I assume they did the 4th floor in that black and stepped back to make this not look so "large", but because of the grade of the street and this being ground level (no couple steps up to ground floor), it actually looks too short to fit in properly.
I assume they did the 4th floor in that black and stepped back to make this not look so "large", but because of the grade of the street and this being ground level (no couple steps up to ground floor), it actually looks too short to fit in properly.
It is incredible for me how little the 130+ page “Roslindale Square Small Area Plan” actually includes as far as tangible proposals. The entire “Squares and Streets” initiative has been a master class in talking a lot and saying very little.
Just give me a damn before and after map to show the changes. This doesn’t have to be so hard.
Wealthy urban cities have become very adept at this, a big part is graphic design. Compare municipal documents of today to the stuff you find on archive, it’s so snazzy looking but often all fluff.It is incredible for me how little the 130+ page “Roslindale Square Small Area Plan” actually includes as far as tangible proposals. The entire “Squares and Streets” initiative has been a master class in talking a lot and saying very little.
Just give me a damn before and after map to show the changes. This doesn’t have to be so hard.
The convoluted process is all done to placate the NIMBYs who are distinctly not the majority population in Roslindale. That said, as a visioning process, I think it did a pretty good job and also to some extent gave us ammunition against the NIMBY response, which has been fairly muted.To paraphrase a local sports radio host, I could re-zone Roslindale Square on the back of a napkin in an hour. Keep in mind this is only the plan to rezone, not the actual zoning plan. That involves another round of plans, meetings, workshops, and it goes on and on.
ApprovedNearly 50 Unit Apt. Project Planned in Roslindale
“Plans are under review for a 4-story multifamily on 3 vacant lots at 586-598 Canterbury St. in Roslindale. The building would include 46 apartments, a mix of studios through 3 beds with 32 parking spaces.”
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https://www.bldup.com/posts/nearly-50-unit-apt-project-planned-in-roslindale
hmmm, I see what you are saying. I'm kinda surprised there isn't already a bus that would say connect Mattapan to Forest Hills, but then again, Morton Street, Walk Hill Ave, and Cummins Highway all feel roads that wouldn't justify a bus route along them. Cummins does have a bus along it already though.I hate to say this, because I really want to cut down on parking induced car reliance, but for that particular location, I do not think less than one parking spot per unit is viable. It's a mile walk to Forest Hills, or there is the infrequent 14 bus that isn't particularly useful unless your destination is in Roslindale or Roxbury. And that's it. The area is reasonably bikeable, but without a transit option, we can't really expect people to not rely on cars. Between this and other projects near the American Legion-Walk Hill intersection, it might be time for the MBTA to start looking at some sort of Walk Hill bus route. But without that, it is really a very auto-centric location.
This is unfortunately a direct consequence of the horrendous lack of central planning for development: the only areas that tend to become available for large scale developments are areas that are large spaces of developable land, and by definition, spaces like this tend to be far from dense neighborhoods and much more likely to be in desolate locations and/or along highways or otherwise areas that are poorly served by transit.I hate to say this, because I really want to cut down on parking induced car reliance, but for that particular location, I do not think less than one parking spot per unit is viable. It's a mile walk to Forest Hills, or there is the infrequent 14 bus that isn't particularly useful unless your destination is in Roslindale or Roxbury. And that's it. The area is reasonably bikeable, but without a transit option, we can't really expect people to not rely on cars. Between this and other projects near the American Legion-Walk Hill intersection, it might be time for the MBTA to start looking at some sort of Walk Hill bus route. But without that, it is really a very auto-centric location.
This is an incredibly shitty walk. Half a mile strolling down Centre St in JP is one thing; half a mile on American Legion, looking at strip malls and surrounded by aggressive drivers, is another. Most people are not going to find this “very doable”. Long, shitty walk, wait for bus on Hyde Park Ave, slog to Forest Hills, then OL to another destination is a long journey that many people do not want to make.hmmm, I see what you are saying. I'm kinda surprised there isn't already a bus that would say connect Mattapan to Forest Hills, but then again, Morton Street, Walk Hill Ave, and Cummins Highway all feel roads that wouldn't justify a bus route along them. Cummins does have a bus along it already though.
