New Master Plan for North Allston

There is a community meeting tonight on this project.

The opposition seems to center on:

a.) too little green space, too little recreational space. Mind you that across the street from this project are the 14 acres of Smith field, one of
the larger complexes of playing fields in the city, and the MDC parkland along Soldiers Field rd. and the Charles.

b.) too much segregation of housing, i.e., keeping the Charlesview replacement units together, with the condo units placed across the street.
You'd think they were planetary distances apart.

c.) not enough development by Harvard, too few ownership units, not enough multi-bedroom family units. (Harvard should develop more of the land it owns near Brighton Mills so there can be much more housing.) Months ago, the cry was against the proposed density and height of the project.

d.) not enough retail stores. One is not going to revive Brighton Mills with the two malls at the old Arsenal but a Tiger Woods fairway drive away from North Allston. And probably some of the same activists who railed against the proposed Lowes too.
 
From the Harvard Crimson:

Residents Clash Over Revised Charlesview Relocation

Tensions rise at meeting to discuss new plan to move Allston apartment complex

Published On 8/25/2009 5:46:37 PM

By JUNE Q. WU

Crimson Staff Writer


Allston residents demanded further revisions to the planned relocation of the Charlesview Apartments, while others who live in the complex urged that the plan go forward at a crowded and contentious Monday meeting -- the first public discussion since Harvard agreed to add 1.74 acres of land to the proposed new home for the apartments.

The current Charlesview Apartments, an aging concrete complex that sits at the entrance of the University?s new Allston campus, is slated to be relocated as part of a land swap agreement with the University, filed in February of 2008. The first redevelopment design proposed 12 taller buildings spread across 6.91 acres of Harvard-owned property about a half-mile away on Western Avenue at the Brighton Mills shopping center. The new plans -- proposed in July by non-profit developers Charlesview Inc. and The Community Builders -- would instead have more than double that number of low-rise buildings on 8.65 acres that include the additional land from Harvard.

But improvements in the current proposal were not good enough, Allston and Brighton residents said. A handful of community members picketed along Western Avenue before the meeting, chanting ?"A better plan is what we need; we say no to Harvard's greed.?

"The project is fundamentally flawed," said Harry Mattison, an Allston resident and member of the Harvard Allston Task Force, an advisory panel of local residents appointed by the Mayor. "It doesn't matter how much talent you have trying to design the project if you don't have enough land."

The initial proposal for relocating the dilapidated 213-unit Charlesview apartment drew criticism for its overcrowded housing, insufficient parking, and disproportionately high number of rental units.

Last night, residents denounced the new plan for continuing to economically segregate housing, as the more expensive complexes would still be concentrated along the river. More public park land and retail space was needed, they added.

But amid the brouhaha of objections raised, several Charlesview residents lashed out at their neighbors for attempting to delay the move, thereby forcing them to remain in the aging apartments while the developers modify the proposal again. One community member attested to the poor living conditions, describing the use of tarp to direct rainwater leaking from the roof into buckets placed along the hallways.

"I'm so sick of waiting," said Phyllis Lingley, 83, who has been living in the Charlesview apartments for 40 years. "This has been going on for years, and we haven't seen a damn thing built."

She joined the majority of Charlesview residents in indicating that they wanted the Boston Redevelopment Authority to go ahead with the proposal.

The palpable tensions from over 100 people crowded into the meeting room built as frustrated Allston and Brighton residents pointed accusatory fingers at Harvard and called for the Boston Redevelopment Authority to reject the proposal until it met their expectations.

Since the land swap negotiations, Harvard has "washed its hands" of Charlesview development plans, residents alleged. Though the University is not directly involved with developing the proposal, several residents said Harvard should take a more active role in shaping relocation plans.

Kevin A. McCluskey '76, Harvard's senior director of community relations for Boston, reminded the community members during the meeting that University President Drew G. Faust had made clear earlier this year that the pace at which Harvard expands has slowed in light of the turbulent economic climate.

"Our responsibility from the very beginning was to respect the Charlesview board," McCluskey said in an interview after the meeting. He added that he hopes residents will not overlook the "broader impact" Harvard has had on the community, citing initiatives such as the education portal opened last summer.
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http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=528713

Have not yet seen any other blog or media summaries of this meeting; perhaps the Charlesview residents turning against the Allstonites who oppose the latest proposal starts cutting a little too close to the discrimination bone.
 
