Copper Mill Development | Elm Street and Grove Street | Davis Square

BronsonShore said:
Politicians on the take? Lol, no. The world isn't a giant conspiracy theory.

In the case of liquor laws, it's really simple: the vast majority of people would absolutely love to see more liquor licenses. . . but it's not really an important issue to that majority. But to whom is it a very important issue? Current restaurant and bar owners, who already paid hundreds of thousands for their license, and who depend on the existing system to provide them with an incredibly valuable asset that they can unload when they need to.

So in short: the people who really care about the liquor license regime in Massachusetts don't want it to change, and lobby hard to keep things the way they are. Meanwhile, there isn't really any interested party to organize an active opposition to them. That's all there is to it.
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politicians in bed with, on the take, same thing. There was one very big MA politician that was 100% in the bag for corporate restaurant interests recently so LOL haha sarcastic face, youre wrong
 
BronsonShore said:
Politicians on the take? Lol, no. The world isn't a giant conspiracy theory.

In the case of liquor laws, it's really simple: the vast majority of people would absolutely love to see more liquor licenses. . . but it's not really an important issue to that majority. But to whom is it a very important issue? Current restaurant and bar owners, who already paid hundreds of thousands for their license, and who depend on the existing system to provide them with an incredibly valuable asset that they can unload when they need to.

So in short: the people who really care about the liquor license regime in Massachusetts don't want it to change, and lobby hard to keep things the way they are. Meanwhile, there isn't really any interested party to organize an active opposition to them. That's all there is to it.
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Other important players here are the banks. A lot of restaurants pledge their valuable licenses as collateral for the loans. If the licenses tank, the loans tank.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
politicians in bed with, on the take, same thing. There was one very big MA politician that was 100% in the bag for corporate restaurant interests recently so LOL haha sarcastic face, youre wrong
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No, it's not the same thing, like at all. Politicians respond to the interests of their constituents. Restaurant owners are their constituents, too. If they lobby, pressure, and provide legal funding to politicians in service of a policy goal they want to pursue, they are free to do so, as is anyone else. That's not the same thing as receiving briefcases full of cash.
 
BronsonShore said:
No, it's not the same thing, like at all. Politicians respond to the interests of their constituents. Restaurant owners are their constituents, too. If they lobby, pressure, and provide legal funding to politicians in service of a policy goal they want to pursue, they are free to do so, as is anyone else. That's not the same thing as receiving briefcases full of cash.
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This is a laughably naive take on how corruption works.
 
393b40 said:
This is a laughably naive take on how corruption works.
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Jesus Christ, an interest group pressuring politicians to do something - perhaps with, oh the horror, campaign financing! - and then the politicians doing that thing, is not corruption. If you have evidence that Lydia Shire is paying for vacations for mass state legislators in exchange for maintaining the licensing regime, feel free to provide it.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
This guy might be THE MOST naive, or maybe just arguing in bad faith because he thinks its self-serving
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My guy, I am literally a journalist who, among other things, has written extensively about corruption in Saudi Arabia, and I beg of you to understand what you're talking about.

Here is how the political process works 99% of the time:
  1. Groups of people sharing a common interest on a given political issue organize.
  2. Said group pressures public officeholders, usually via legal campaign funding and votes, to support given political issue.
  3. Public officeholders support issue.
That's it! That's how the world works!

Is there also unlawful corruption? Yes, frequently! But to suggest that there is definitely unlawful corruption with respect to liquor licenses when anyone who has taken one single poli sci course can see exactly what's happening -- that there is no interested party to oppose the restaurant owners -- is seriously asinine. If you actually think that a group of almost exclusively middle class small business owners operating in a notoriously unprofitable industry are illegally buying off the Massachusetts General Court for an issue on which there really is no organized opposition, I don't know what to tell you.
 
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BronsonShore said:
My guy, I am literally a journalist who, among other things, has written extensively about corruption in Saudi Arabia, and I beg of you to understand what you're talking about.

Here is how the political process works 99% of the time:
  1. Groups of people sharing a common interest on a given political issue organize.
  2. Said group pressures public officeholders, usually via legal campaign funding and votes, to support given political issue.
  3. Public officeholders support issue.
That's it! That's how the world works!