That being said, the 14 may be pretty infrequent, but a very short walk up to Hyde Park Ave via Neponset Street (0.5 miles) is very doable, especially with the 15 minutes headways the T shows for the 32 bus. If the developers have pushed their pro-forma to say that it this development will work with the minimal parking, I applaud them, this is what we should aspire to from a development standpoint.
The closing of the Boston State Hospital opened up a lot of land between Blue Hill Ave and Hyde Park Ave, much of it now being developed, along with many underutilized adjacent parcels like this one. The right approach would have been to set it aside for development with the provision that the developer would first need to build a transit solution, and in return get the land at below market plus whatever zoning relief needed to stimulate high density. A short Orange Line extension along Morton and then American Legion would have done the trick, but now we don't have an obvious way to pay for it like a developer itching to get the land.This is unfortunately a direct consequence of the horrendous lack of central planning for development: the only areas that tend to become available for large scale developments are areas that are large spaces of developable land, and by definition, spaces like this tend to be far from dense neighborhoods and much more likely to be in desolate locations and/or along highways or otherwise areas that are poorly served by transit.
I think it would have been better to simply construct much denser development along Morton St / Harvard St, continuing the urban fabric that already exists—and at a level of real density, thereby supporting more population than any of the gross, anti urban developments we’ve seen… and left the rest of it to nature. Had this been done, and enough population concentrated where the “W Main St” is now, it would have made sense to run a new bus line from there, up Blue Hill Ave to Ruggles. Unfortunately, instead we have patchwork development that isn’t dense enough to support anything.The closing of the Boston State Hospital opened up a lot of land between Blue Hill Ave and Hyde Park Ave, much of it now being developed, along with many underutilized adjacent parcels like this one. The right approach would have been to set it aside for development with the provision that the developer would first need to build a transit solution, and in return get the land at below market plus whatever zoning relief needed to stimulate high density. A short Orange Line extension along Morton and then American Legion would have done the trick, but now we don't have an obvious way to pay for it like a developer itching to get the land.
The Boston Zoning Commission this morning approved changes to Roslindale Square zoning that could mean buildings as tall as ten or twelve stories in a stretch from the commuter-rail station down South Street.
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Denser zoning approved for Roslindale Square
The Boston Zoning Commission this morning approved changes to Roslindale Square zoning that could mean buildings as tall as ten or twelve stories in a stretch from the commuter-rail station down South Street. Read more.www.universalhub.com
And I believe that state property is exempt from local zoning laws anyway? I vaguely remember reading this in one of the streets and squares reports.Wonderful! But the 12-story zoning is limited almost entirely to the existing MBTA parking lot, so I'm not exactly confident of anything getting built there any time soon.
It’s not going to be an architectural masterpiece, but it does two important things: 1) it walls off the Hebrew Rehab, which is a hideous eyesore, and 1) it encloses Centre, which is a much better urban aesthetic and it might even help reduce speeds, since being closed in rather than having a big wide lawn to the driver’s right tends to make people feel more surrounded by humans and less of a drag strip mentality. I hope they pass this and build it quickly.Nothing better than an LOI with a rendering
1200 Centre Street
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“Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL) proposes to build a 78-unit affordable senior housing community in partnership with the BHA/HUD through the Restore Rebuild program. The project will be located at the corner of Centre Street and Walter Street in Roslindale on a site owned and operated by HSL. The HSL campus includes a comprehensive healthcare and research facility that provides a range of services to seniors, from rehabilitation and outpatient care to end-of-life support. The proposed development will repurpose an existing parking lot, comprising 0.78 acres of the 9.4-acre site. No buildings will be demolished as no structures currently occupy the space. The proposed 78 unit, six-story, new construction, elevator building will be approximately 81,500 SF and will consist of 74 one-bedroom units (averaging 625 square feet) and 4 two-bedroom units (averaging 939 square feet).”
1200 Centre Street | Bostonplans.org
Development Projects and Planned Development Areas (PDAs) that the Development Review division is coordinating.www.bostonplans.org