Harry and Columbus Center Ned are cut from the same mold...both are masters of delay, double-speak, and deceit! No matter what Harvard does...no matter how many times the plans for Charlesview are modified, Harry will never be satisfied! The same for Ned and Columbus Center. At least the residents along Lake St. are honest about how they feel about the BC expansion...they pull no punches...they don't want dorms built on the Seminary property and are not afraid to say so! Harry and Ned should be so honest!
 
I wrote a letter of support to the BRA yesterday for this project. These residents demands are honestly quite ridiculous, and i find their relentless scapegoating of harvard to be both juvenile and tiresome. Meanwhile, the residents of the current charlesview must suffer, and jobs which could be supplied remain unneeded.

What type of retail are they looking for? As someone said, the watertown/arsenal mall are a short WALK away. They want retail BUT NO LOEWS!

Why the need for green sp ace when their is a 14 acre park a couple blocks away? Why subsidized housing in a luxury location when the level of integration is already more the enough. Make sure we demand taxes from Harvard, but LUXURY HOUSING FOR THE WORKING POOR!


ugh i am starting to post like a certain member.
 
palindrome said:
What type of retail are they looking for? As someone said, the watertown/arsenal mall are a short WALK away. They want retail BUT NO LOEWS!
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That is totally disingenuous! The mall is not a short walk away, it is a bus ride over a highway and river away (I've taken it, have you?) The retail they want is small retail that will better serve the community. No shit they don't want Lowes with all the extra traffic it will bring. You gonna walk a mile or go to Lowes for a gallon of milk?

Why subsidized housing in a luxury location when the level of integration is already more the enough. Make sure we demand taxes from Harvard, but LUXURY HOUSING FOR THE WORKING POOR!
Click to expand...

Where does it say they are asking for luxury housing? In fact if luxury housing went up in Allston (not a luxury location BTW) I'm sure they'd throw a shit fit.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
That is totally disingenuous! The mall is not a short walk away, it is a bus ride over a highway and river away (I've taken it, have you?) The retail they want is small retail that will better serve the community. No shit they don't want Lowes with all the extra traffic it will bring. You gonna walk a mile or go to Lowes for a gallon of milk?
Click to expand...

NO i haven't taken the bus, but i have made the exact walk im talking about more than once. I know the area trust me. It is 1.1miles according to google maps or about 20 minutes and only 1 intersection with ample stop lights. You make it sound like you have to cross the tobin for christ sake. Also, as you said yourself, there is public transportation right there. Cannot be more than a 7 min ride.

These people wouldn't walk it though as they complained about the amount of parking.
They have a shaws literally right next to them and a CVS going up 1/2 mile away. Furthermore, barry's corner is less than a half mile away and is planned to be the next harvard square. Not to mention the already established boyne pub, mahoneys garden center and big daddys pizza.

This development is hopefully the first of many.

Based on the renderings, I don't even know how they would incorporate retail.



Where does it say they are asking for luxury housing? In fact if luxury housing went up in Allston (not a luxury location BTW) I'm sure they'd throw a shit fit.
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They're not asking for luxury housing. They are asking that subsidized housing be included in the tower that will overlook the charles river. Market rate for a charles river view will most likely be marketed as luxury.


Meanwhile, the charlesviews residents are putting tarps on the concrete bunker they call home. They have come out in support of the development.

Please don't speak to me like I am commenting from an east bumbfuck suburb. I went did some elementary school at st. columbkille, and I shop regularly at the shaws. I know what Allston is like.
 
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Finale has their kitchen in a building just east of Barry's Corner that is leased from Harvard. Some in the community wanted Finale to open a retail shop at the location. The owner(s) of Finale said 'no', the community wouldn't support it enough and the operation would lose money.

I think by virtue of the zoning laws, Harvard cannot open certain types of establishments on property it owns, such as a liquor store, bar, amusement venue, etc.

And beyond a supermarket and pharmacy, what other sorts of neighborhood oriented retail would the community want? The list gets pretty thin when you say no to a hardware big box, and Target etc are already in one of the Arsenal malls. Banks are cutting branches, not building new ones.
 
I'd want a neighborhood-scale hardware store (think Tags in Porter Sq, or Masse's in NW Cambridge), not a big box.
 
Do any "neighborhood-scaled" hardware stores open for business these days? Seems economies of scale has moved beyond them, and for sure the one in central Allston closed earlier this year.

Maybe that closing means there's a market need to now be filled in the area, but at the same time it could easily show the exact opposite.
 
