Somerville Infill and Small Developments

^ Not for nothing, but Lexington will likely be building a new $175M+ HS in the lext 5-10 years.
 
BuilditDenser said:
Enough about MIT. A top University in the world that has more money than god and a need for world class labs is not comparable to a public high school. We all know you went to MIT - congrats on getting in 70 years ago.

Also I do not think that students learn better in a $300 million hs vs an older or cheaper building. The quality of learning at Lexington HS is basically the same as Newton North which is the same as AB which is the same as CC (or close enough). Some of those schools are brand new, some are older.
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BuilditDenser -- Nice Try -- if it was 70 years ago that would be my dad -- but he went to BU on the GI Bill

But you are right on the other one about the cost of the HS versu the quality of the education -- there is No -- None -- Nich -- Nada, Aucun, Nein, Rien, никто, żaden, -- None*1 Correlation between the cost of the building and the quality of the education -- there is even minimal correlation with the overall amount spent and the results*2

If the State funds weren't there for the asking I doubt that Somerville's residents would have gone for anything close to the $256 Million -- its the Maggie Thatcher thing about Socialism -- eventually you run out of other people's money

*1 None is None in Slovenian -- better start practicing that one

*2 state spending per capita on education
Spending ranges from $6,555 per pupil in Utah to $19,818 in New York. Source: US Census

The states that spend the most (and the least) on education, in one map

By Emma Brown June 2, 2015
U.S. states’ education spending averaged $10,700 per pupil in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but that average masked a wide variation, ranging from $6,555 per pupil in Utah to $19,818 in New York.

There’s an even larger range separating the lowest- and highest-spending of the nation’s largest 100 school districts: At the low end is Jordan, Utah, at $5,708 per student; at the high end is Boston, Mass., at $20,502.
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from Education week colmes a summary in the form of an interactive table & map
http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2016/2016-state-report-cards-map.html?intc=EW-QC16-TOC
Picking a couple of examples:
  • NY State as whole rates very high on spending -- but not so high on acheivement
    New York B- (79.8)
    Chance for Success: B- (80.8)
    Early foundations: B (82.8)
    School years: C+ (78.4)
    Adult outcomes: B (82.9)
    K-12 Achievement: C- (70.6)
    Status: D (65.8)
    Change: D (63.0)
    Equity: A- (92.2)
    School Finance: B+ (88.1)
    Equity: B (83.3)
    Spending: A (93.0)
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  • While Utah is very low in spending and OK in acheivement essentially equivalent to NY
    Utah C- (72.2)
    Chance for Success: B- (81.6)
    Early foundations: A (93.1)
    School years: C (76.0)
    Adult outcomes: C+ (77.4)
    K-12 Achievement: C (73.2)
    Status: C- (71.0)
    Change: D+ (67.6)
    Equity: B+ (86.7)
    School Finance: D- (61.9)
    Equity: B (84.8)
    Spending: F (38.9)
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  • Minnesota is in the middle to upper in acheivement and middle lower in spending
    Minnesota B- (79.6)
    Chance for Success: B+ (87.4)
    Early foundations: A (95.5)
    School years: B (82.8)
    Adult outcomes: B (85.8)
    K-12 Achievement: C (75.9)
    Status: B (82.6)
    Change: D+ (68.4)
    Equity: C+ (77.2)
    School Finance: C (75.5)
    Equity: B+ (86.6)
    Spending: D (64.3)
    Click to expand...
  • Finally Massachusetts is at the top achievement wise but not in spending
    Massachusetts B+ (86.8)
    Chance for Success: A- (92.3)
    Early foundations: A (94.2)
    School years: A (92.6)
    Adult outcomes: B+ (89.1)
    K-12 Achievement: B (85.2)
    Status: A (94.8)
    Change: C+ (77.9)
    Equity: B- (81.1)
    School Finance: B (83.0)
    Equity: B- (82.0)
    Spending: B (84.0)
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There is also a ranking of the top 100 school districts -- although you can plug in any of 8000 districts and see where they rank
https://k12.niche.com/d/somerville-public-schools-ma/
-- MA has 10 with Lexington @ #11 being the highest

The overall highest is Highland Park in Suburban Dallas

Comparing the spending and overall rank for 10 of the top 100 districts
  • Highland Park #1 -- $19,950
  • New Trier [near Evanston IL] #5 $25,486
  • Palo Alto [#1 in CA] #6 $20,600
  • Carroll [Suburban Dallas] #9 $14,041
  • Lexington # 11 $17,380
  • Bloomfield Hills [Suburban Detroit] #12 $19,860
  • Wyoming City [Suburban Cincinnati] #19 $14,771
  • Dover-Sherborn [2nd best in MA] #21 $17,901
  • North Allegheny [suburban Pittsburgh] # 28 $14,466
  • Glen Rock [Paramus NJ] # 100 $22,150

and for comparison Somerville # 4,386 [in US] # [86 in MA] $19,091

So -- Joe -- Mr Mayor -- I don't think its either the school building, # of students per teacher [12 below well below the national average] or the money spent per student that is the problem
 
At the end of the day, for better or worse, those of us who live in Somerville voted yes on 5 and by a pretty wide margin (though not as large of one as we saw on Q4). Now it's on us to stay involved and stay vigilant to make sure the Prop 2.5 override isn't abused.
 
This development on Broadway in Winter Hill is going -- just very very veeeerrrry slowly

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Same contractor as the Porter Square Hotel and the other projects in Porter. I think they have one laborer rotating amongst the sites.
 
BFresh has finally opened in Davis:
https://twitter.com/TransitMark/status/835973924752097280

Via Mark Novak:
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Previous post about 240 Elm's complicated history:

datadyne007 said:
Edit: The plan WAS to turn it into a grocery store & gym, but none of that is happening. Everything below is null & void.

Plans from: http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/d...14_1015-240ELMPlansWithSupplementalSheets.pdf

Original Proposal: 240 Elm St - Crunch Fitness/Brothers Marketplace:

Renders:

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Proposed Plans:

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I don't get it! Is it a grocery store, a gym, along with a Dunkin? Was what was proposed not built? You did say it was a complicated story, I guess it continues. ;)
 
While the Kombucha station is the worst thing I have ever seen, I LOVE the idea of allowing more refillable.

I HATE the amount of waste produced by beverages.
 
atlantaden said:
I don't get it! Is it a grocery store, a gym, along with a Dunkin? Was what was proposed not built? You did say it was a complicated story, I guess it continues. ;)
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Davis Sq Architects are also in the building...unless they've moved recently.
 
This is technically Medford, but there's no thread for Medford Developments. It's right over the line on Boston Ave in Ball Square:

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The former TF Murphy florist building on Highland Ave is being demolished today, if anyone has a camera in the vicinity. It's slated to be replaced by condominiums.
 
Anyone know what's going on in the (former) parking lot behind the Davis VFW? Crane was lifting steel beams into the site today.
 
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