenway on the 55 bus

We looked at options to move to a better place within/near Fenway and to really get anything better than what we had it would've been the same price as we pay at Ava and far fewer amenities.
 
I'll never understand why developers want to go for the millenial demo. You have an entire generation that entered the workforce in the worst economic climate in 80 years, you think they can afford a $3000 one bed?!

Unrelated, I hope someone sets up a rent-a-kayak in Assembly Sq. The river is really fun and wide to paddle around right there.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
I'll never understand why developers want to go for the millenial demo. You have an entire generation that entered the workforce in the worst economic climate in 80 years, you think they can afford a $3000 one bed?!

Unrelated, I hope someone sets up a rent-a-kayak in Assembly Sq. The river is really fun and wide to paddle around right there.
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The first year of millennials are 32 years old right now, not exactly kids anymore. Hell, a lot of them have kids of their own already. Besides, these developers aren't trying to capture all millennials or the average millennial. They are targeting the top earning ones in the most highly educated metro in the country.

Sure wage growth has been slower than typical and a few percent more people were unemployed than typical. That doesn't mean nobody has been making money or that an entire generation of people are broke.

I feel like I have to remind this forum all the time, there are thousands of 20-somethings in Boston making over $100,000 right now.
 
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vanshnookenraggen said:
I'll never understand why developers want to go for the millenial demo. You have an entire generation that entered the workforce in the worst economic climate in 80 years, you think they can afford a $3000 one bed?!

Unrelated, I hope someone sets up a rent-a-kayak in Assembly Sq. The river is really fun and wide to paddle around right there.
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Van -- Demographics is like Real Estate -- instead of Location, Location, Location -- its Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

Like the Boomers who are tending into retirement, the Millennials are a very large cohort -- in fact using some measures, they are the largest generation in history

from the document published on the whitehouse website
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/def...port.pdf?_ga=1.74922129.2038193398.1412887442

15 ECONOMIC FACTS ABOUT MILLENNIALS
The Council of Economic Advisers
October 2014

Millennials, the cohort of Americans born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, are the largest generation in the U.S., representing one-third of the total U.S. population in 2013. With the first cohort of Millennials only in their early thirties, most members of this generation are at the beginning of their careers and so will be an important engine of the economy in the decades to come.
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That's why everyone is interested in the things the Millennials are interested as the oldest of them enter the prime demographic years for forming households and Consumin!
 
Fair. If you are looking for the next wave the millenials are that wave. Also, trying to get more students to put down roots after they graduate is a worthy cause. How soon until Roxbury gentrifies?

Also, I fucking H.A.T.E. the term "millenial". Especially the way publications like the NYT throw it around like they are old fogies trying to figure out kids these days!

/rant
 
Peterborough said:
In terms of value we're paying an extra $1,000 compared to Fenway and get:
- An extra bedroom/bathroom and 600sqft of space
- In unit laundry, huge amount of kitchen space
- A gym, public hang out areas, private patio, gas grills to use whenever
- cheaper and easier parking than Fenway
- A door-to-door commute to the financial district that is 25min vs 35min from Fenway on the 55 bus
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All of that is probably worth an extra $1,000, but I'd guess a lot of people in the Fenway are already maxed out on their housing budget, so the point remains that some of these new places are really expensive.
 
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