Brookline Infill and Small Developments

Re: liquor prices.

In Boston right now, you could buy a ~430-square foot studio on Beacon Street for $295,000, a parking space in the Brimmer Street Garage for $285,000, or a full-liquor license for a Chinatown restaurant for $300,000.
 
Now that I have a car (after 7 years) in Boston I hate them as well. I now manage a restaurant and frequently have to run deliveries or other errands that require quick stops.

If there is a single space meter, I'll slip in a coin. If its a multi-space time waster, I'll risk the ticket. Plain and simple, these things suck and I'll be happy to see them go. (I will agree they work well in large lots, and the ability to demand price is nice, although I don't see why you can't do that on a single space meter as well).

I hope this reversal spills over into Boston.
 
It's a no-win situation. Business owners bitch that there isn't enough turnover during the day with traditional meters. Business owners bitch that there's nowhere for their employees to park with traditional meters Business owners bitch that it's hard to park to make deliveries with new meters.

It's a no-win situation.
 
Manual parking fee collection should be a thing of the past. Every legal street space should have a visual sensor that reads the license plate - and that is it. The driver must be responsible for logging onto a site within x days of parking and pay their tab to avoid further penalties (this is how London congestion pricing works). They also have the convenience option of creating an account that automatically debits. Tickets, for example parking longer than 2 hours in a 2-hour parking zone, would be similarly automated (and virtually un-contestable)
 
Shepard said:
Manual parking fee collection should be a thing of the past. Every legal street space should have a visual sensor that reads the license plate - and that is it. The driver must be responsible for logging onto a site within x days of parking and pay their tab to avoid further penalties (this is how London congestion pricing works). They also have the convenience option of creating an account that automatically debits. Tickets, for example parking longer than 2 hours in a 2-hour parking zone, would be similarly automated (and virtually un-contestable)
Click to expand...

Perhaps the cities and towns can "study" the idea and hire a firm at the cost of several hundred thousand dollars?
 
Shepard said:
Manual parking fee collection should be a thing of the past. Every legal street space should have a visual sensor that reads the license plate - and that is it. The driver must be responsible for logging onto a site within x days of parking and pay their tab to avoid further penalties (this is how London congestion pricing works). They also have the convenience option of creating an account that automatically debits. Tickets, for example parking longer than 2 hours in a 2-hour parking zone, would be similarly automated (and virtually un-contestable)
Click to expand...

Shep -- that sounds like it would be desirable -- But the practical factors are significant:
1) where would you put the camera,
2) how do you power it and connect it,
3) does if focus or is it a fixed lens, does it pan and zoom,
4 does it have heaters, wipers, anti-vandalism provisions,
5) what about lights?
 
Gravel being pushed around (?) at Circle Cinemas:

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And this is a little project on Sewall that replaced a home that burned down a few years back:

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^^ Shame about the break in the streetwall there... ^^
 
Stumbled randomly upon this project while wandering the borderland between Brookline and Brighton. It's at 20 Englewood, on the Brookline side. Apparently a 20 unit apartment building that replaces a surface lot.

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I used to walk by that lot all the time. I'm glad it's going to good use.

In other news, apparently there have been talks with developers for re-developing the Durgin Garage in Coolidge Corner. The article is here. It's really too bad that this building is in such a sorry state given that the location has a lot of potential. Lots of library patrons walk down that streeet, after all. I also noticed that they've been painting some of the storefronts with bright colors recently (though the colors don't fit the building at all), so maybe things are moving forward.

One resident suggested an in-door market, which would be a great use of that building. Probably too hopeful though.
 
That's good news about the garage. For years that has been a blight on what's generally a very nice and clean part of Brookline.
 
They've had to re-dig and fill in that hole at least half a dozen times since starting the sewer separation project. Wouldn't be surprised if they have to do it again before it's finally finished. So despair not?

Green Street in Coolidge Corner, which has seen a fair amount of rehab/new stuff in the last five years, may have another one in the pipeline. There's a demo request for 82 Green (http://goo.gl/maps/JvqqN), whose current state of disrepair earns it the role of neighborhood haunted house. The town preservation commission has made an initial ruling against demo, and has a public hearing on the 9th to vote on it. I only looked around for a minute and couldn't find plans for the potential replacement, but the million-dollar multi-families next door at 74/76 Green are probably a good indication of what to expect.
 
Heh, disrepair in Brookline looks better then well maintained in Allston.
 
They spent all of the time and money to make Beacon Street look really nice from near Cleveland Circle down to St. Mary's. Between last summer and this summer, they have dug and destroyed a lot of the good work that was done. They had the big sewer project and other various digging projects.
 
How they did not know the sewer project was coming up is really quite astounding. Let's spend millions to completely redo the entire street. Then a few years later let's rip it all up to put in new sewers! WTF?

Somerville is getting ready to redo Beacon St there, and they have said they are talking to NSTAR and all the other utility companies to have them do any invasive maintenance or upgrades within the next year before that project starts. How smart!
 
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