Somerville Infill and Small Developments

Whats the specific URL from somervillema.gov site that lists links to all these PDFs?
 
atlantaden said:
Nice to see all those powerlines (especially in the top renderings) are taken down and buried! Is that a requirement for building in Boston and the surrounding cities?
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Pretty sure it's just the rendering...those power lines aren't going anywhere.
 
kjdonovan said:
QVCkGWA.png
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This is absolute shite, a classic new-era Somerville granny shack.
 
Brad Plaid said:
This is absolute shite, a classic new-era Somerville granny shack.
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Hate to be a planning committee apologist (again) but this DOES face an elevated highway and perhaps the most unattractive and definitely the most dangerous (according to MassDOT) intersection in Massachusetts. It replaces an autobody shop and is across the street from a porn shop. Soooooo, I'll take it?
 
kjdonovan said:
Hate to be a planning committee apologist (again) but this DOES face an elevated highway and perhaps the most unattractive and definitely the most dangerous (according to MassDOT) intersection in Massachusetts. It replaces an autobody shop and is across the street from a porn shop. Soooooo, I'll take it?
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haha, how does that porn shop even stay in business? The rendering for this building doesn't even look that bad. Not great either but so much crappier stuff going up in Somerville right now, I can't complain. That said, does anybody know what's going on a couple blocks down at Mystic and Wheatland? Fumbling around google maps shows that a rather large 4 story building was recently demolished on that site.
 
kjdonovan said:
Hate to be a planning committee apologist (again) but this DOES face an elevated highway and perhaps the most unattractive and definitely the most dangerous (according to MassDOT) intersection in Massachusetts. It replaces an autobody shop and is across the street from a porn shop. Soooooo, I'll take it?
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I guess, except shitty lots adjacent to highways are prime locations for giant but depressing housing towers. I'd take a depressing tower to warehouse some affordably minded folks over this squat nonsense...
 
pixelsand8 said:
does anybody know what's going on a couple blocks down at Mystic and Wheatland? Fumbling around google maps shows that a rather large 4 story building was recently demolished on that site.
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My plumber just gave me an update—he lives on Fellsway nearby. Lot to be developed by the folks who did the green four-story behind the Century Bank. Nothing submitted to the city that I could find.
 
FK4 said:
I guess, except shitty lots adjacent to highways are prime locations for giant but depressing housing towers. I'd take a depressing tower to warehouse some affordably minded folks over this squat nonsense...
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How would you finance it though? I don't see any towers going up with affordable housing that don't have a luxury component and/or aren't based in a desirable area close to transit.
 
FK4 said:
I guess, except shitty lots adjacent to highways are prime locations for giant but depressing housing towers. I'd take a depressing tower to warehouse some affordably minded folks over this squat nonsense...
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Well, we have a difference of opinion then. I think the worst building(s) in Somerville are the giant but depressing housing towers at Clarendon Hill.
 
It’s a somewhat hilarious source, but the old trolley power substation at Avon and School has sold to a developer who also bought an adjacent gas station. http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/62687

Between an old electrical facility and a gas station I really hope this developer has a good relationship with their remediation guy!
 
I'm sad to lose my favorite car inspection site, but overall this should be a positive development, especially if the design isn't utter shite... though I fully expect it to be...
 
What a ridiculous letter to the editor.

Letter to the Editor

The old MBTA power switching station at the corner of Avon and School AND the adjacent gas station at the corner of School and Summer have been purchased by a luxury condo developer. According to the city planning dept. we can expect at least nine units on the gas station site, plus at least two more units on the MBTA site. If the new zoning passes, the gas station site would permit 27 units! It’s astonishing how fast the situation is spinning out of control, thanks to the corrosive influence of unbridled greed. Somerville Ave is already a sea of green particle board. In a few years from now the old Somerville will be unrecognizable, its history and culture utterly erased, and much of its current population displaced.
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The comments section continues this foolish "old man yells at cloud" tirade.

Comments section:

"Keep fighting the good fight! But I think a lot of us have given up on making any headway against the horde of developers."

"Both the MBTA and the gas station sites should be a park. Somerville is already the densest city in New England and has absurdly little green space per capita. On its current trajectory Somerville will soon possess the dubious distinction of being one of the ugliest cities in New England too. Turning Somerville into Brooklyn or Fort Lauderdale in order to generate fat profits for condo developers is heinous and should be illegal."
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The NIMBYs are getting angrier and dumber. Now, they want a gas station and an abandoned, dilapidated electric facility that used to power a long since abandoned network of trolleys, instead of housing. Um.....why?
 
bigeman312 said:
The NIMBYs are getting angrier and dumber. Now, they want a gas station and an abandoned, dilapidated electric facility that used to power a long since abandoned network of trolleys, instead of housing. Um.....why?
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Parking, probably. I'm convinced 95% of NIMBY'ism is driven by fear of having to drive around the block a few extra minutes in order to store one's private vehicle on municipal property.

All that said, more sterile luxury condos does little to stem the tides chasing interesting creative people out of town, so their arguments wind up holding more water than they should by playing up this emotional angle. In the end it's just going to be more housing for boring tech workers sold on an easy commute to Kendall from the 85 bus. Does that hurt the city? Not really. Doesn't help it either.
 
pixelsand8 said:
Parking, probably. I'm convinced 95% of NIMBY'ism is driven by fear of having to drive around the block a few extra minutes in order to store one's private vehicle on municipal property.

All that said, more sterile luxury condos does little to stem the tides chasing interesting creative people out of town, so their arguments wind up holding more water than they should by playing up this emotional angle. In the end it's just going to be more housing for boring tech workers sold on an easy commute to Kendall from the 85 bus. Does that hurt the city? Not really. Doesn't help it either.
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I hear what you are saying, but I believe it absolutely helps the city! On a subjective level, density adds to the creativity and vibrancy of Somerville. On an objective level, the most profitable (for the city) residents to have are wealthy, live in dense developments, and don't have school-age children. The "boring tech workers sold on an easy commute to Kendall from the 85 bus" pay way more in taxes (sometimes indirectly through rent paid to their landlord, sometimes directly if they are home owners) than they take out. For those reasons, I'd argue it does help the city.

I'll give you the fact that the sterile, new condos that are going up detract from the (or at least don't add to the) architectural merit of the city.
 
Somerville has a "dead day" problem, especially outside of Davis Square. The city is so residential that much of it is totally empty during the day, which is tough for local businesses in the squares. Somerville should absolutely be adding more housing [as every metroBoston community should], but they really need to build up some commercial employment centers in the squares. Union will probably start to get pressure to build such space as Kendall continues to boil over, but the city will have to approve a variety of projects, not just residential.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Somerville has a "dead day" problem, especially outside of Davis Square. The city is so residential that much of it is totally empty during the day, which is tough for local businesses in the squares. Somerville should absolutely be adding more housing [as every metroBoston community should], but they really need to build up some commercial employment centers in the squares. Union will probably start to get pressure to build such space as Kendall continues to boil over, but the city will have to approve a variety of projects, not just residential.
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+1. I'd love to see some of the single-story tax payers in Davis get replaced by a mix of commercial and residential 4-6 story buildings, all with single story retail on the ground floor, and none with parking.
 
bigeman312 said:
+1. I'd love to see some of the single-story tax payers in Davis get replaced by a mix of commercial and residential 4-6 story buildings, all with single story retail on the ground floor, and none with parking.
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I have never understood why this hasn't already happened. Does anyone have a good explanation for Davis remaining so half-baked despite the rapid transit access and relative plethora of (re-)developable parcels?
 
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