Somerville Infill and Small Developments

Here's a few questions,
Around where I live, there have been a lot of sites fenced off and nothing going on with them, does anyone have any up to date info on the following sites,
- The small shopping mall on washington st. at cobble hill. I've seen the plans but no activity in ages.
- The empty gas station at McGrath just before Highland. Again, plans but no activity.
- Whats going on with the old radiator house in union next to the new T stop. I know that its part of US2s plans but it's all overgrown and shabby.
- The old post office in Union. - I know some community stuff goes on there but is there any concrete plan for it or is it just going to sit closed for most of the time.
- When are the 197 union crowd knocking the boys and girls club?

A lot of questions there but there seems to be a lot of sites and buildings closing down, sitting idle and stalling for no obvious reason. Is it just that paperwork takes years?
 
Ruairi said:
- Whats going on with the old radiator house in union next to the new T stop. I know that its part of US2s plans but it's all overgrown and shabby.
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AFAIK, its still occupied. I see a guy going in and out of there on occasion. I think he's pretty adamant on sticking around and has a No Eminent Domain flyer posted... along with an old tin Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages advert that I'm tempted to nick.
 
Texasian said:
AFAIK, its still occupied. I see a guy going in and out of there on occasion. I think he's pretty adamant on sticking around and has a No Eminent Domain flyer posted... along with an old tin Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages advert that I'm tempted to nick.
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Good for him.
 
I see Disneyland shells for Ye Olde FroYo and The Cell Phone Shoppe, prop buildings in a nostalgic set design. We can only agree to disagree, opinions and taste on either side are not facts.

And while it's dense compared to what was there it could and should have been denser/taller. The current scale of the area does not mean it should stay the forever scale.
 
I honestly believe the 'ornament is a crime' and 'pleasant pedestrian experience' are, more or less, incompatible philosophies.

Modernism has it place but it all too often leads to a poor urban landscape.
 
tangent said:
Fauxstoric beats McModern every day of the week, including Sunday.
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Both of these made up styles are likely equally as bad. Only good design is good design. See the conversation had about Boston College and their Faux Gothic.

cca
 
cca said:
Both of these made up styles are likely equally as bad. Only good design is good design. See the conversation had about Boston College and their Faux Gothic.

cca
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I'm unfamiliar with the discussion of collegiate gothic, if anyone wants to hit me with bulletpoints.

Let's keep this to this specific project though. The three-deckers and two families are the backbone of Somerville, it's that density that govern urban life in the area and has governed Somerville since the late 1800s. At least "fake-historic" (I agree it's a 'made-up' style) mimicry has the potential to unwittingly do something right. It employs a model that's shown to be successful, and resilient - I don't see why we should risk 'new takes' on small infill like this, everytime. You could end up with something to cherish, or end up with and Arlington Pillbox. Save the modern, post-modern, box-style, whatever for something where the developer/architect is trying to make an actual change in the local environment - so for example I'm hoping what comes of Union Square's gaps will be sleek and new.

For gap-filling though, keep it simple, use the vernacular architecture, improve where possible which they've done with the retail. It's a solid piece of infill, not Colonial Williamsburg.

My initial comment was more to support that resemblance to threedeckers which I think are underappreciated asset in the housing market.
 
CantabAmager said:
I'm unfamiliar with the discussion of collegiate gothic, if anyone wants to hit me with bulletpoints.

Let's keep this to this specific project though. The three-deckers and two families are the backbone of Somerville, it's that density that govern urban life in the area and has governed Somerville since the late 1800s. At least "fake-historic" (I agree it's a 'made-up' style) mimicry has the potential to unwittingly do something right. It employs a model that's shown to be successful, and resilient - I don't see why we should risk 'new takes' on small infill like this, everytime. You could end up with something to cherish, or end up with and Arlington Pillbox. Save the modern, post-modern, box-style, whatever for something where the developer/architect is trying to make an actual change in the local environment - so for example I'm hoping what comes of Union Square's gaps will be sleek and new.

For gap-filling though, keep it simple, use the vernacular architecture, improve where possible which they've done with the retail. It's a solid piece of infill, not Colonial Williamsburg.

My initial comment was more to support that resemblance to threedeckers which I think are underappreciated asset in the housing market.
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I would not disagree with anything you said. I would only add that there are things that have changed significantly since the turn of the century when the bulk of the cherished types like the Triple Decker were being built.
'
If you wanted to build a new triple decker there would be nothing stopping you from replicating the layout (you should .. its the best layout ever), and the detailing of the exterior CAN be the same, HOWEVER, we have a whole host of rules, regulations, codes, and comfort standards that did not existing in the early 1900s. These things ... while are mostly buried in the wall do have a way of expressing themselves in surprising way. When this happens it is often derided as "modern" which is just a way of saying "dealing with contemporary issues". When all the criteria of the problem of building a house are dealt with properly ... it is good design ... regardless of style.

cca

Ps. I live in a triple decker ... so I understand very well how I would modify the type to work better in today's environment. Other designers have addressed this to some degree of success as well.
 
I think most of the faux-historic comments stem from the scroll work corbels and dentil molding that serve no 'functional' purpose. But I like them.
 
Ruairi said:
- The small shopping mall on washington st. at cobble hill. I've seen the plans but no activity in ages.
- The empty gas station at McGrath just before Highland. Again, plans but no activity.
- Whats going on with the old radiator house in union next to the new T stop. I know that its part of US2s plans but it's all overgrown and shabby.
- The old post office in Union. - I know some community stuff goes on there but is there any concrete plan for it or is it just going to sit closed for most of the time.
- When are the 197 union crowd knocking the boys and girls club?
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The project on Somerville Ave we're discussing was approved last August, so a year or more between approval and construction doesn't mean the thing is dead or stalled—just waiting for good weather, the right crew, final permits, or financing.

Of the projects you mention, the Boys and Girls Club will come down very soon. The radiator house is a holdout on eminent domain so you'd need to ask US2 the status on that. The Cobble Hill location is probably waiting for a demo crew, but work should start in the next few months.

As for the McGrath gas station proposal, it was approved last October, despite some local opposition. I haven't heard of any lawsuits so it may get going before the winter.
 
kjdonovan said:
Of the projects you mention, the Boys and Girls Club will come down very soon.
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There is a ground breaking ceremony for this one scheduled for Sept 17 at 4pm. I believe the mayor will be in attendance. I'd assume the B+GC will come down sometime between now and then.
 
kjdonovan said:
The Cobble Hill location is probably waiting for a demo crew, but work should start in the next few months.
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The Planning Board approved an extension of the variance through January. Sounds like their were some financing/developer issues. http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/WashingtonSt84-90.pdf

If the timeline listed in the decision document is correct, we'll see it start coming down in October, with foundation work staring by December. This project will be interesting to watch. Outside Assembly, this will be by far the largest new building under construction in Somerville.

-Alex
 
Awesome potential (and sooo much better than the run down structure which metamorphosed into this), but whoa does the area around it need some freshening. We are down there by bike often and it is truly the Land that Time Forgot (dirty, dingy, antiquated traffic patterns, etc). HOWEVER ... there is lots of use (so the incentive to clean up might be not present).
 
I expect that the Twin City area will change quite a bit in the next decade.
 
The former gas station at the corner of Highland and Cedar will be coming down over the next week. To be replaced with seven units of residential (six market rate and one subsidized) and ground floor retail.

It'll be a HUGE improvement but the architecture leaves a lot to be desired:
ixOnoyR.jpg


290 Highland Ave, Somerville
 
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