Brookline Infill and Small Developments

Equilibria said:
The person leading the comprehensive planning effort that could result in many positive urbanist outcomes is not inherently a bad actor, nor is she inevitably stupid to be annoyed that this project is short-circuiting it.

Depending on the details one could get there, but if you advocate "not listening" to comprehensive planning in favor of whatever developers want you get Houston.
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Other than Jeremi, I can't imagine anyone here wanting Houston.

However, Olson Pehlke's REASONS of 'Hundreds and hundreds of new cars and people in an area that already has inadequate capacity in terms of roadways, parks, shops, sidewalks, post office and [Trader Joe’s] on the weekend anyone?" is such an incredibly false dogwhistle for Coolidge Corner (which has 6 Green Line Stations within 3,000 feet) and would see a net LOSS of 2 parking spaces from this development begs the conclusion that she a) doesn't know what she is talking about or b) does , in fact, know but is using falsehoods to get to her intended conclusion. THIS development means FEWER commuters and more walkers from the local area to the Trader Joes and other shops, etc. Her false reasoning is bassackwards and only feeds into increased car usage and traffic.

And at no point did I ever "advocate "not listening" to Ms. Olson Pehlke - someone else posted something perhaps suggesting that - I only advocate seeing her stated "reasoning" on this for what it is.

60 will always be a smaller number than 62. And local walking car-free residents will always be better for car traffic/congestion than drivers.

There are few neighborhoods BETTER suited for this than Coolidge Corner: https://www.15minutecity.com/

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SuffolkHeights11 said:
The problem isn't Linda Olson Pehlke, it's Brookline listening to Linda Olson Pehlke.
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This.

I don't know much about this particular meeting, but in my neighborhood I noticed the following trend: A community meeting occurs with 20-30 people. 2-3 angry neighbors rant for 20 mins about somewhat irrelevant concerns only tangentially impacted by the project. 5 others have 'concerns' that are easily addressed. 6 people say they like the proposal. 90% of the meeting attendees roll their eyes at the 2-3 angry people. Next day the write up comes out and it's all about the "highly controversial" project with cherry picked quotes from the angry people only. It's always nowhere near representative of the actual meeting.
 
Sounds like we need a separate thread for Ms Olson Pehlke lol
 
shmessy said:
Other than Jeremi, I can't imagine anyone here wanting Houston.

However, Olson Pehlke's REASONS of 'Hundreds and hundreds of new cars and people in an area that already has inadequate capacity in terms of roadways, parks, shops, sidewalks, post office and [Trader Joe’s] on the weekend anyone?" is such an incredibly false dogwhistle for Coolidge Corner (which has 6 Green Line Stations within 3,000 feet) and would see a net LOSS of 2 parking spaces from this development begs the conclusion that she a) doesn't know what she is talking about or b) does , in fact, know but is using falsehoods to get to her intended conclusion. THIS development means FEWER commuters and more walkers from the local area to the Trader Joes and other shops, etc. Her false reasoning is bassackwards and only feeds into increased car usage and traffic.

And at no point did I ever "advocate "not listening" to Ms. Olson Pehlke - someone else posted something perhaps suggesting that - I only advocate seeing her stated "reasoning" on this for what it is.

60 will always be a smaller number than 62. And local walking car-free residents will always be better for car traffic/congestion than drivers.

There are few neighborhoods BETTER suited for this than Coolidge Corner: https://www.15minutecity.com/

.
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Houston has figured out how to build high density urban infill in a way that Boston absolutely has not. We should be so lucky as to have that here.
 
Jeremi said:
Houston has figured out how to build high density urban infill in a way that Boston absolutely has not. We should be so lucky as to have that here.
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Matching it up with their massive roadways and slavish reliance on cars/trucks????????

Volume of units isn't the entire answer. It is the LIVABILITY and 15 Minute City concept that will be the most efficient and livable future for cities. Unit volume PLUS enlightened urban planning and transportation is the answer. Doing just one part is shortsighted.
 
smintz said:
Developer proposes seven-story apartment building in Coolidge Corner parking lot

brookline.news

Developer proposes seven-story apartment building in Coolidge Corner parking lot - Brookline.News

The proposed project has quickly proven controversial among neighbors and Town Meeting members.
brookline.news brookline.news
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The render

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shmessy said:
Matching it up with their massive roadways and slavish reliance on cars/trucks????????

