Northland Newton | Needham St. @ Oak St. | Newton

Most like coincidental. One would assume that Biden supporters are probably a bunch of NIMBY’s. The ones who troll the planning and development meetings and drive Lexus's.

I didn't so much mean that the demographics were correlated as much as that the surge to vote Biden on the day of drove more people to vote, period. Yes was always going to benefit from higher turnout.
 
APPROVED (by the voters)


58% Yes, 42% No with something like 45% turnout among eligible voters (over 31,000 votes cast). That's why you have your referenda on the same day as another election, kids.

Related: I wonder if Biden's push over the weekend actually pushed Yes over the line. He won Newton, so clearly voting for him was a motivator to show up to the polls in the first place.

That's awesome news. NIMBY's piss off! Yet another loss for the build nothing crowd. If they can't even win in Newton....
 
Since I think some people on here are more locally interested in this project, ongoing development review materials are being posted by the City of Newton here (there have been a lot of them this Fall):


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Since I think some people on here are more locally interested in this project, ongoing development review materials are being posted by the City of Newton here (there have been a lot of them this Fall):


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Below I have the existing, including tagged in the top right how close the GL-D Line is. TOD housing this close to a transit line... God I hope the GLX is a massive day 1 success - this is perfect to support a branch through this development out to Needham.
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It really takes a bird's-eye perspective to convey just how awfully massive the footprint can be for these suburban shopping plaza parking lots.... really hope those sterile tundras will get transformed via this project.

Also, will they be able to get Jonathan Richman for the ribbon-cutting?

Gonna drive past the Stop & Shop ... [Route] 128 when it's dark outside
 
Man, Needham Street has been a zoning clusterfuck for more than 3 decades. Try driving that strip anytime between 8am-7pm.
 
That's not a zoning problem, it's a consequence of the lack of cross-streets to bail out of the strip.

Hence, a zoning problem. Needham street is what it is. The city approved these huge shopping developments stretching deep from the street (think y axis straight back from the street vs x axis parallel to the street). City Hall could have established back streets to alleviate but they didn’t. They simply allowed for more perpendicular to the street pile up of stores/restaurants/office buildings.The inevitable result from those zoning decisions is apparent every day.

Needham Street between the Rte 128 ramps and the Dedham street junction (by Tedeschi’s) is a marvel of incompetent planning.
 
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Needham Street between the Rte 128 ramps and the Dedham street junction (by Tedeschi’s) is a marvel of incompetent planning.

With near a half-mile of said incompetence (from the Charles to the Route 128 ramps) residing within the municipal purview of Needham, and the remainder falling within Newton's control. Are we really surprised? Whatever cross-jurisdictional planning there is, it surely doesn't transcend the inevitable friction/inertia/alienation cycle that presumably underwrites the incompetence.
 
Northland has now proposed a 40B project adjacent with 410 more units:


When the referendum was being debated back in the pre-COVID days, the threat was that if residents voted down the proposed development, Northland would simply propose a denser development under 40B. People are going to be pissed. Site's in red:

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Northland has now proposed a 40B project adjacent with 410 more units:


When the referendum was being debated back in the pre-COVID days, the threat was that if residents voted down the proposed development, Northland would simply propose a denser development under 40B. People are going to be pissed. Site's in red:

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40B working as designed
 
The office park across the river from this next to 95 has tons of potential space and an existing ROW that is just screaming for TOD and glx. It looks like the perfect outer ring spot for some future cambridge crossing type development. Every time I drive by on 95 I cant help but imagine the huge potential there. Is there a name for this area and is there any plan to redevelop it?
 
The office park across the river from this next to 95 has tons of potential space and an existing ROW that is just screaming for TOD and glx. It looks like the perfect outer ring spot for some future cambridge crossing type development. Every time I drive by on 95 I cant help but imagine the huge potential there. Is there a name for this area and is there any plan to redevelop it?

Yes, but not to redevelop it in the way I think we'd most prefer.

 
"Needham Crossing welcomes world-class businesses and complimentary retailers in a modern, connected, mixed-use urban layout that embraces contemporary architecture and urban design..."

[bf/italics mine]

Prospective Retail Tenant Acme X, pitching itself to the Needham Crossing overlords:

"and of course, we will ONLY refer to Needham Crossing as a 'cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, innovative mixed-use 24/7 lifestyle complex,' NEVER as a 'sterile, isolated, remote, boring, suburbia-marooned office park.' Is that complimentary enough for you?"
 
Is there a masterplan or any more proposed buildings for needham crossing? Theres a lot of potential here.
 
I was checking out the northland project to see whats going on with the development and came across these incredible renders I hadnt seen before and havent been posted.

This is an extremely high quality project that is dense, walkable, and also located right next to a future green line branch extension. Absolute home run, who wouldnt want to live here? Lets hope this is built as is and we get an absolute gem that others can point to as a reference point going forward when densifying other neighborhoods.
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who wouldnt want to live here?

Tell me you don't drive on Needham Street without telling me you don't drive on Needham Street. :) Since I doubt any Green Line extension will be built around here for a decade or three, most residents will still need a car to get to work etc. That being said, agreed on the nice renders!
 

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