Is there also unlawful corruption? Yes, frequently! But to suggest that there is definitely unlawful corruption with respect to liquor licenses when anyone who has taken one single poli sci course can see exactly what's happening -- that there is no interested party to oppose the restaurant owners -- is seriously asinine. If you actually think that a group of almost exclusively middle class small business owners operating in a notoriously unprofitable industry are illegally buying off the Massachusetts General Court for an issue on which there really is no organized opposition, I don't know what to tell you.
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Thanks for explaining it to me like I'm 5, appreciate that. Its not worth my time to argue with people who cant see past their nose. Agree to disagree
 
That's too bad but not really a big deal. The Stop & Shop is not that much further away in Porter and there's still Pemberton Farms if you need more expensive stuff.
 
beck4537 said:
www.masslive.com

Bfresh in Somerville closing because of underperforming sales

The grocery store is known for selling more organic and natural food products.
www.masslive.com www.masslive.com
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This isn't even the first time this thing has had an announcement like this. BFresh just isn't a model that has made money (the Newton one seems to be doing okay, but recall that the Allston one closed a while back).

Also... why is Springfield-based Masslive covering this, and how is a "popular" grocery store closing "because of underperforming sales"? Can't be that popular, then...
 
How do we convince Scape to go back and try their original co-living apartments since the lab market is dead, but housing has increased demand? No way they just pressed "delete" on the designs for the 250-unit multifamily development.

The new ones down in Allston just opened - would love to see how they do.
www.boston.com

525 LINC brings co-living apartments to Allston

Tenants in this Allston development rent by the bedroom. Prices start at $3k for a studio and $1,795 for a one-bedroom in a shared apartment.
www.boston.com
 
I can only wish.

With community feedback I legitimately hope they stay above 100 units.

Without any indication from the developer, a resident was already decrying a 33-story tower (no official height or number of stories has been provided yet). Davis is ridiculously NIMBY.
 
sm89 said:
Update on this parcel: https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/1...refreshed-retail-along-elm-and-grove-streets/

"A redevelopment of the stretch between The Burren pub and Dragon Pizza on Elm Street in Somerville’s Davis Square will likely include 500 units or more"
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Looks decent
1732740548124.jpeg
 
stick n move said:
Looks decent
View attachment 58297
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If this were Fenway or Assembly, sure, but that's wildly out of scale with Davis. I'm all for housing on top of transit, but this will absolutely dominate everything there.

That looks like a superblock, and it's replacing a varied single-story set of storefronts. I mean... That picture isn't Davis Square as we know it. It's something else.

This works in Union Square because they're building on empty industrial and auto-centric lots. FWIW, I'm not certain how many stories 30 Prospect has, but with that as precedent in Somerville worries about a highrise tower aren't crazy to have, however unlikely.
 
Equilibria said:
If this were Fenway or Assembly, sure, but that's wildly out of scale with Davis. I'm all for housing on top of transit, but this will absolutely dominate everything there.

That looks like a superblock, and it's replacing a varied single-story set of storefronts. I mean... That picture isn't Davis Square as we know it. It's something else.

This works in Union Square because they're building on empty industrial and auto-centric lots. FWIW, I'm not certain how many stories 30 Prospect has, but with that as precedent in Somerville worries about a highrise tower aren't crazy to have, however unlikely.
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This plot is currently home to ~10 street-level retail locations, all of which are small in size, relatively affordable, and occupied by local businesses. These are the types of places that make urban neighborhoods interesting, lively, and exciting, and because they're locally owned, they keep money in the community. This tower will likely replace them with larger spaces that are fewer in number, more expensive, and likely to be rented by national chains. This proposal doesn't respect the neighborhood.
 
BronsonShore said:
This plot is currently home to ~10 street-level retail locations, all of which are small in size, relatively affordable, and occupied by local businesses. These are the types of places that make urban neighborhoods interesting, lively, and exciting, and because they're locally owned, they keep money in the community. This tower will likely replace them with larger spaces that are fewer in number, more expensive, and likely to be rented by national chains. This proposal doesn't respect the neighborhood.
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I'm the opposite of a Nimby here. I'd be perfectly happy if this were built in Central Square (though not so much in Inman) - no different than Market Central. PLEASE put this in my backyard, rather than putting it in Davis. Put it at Riverside where I grew up. There are so many places in Boston where this works, but just the process of proposing this has lost Davis several irreplaceable local businesses that made that street vibrant.
 
I have the same concern. I honestly don’t care if the building is 33 or 50 or 100 stories, the housing is much needed. But my rough estimate is this strip is something like 10-15% of all the small-scale mom-and-pop retail space in Davis Square. Unless they are extremely careful, any new building here would irrevocably change Davis into something much more corporate and sterile. Worst case, look at the former Johnny D’s. Sure it’s great to have housing steps from the subway, and it’s a handsome looking building, but the largely vacant retail space (or is there a boba shop now?) is such a massive downgrade for the community at-large vs. the daily live music venue that used to be there.
 
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