Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments | Somerville

Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

How could anyone be surprised? TOD anchored by auto-oriented big box, just down the arterial from the Wellington-area autotopia, was always a contradiction in terms. And straphangers existing the station to see parking lots and Ikea's butt is the end result.
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

BostonUrbEx said:
And why are there loading docks and a parking lot/garage/covered lot all directly across the street from the station?

And why is there no longer public access across the tracks via the station (instead of ONLY at C St underpass).


WHY ARE THERE 6 PARKING STRUCTURES? One of these buildings is all parking on the ground floor except for one side.

What is this? This project is going down the shitter. I don't even want it now.


EDIT: Major fear confirmed: there WILL be an open parking lot right across from the station. What. the. hell.
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Urb -- Calm down -- you can always build on open parking lots -- exhibit is Hayward Place

As for the need for parking -- you certainly need parking -- the only question is how much?
The estimates for the NB project is that transit will account for 12 to 18% of the commuting at peak AM and PM hours. Note NB assumed that walking and biking would account for comparable amounts

With all the urbanity of the NB -- they came up with the need for 1700 parking spots and the Assembly Sq. is bigger by at least a factor of 2
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

When do they start on the retail part of it?
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

was there on Friday,
009-4.jpg
007-4.jpg
,not much of anything yet,some nice new roads,utilities looked buried and the place was ready to be built!
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Holy shit what a postapocalyptic wasteland.
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

They should have planned the redevelopment as a giant place to play paintball dressed up like Beyond Thunderdome.
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

Anti-Walmart group protest ...

At the moment, the Somerville Chamber of Commerce is neither supporting nor opposing a Wal-Mart grocery store that could be moving into Assembly Square, but in a statement, the organizations's president, Stephen Mackey, said, "It may be in the whole community's interest to hear the proposal before rushing to judgement."

Read Mackey's entire statement below.

Meanwhile, opponents of the possible Wal-Mart are continuing to share their concerns about the project with local businesses and residents.
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http://somerville.patch.com/articles/chamber-of-commerce-urges-open-mind-on-wal-mart-grocery-store
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

I'm not surprised they're trying but I don't think it will ever happen.
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

I wouldn't want a major walmart there, but that's not what they are proposing i gather. I'm sure its one of their urban stores that's more food focused. I know they have some iffy labor practices, but if they meet the basic standards that shaws, and S&S do (where many employees are probably earning minimum wage and no benefits) then what's the problem.

This activism has been good in pushing wal-mart to reform their practices, and people should remain vigilant in ensuring they continue to treat their workers fairly. But if they've met the metric, they are just a major chain like a S&S, trader joes, target or whatever other grocery store would go in the area. I would venture to bet that they know the spotlight is one and would actually do a better job than any of those.

Don't want to go off on too much of a tangent, so i apologize if this cascades a lot, but I think of myself as center-left and am receptive to arguments about bad management policies and labor practices, but at a certain point you can't just be about rallying against a brand name boogey man that no longer is the same as when you started. Then you just go from practical reform to ideological dogma with no flexibility and you become what you've been protesting against.
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

underground said:
They should have planned the redevelopment as a giant place to play paintball dressed up like Beyond Thunderdome.
Click to expand...

Where's Mel Wallace or Will Gibson whatever his stage name is when you need him

Where's the Mass Film Bureau

I always thought that the Big Dig could have made a lot of money using the deep steel structure of the vent stack now buried under the Intercontinental Hotel. At least 2 or 3 superman, spiderman and some space Odyssey or another could have been filmed amongst the thousands of pieces of steel in the deep hole

Oh well -- another missed lottery play :=}
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

choo said:
I wouldn't want a major walmart there, but that's not what they are proposing i gather..... Don't want to go off on too much of a tangent, so i apologize if this cascades a lot, but I think of myself as center-left and am receptive to arguments about bad management policies and labor practices.....
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The answer is:
Tyson
Walton
Bill Clinton



and Karnack what was the question?

Name three icons of Arkansas?
A foodey
A Big Shop Boss
and a Haiku Philosopher ["the meaning of is is"]
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

For runner/cyclists like me, the toughest thing to consider is that this area is where there will be, for years to come, a 1/3 mile dead spot on the the Mystic River series of bike paths. Between Assembly Square and 99/Rutherford Ave this is the only disconnect from the Mystic Lakes to Boston Harbor.

Boston's proposed redesign of Sullivan Square hints that the MBTA depot in this spot may be redeveloped to permit public access, but part of the space is within Somerville. Right now the only way to reach Charlestown from this development is to bite the bullet and run through some nasty-looking private property (not that I've ever done such a thing)

AssemblySq.jpg
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

One thing I dislike about Assembly Square is how it is isolated from the rest of the world thanks to the raised highway and the Orange Line tracks. Just walking there from Sullivan Station is risky.
 
Re: Assembly Square Redevelopment

How did that entire area of Somerville/Medford/Everett/Malden end up being such an autotopia? I shudder when I see pedestrians from Everett crossing the Rt 16 bridge to the east of Wellington. I can't imagine walking or biking anywhere around there.

A friend has an apartment at River's Edge, about a seven minute walk from Wellington. They actually have a shuttle bus going to and fro - that's how little anyone wants to walk that route (they also have hundreds of parking spaces, because, even though there's a Starbucks a half mile away at Station Landing, good luck walking there).

Absolutely depressing. I don't think Assembly Square is going to change anything.
 
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