I think the conundrum is that if you want a neighborhood type of store, there has to be enough density in the neighborhood to support it, because its convenient to walk or get to.

Once a small, locally-oriented business finds itself competing with a big box, when both are equally accessible to a neighborhood by car, the big box is going to win out. And that's particularly so where the smaller store doesn't have a loyal customer base built up over generations.

When one runs down the list of essential retail:

> Supermarket: already there (Shaws)
> Drug store: already nearby. Maybe another for competition with CVS?
> Hardware store: see above.
> Laundry/dry cleaners: one recently closed on Western Ave. Another is in Barry's Corners.
> Bank: between ATMs and online banking, bank branches are disappearing.
> Newstand and sundries: who buys newspapers and magazines at retail outlets these days?
> Convenience store: does 7/11 choose locations next to a supermarket?
> Department-type store: see Arsenal malls
> Electronics store: see Arsenal malls
> Book and/or media store: see Harvard Sq. and elsewhere
> Liquor store: see zoning
> Office supplies / stationers: there was one once in Brighton Mills. But is this neighborhood retail?

What have I missed?
 
palindrome said:
I wrote a letter of support to the BRA yesterday for this project. These residents demands are honestly quite ridiculous, and i find their relentless scapegoating of harvard to be both juvenile and tiresome. Meanwhile, the residents of the current charlesview must suffer, and jobs which could be supplied remain unneeded.

What type of retail are they looking for? As someone said, the watertown/arsenal mall are a short WALK away. They want retail BUT NO LOEWS!

Why the need for green sp ace when their is a 14 acre park a couple blocks away? Why subsidized housing in a luxury location when the level of integration is already more the enough. Make sure we demand taxes from Harvard, but LUXURY HOUSING FOR THE WORKING POOR!


ugh i am starting to post like a certain member.
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I'm going to have to agree. I was at this meeting the other night, and I do feel bad for the residents of Charlesview. I don't know how the shit the landlords are pulling is getting by, and the community is out of control. I understand that the area is now full of empty buildings, and Harvard is being an ass, but this is a start. Harvard owns that land. I agree the BRA should not have a take it or leave it stance with the residents and the community, but again, this is an improvement to the area.

As for the retail. I also agree here. Bring people and business will follow. This is the same with the public transportation issue brought up the other night. They are not going to put tracks or bus lines to nowhere when they can't even balance their budgets and are already making cuts. And, I have walked to the Aresenal Mall. Not something I would want to do in the winter, but not bad to get out. But as formerly stated, bring the people, business will follow.
 
Rev. Johnson column: Won?t you be our Charlesview neighbor?
By Rev. Samuel Johnson
Thu Aug 27, 2009, 06:33 AM EDT

Allston, Mass. -

How do you build a community? Forty years ago, recognizing the need for affordable, local housing in our Allston-Brighton neighborhood, a group of five (now three) religious institutions created the vision for Charlesview.

The Charlesview story is one of community empowerment, collaborative public-private partnerships and interfaith cooperation. We developed Charlesview as a 213-unit private assisted housing community to provide quality, affordable housing for people through all stages of life ? immigrants new to our shores, young families and people living in Allston-Brighton for their entire lives.

As you might do with your own neighbors and friends, we created a wonderful community that celebrates new births, helps one another shovel out cars in the winter or assists elderly neighbors with their groceries.

Our community has always reflected the diversity of our broader Allston-Brighton neighborhood. Residents at Charlesview speak 12 languages. We grow up and grow old; we have families and we go to work; we do all the things our neighbors do.

Today, 45 percent of our households are elderly, with 21 households having been residents of Charlesview since the beginning ? 40 years ago. The balance is hard-working families who attend the Gardner School, participate in local sports leagues and in daily civic life.

For you see, we?ve made a community here at Charlesview. We aren?t moving into the neighborhood ? we are already your neighbors and friends. And we are truly excited about the opportunity to move together ? as a community ? to the new Charlesview Residences.

We are assets to the neighborhood. Over the years, Charlesview has offered needed community programming. Whether it?s providing English as a Second Language classes, an infant and toddler group or the opening of the Corner Cup at 190 North Harvard Ave., Charlesview residents are a part of the Allston-Brighton community.

The new development plan that would relocate Charlesview just down the road, will include new LEED-certifiable construction of the existing 213-unit Charlesview Apartments, along with additional units of moderate and workforce rental and homeownership units to respond to today?s mixed-income family housing needs.