Volume of units isn't the entire answer. It is the LIVABILITY and 15 Minute City concept that will be the most efficient and livable future for cities. Unit volume PLUS enlightened urban planning and transportation is the answer. Doing just one part is shortsighted.
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Many of those units are within the 610 loop. Their zoning laws (which encourage, not discourage development) have resulted in wastelands being developed into entirely walkable areas. I don't think anyone here thinks that they have a good TRANSPORTATION policy (and they, too, are obsessed with parking), but their zoning policy is a joy compared to ours.
 
JumboBuc said:
The Stop n Shop on Harvard St is a 5-minute walk from the heart of Coolidge Corner.
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That Stop n Shop is a 10min walk at best from Lee's and all a gradual uphill coming back (I'll give you that its two stops on the 66). But that's a whole other can a worms because it's the main grocery option for the ~13k residents that live on the Southside down to Brookline. And then the ~3500 folks on the other side of Rt 9 down Cypress are stuck between that, Brigham Circle, or Hyde Sq, all not exactly convenient to access. Thank God for Kurkman's. If you can't tell I'm very passionate about the ease of access to a wide variety of groceries.
 
FPJ said:
It’s strange that the developer proposes a (seemingly needless) mid-block connection to River Road, as opposed to making a coherent street wall.
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I think the purpose of that connection is to serve as a drop-off zone. in which case I think I like it better than the traditional semi-circular curb cut.
 
Actually it is for a drainage easement for a culvert that runs underneath Pearl St across Brookline Ave, past River Rd and empties into the Muddy River.
I really like that it adds a direct path for people walking or on bikes that connects the Muddy River Path to Brookline Village Station.
 

Walnut High Apartments​

Description
“The Walnut High Apartments is a 181-unit, transit-oriented development that will revitalize an existing property for the Brookline Housing Authority. The development includes two buildings that will be built in subsequent phases and will provide 37 rental units at or below 30% AMI, with the remaining 144 rental units between 30-50% AMI to the Brookline Village neighborhood……”

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www.utiledesign.com

Walnut High Apartments - Utile

www.utiledesign.com www.utiledesign.com

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what happens to the people who live in the buildings that are there now?
 
FK4 said:
what happens to the people who live in the buildings that are there now?
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Housing authorities have relocation services for tenants. They are typically given a choice of other similar housing units in the area., often with free moving services. They are offered first dibbs on returning to the same location as well. Built in the 1930s (?) so I have a feeling the buildings are not structurally sound, definitely not energy efficient, so this is great news for this reinvestment. It's a time capsule of a building, one unit I visited still had a fold-away ironing board cabinet in the kitchen wall, tenant still used it.
 
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dhawkins said:
Housing authorities have relocation services for tenants. They are typically given a choice of other similar housing units in the area., often with free moving services. They are offered first dibbs on returning to the same location as well. Built in the 1930s (?) so I have a feeling the buildings are not structurally sound, definitely not energy efficient, so this is great news for this reinvestment. It's a time capsule of a building, one unit I visited still had a fold-away ironing board cabinet in the kitchen wall, tenant still used it.
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It's from the early 1960s, 1961 to be specific. That whole area was divided into two urban renewal zones, north and south of route 9, eminent domain, demolition, eviction, Route 9 widened, a lot of the cleared land given to the Brook House development for the rich, etc. My babysitter growing up was from this area and her family and whole neighborhood were forcibly evicted from wooden triple deckers that everyone was happy in, and then "allowed" to come back and live in the brick housing projects, she talked about it all the time and apparently wasn't the only one (see below). There used to be one specific website on this particular urban renewal history that also included the urban renewal zone north of Rt 9 but I have not been able to find it recently, and cant remember what it was called (I feel like it was called "the ---" similarly to "The Farm"). It's really pretty horrendous, anyway, you can skip the reading and look at the picture, uploaded, for the before and after.

Globe article beginning + link https://manhattan.institute/article/the-tragic-lessons-of-urban-renewal-at-brooklines-farms

Edit - ahhh, I found it, had been trying to find this info for a few years. The other area north of Washington was The Marsh. It's mentioned in this recent article and also linking some pics.
www.nationalaffairs.com

Bringing Back Housing Diversity

Local zoning policies have dramatically reduced the home-ownership opportunities available to lower-income Americans, and attempts to address that problem have often involved ill-fated public-housing experiments. A better approach would involve permi...
www.nationalaffairs.com www.nationalaffairs.com
 

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