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Re: Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail
"We" have got to impose the rule that we don't build things unless they are both *wanted* and *catalyzing*
The message from the state has *got* to be:
1) WANTED: Everybody along the way has to want it. We don't pay off towns along the way. FR/NB, it is not the state's "fault" if a project gets taken hostage by NIMBYs in (say) Easton. We're only going to build where there are YIMBYs.
2) CATALYZING: Everybody along the way has to *use* it...which is to say, be willing to put everything within .5mi of a station into a special TOD zone. Give back to "the economy" the housing supply we need, and the low-footprint commuting we demand.
None of this idea that somehow getting rail is like everyone is getting a third-car-garage that they *might* use.
There are enough Somervilles in the state that are willing to take new infrastructure without odius preconditions, lower parking minimums, increase density, and willing to "give us" new housing as a "payback" such that we never, never, never build any more Greenbushes again.
They just want $2b worth of infrastructure that they can share intimately with their existing neighbors, ride into Boston for the occasional show or event, and not otherwise see their life changed. And they want us to build it with bond capacity that we could have used to double service to Middleboro, or extend the Green Line to Rt 16, or build the Red-Blue connector.I believe that most of the small towns the line runs through have made it clear that they don't want major development.
"We" have got to impose the rule that we don't build things unless they are both *wanted* and *catalyzing*
The message from the state has *got* to be:
1) WANTED: Everybody along the way has to want it. We don't pay off towns along the way. FR/NB, it is not the state's "fault" if a project gets taken hostage by NIMBYs in (say) Easton. We're only going to build where there are YIMBYs.
2) CATALYZING: Everybody along the way has to *use* it...which is to say, be willing to put everything within .5mi of a station into a special TOD zone. Give back to "the economy" the housing supply we need, and the low-footprint commuting we demand.
None of this idea that somehow getting rail is like everyone is getting a third-car-garage that they *might* use.
There are enough Somervilles in the state that are willing to take new infrastructure without odius preconditions, lower parking minimums, increase density, and willing to "give us" new housing as a "payback" such that we never, never, never build any more Greenbushes again.