The plan will create other significant public benefits: enhancing pedestrian connections to the Charles River; and reconnecting streets to create a vibrant, lively and open residential community linked to the existing neighborhoods. The new environmentally friendly, sustainable community is transit-oriented, adjacent to three MBTA bus routes and within walking distance to schools, shops and other public resources.

We are excited about the opportunity to continue to build our community and work with the entire Allston-Brighton community, as we have for the past 40 years. We invite you to visit our new Web site: www.charlesviewresidences.com to learn more about our community.

Reverend Samuel Johnson is the chairman of the Board of Charlesview Inc.
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/...-column-Won-t-you-be-our-Charlesview-neighbor

www.charlesviewresidences.com
 
Whooosh Whoooosh Whooossh

Night and day. 365 days a year.

Harvard is at it again.

The university has begun construction of two 10KW wind turbines at a parking garage it owns near the intersection of Western Ave and Soldiers Field Rd. This must be near the old stables for the old Speedway race track that ran along the north side of Western Ave. (I think Olmstead may have had a hand in designing the stables, which are still owned by the state.)

10KW-Wind-Turbine-A1c912.jpg


And Harvard is installing a solar array about 750 feet long on top of a building it owns at the Watertown Arsenal.

All too evident now what Harvard eventually intends to do with all the land it owns on the north side of Western Ave between N. Harvard St and Soldiers Field Rd.: install a massive angled array of solar panels shimmering and dazzling for hundreds of yards, topped by a nearly uncountable phalanx of wind turbines. Take that Allston!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Not to be crude of profane for no reason but this is a clear example:

When a bunch of assholes cluster together, eventually there is going to be a giant pile of shit to be dealt with.
 
Two stories today, one focusing on each side of the debate.

Neighborhood group protests Charlesview plans
By Matt Seidner
Fri Aug 28, 2009, 06:25 AM EDT


Allston, Mass. -

During a march Monday evening, the Allston-Brighton Neighborhood Association condemned the Charlesview relocation project as economically segregated.

The group accused Charlesview Inc. of building ?posh condos? north of Western Avenue with Charles River vistas for the rich, while keeping lower-income tenants in rental units built to replace the Brighton Mills Shopping Center. Fifteen ABNA members and supporters marched from Barry?s Corner to the Allston-Brighton Resource Center, where a meeting for public comment on the development was being held.

Along the way, the group chanted slogans decrying the plan as an affront to the neighborhood.

?We say no to Harvard?s greed, a better plan is what we need,? the marchers shouted. ?Allston-Brighton under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!?

Geoff Carens, an ABNA member, sees the two parcels of the relocated Charlesview Residences as a way to keep wealthier Allston-Brighton residents separated from their lower-income counterparts.

?To me, that?s not really what I understand the neighborhood advocates are asking for,? said Carens.

Christopher Hill, a principal at CBT Architects and the project?s designer, said that the floor plans for residences on both sides of Western Avenue are similar. Hill also said that the condos in the building north of Western Avenue are slightly smaller than their counterparts to the south.

Floor plans for the entire project are available in the Draft Project Impact Report, available on the Boston Redevelopment Authority?s Web site at www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org.

Boston mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea marched in support with the demonstrators. He said that he feels the BRA has run over the wants of the community to push the project through to completion.

?You have to question whether the process has been fair,? said McCrea.

For ABNA, the project is inextricably linked to Harvard, even though Charlesview Inc. will own and operate the new residences. Paving the way for the relocation, Harvard traded two parcels of land in Brighton Mills totaling 8.65 acres for the plot where Charlesview currently resides.

Several of the protesters said they worked for Harvard University, and were tired of seeing Harvard implement layoffs at the school while still expanding into Allston-Brighton.

?The attention to ordinary people that Harvard pays, they kind of give them short shrift,? said Carens, who is also representative for the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers.

Jake Carman, a founding member of ABNA, worried that the people living in the Charlesview Residences have no way to make their wishes known.

?It?s easy for the rest of the neighborhood to forget about Charlesview,? he said.
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/news/x1373207083/Neighborhood-group-protests-Charlesview-plans


Charlesview tenants resent delays in relocation plans
By Matthew Seidner
Fri Aug 28, 2009, 06:29 AM EDT

Allston, Mass. -

More than 120 people packed into the Allston-Brighton Resource Center in a heated and often-emotional public comment session on the relocation of the Charlesview Residences.

Charlesview tenants, residents, city officials and developers debated whether the plans should move forward, or whether the city should ask for further revisions.

Several Charlesview tenants who attended the meeting said they resented delays in building their new homes. They described holes in their walls and ceilings; tarps and buckets set up to catch rainwater; and rodent infestations.

?I?m not going to deny the people at Charlesview a place to live,? said one woman who lived in the development for 28 years.

?Charlesview needs to move now. I think that this is going to take a blighted area and do something with it. It looks great to me, and I?d like to be able to move in my lifetime,? said Diane Elliot, a Charlesview resident.

One Charlesview tenant, fed up with efforts to delay the project, accused some in the neighborhood of trying to prevent Charlesview from moving at all.

Harry Mattison, a member of the Allston-Brighton Task Force, said that the community at large wants to improve Charlesview for everyone?s benefit.

?What we should all be doing is getting together, and saying, ?How do we make this the best neighborhood we can,?? said Mattison.

The relocated residences will comprise 260 apartments for renters and 26 apartments for owners south of Western Avenue on the Brighton Mills Shopping Center lot. Seventy-four additional condos for ownership will be built north of Western Avenue. Some residents worry that the ownership-only building to the north will segregate the rich from the lower-income tenants to the south, a claim the developers refuted.

CBT Architects, the firm developing the site, has lowered the number of units; shrunk the size and scale of individual buildings; and made parks and community spaces more open to the public according to Chris Hill, the project?s designer. These changes were made in response to suggestions from the Boston Redevelopment Authority and residents made last year.

Despite the revisions, some residents still feel more changes should be made before construction commences.

?I think it?s absolutely essential that we hold out and only approve the proposals that will really let us build and develop in a way that really meets the test of time and looks at lessons that have been learned all around the country about how you do it sensibly for density, economic integration, open space and a viable commercial life,? said Karen Smith.

There is a sense among many residents that the Charlesview relocation is the key to transforming the Brighton Mills area. With such grand goals on the line comes intense scrutiny from the neighborhood on how Harvard?s influence affects the Charlesview Residences.

?If Harvard doesn?t develop the first piece of the puzzle right on the Holton Street Corridor [sic], then the rest of the pieces won?t fall into place and the community won?t benefit. The entire community,? said Sal Pinchera, an Allston-Brighton resident.

Some residents also see the Charlesview relocation as a powerful tool to force Harvard to commit to developing the rest of the 20 acres it controls in the area.

?Until Harvard is actually willing to sign on the dotted line, we?d be fools to allow this to go forward, as nice as it is for the Charlesview residents and as promising for the community. If we allow this to go forward with Harvard having made no commitment, what will they want next that will cause them to make that commitment?? asked Brent Whelan, a member of the Harvard-Allston Task Force.

City Councilor Mark Ciommo acknowledged the tension between Charlesview residents who are in ?desperate need? of new homes, and the community, who wants a written commitment from Harvard to develop the rest of the area.

?We do have leverage over Harvard after Charlesview is built, because then they?re going to want to develop the old Charlesview and the city of Boston will have the leverage of what they will be able to permit them to do,? he said.

Mattison called for Harvard to meet with the community, the BRA, elected officials and the developers to talk about the university?s plans for the rest of the neighborhood in concrete terms.

?It?s really a question for Harvard, how long they want to take,? he said.

The BRA declined to comment on the meeting. Jessica Shumaker, a spokesperson for the agency, said that the BRA wants to respect the public process by not influencing the discussions.

The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23, at location to be determined that will better accommodate a large crowd.
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http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/...iew-tenants-resent-delays-in-relocation-plans
 
...and my brief flirtation with Mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea comes to an end.

Menino for mayor! Sure, I just threw up in my mouth, but he is the best of the four candidates. How miserably sad is that?

Luxury housing should go wherever the developers will get the most money for it. This will help bring in money to subsidize the government housing. Duh.

The first article is a crime of journalism - only 15 people showed up, and there was no journalistic representation of who these people were.

Sounds to me like it was not a story at all. So why the story?
 
Pick whatever combination of pretty words that makes you comfortable.

Subsidized housing
Affordable housing
Mixed-income housing
Social housing
Housing for hope
Community housing

Or you can eschew the public relations spin, simplify things, and call these developments what they are: "Government Housing"

It's a term that activists have shied away from since the mid-1980s, but that doesn't mean it is an incorrect term.

The new Charlesview will be in large part, Government Housing. That's not really a controversial statement, is it?
 
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