Java King
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I had the opportunity to be in Westborough, MA yesterday and I ran across this development:
http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2006/11/04/when_bigger_is_also_better/
It is a new "lifestyle" or "town center" development in the heart of Westborough. It has a nice mix of upscale retail, nice brick and stone exteriors, reuse of some existing buildings, and some interesting architecture for a retail development.
The Worcester/Framingham Commuter Rail line whizzes right by the front door with a beautiful Richardson style stone train station that is in great shape, although appears to be empty.
After my lunch at the brand spanking new Panera Bread, I tried to find the actual Westborough stop on the Commuter Rail. It's in an industrial area on the edge of town in a development that NOBODY would ever WALK to! It's only a few years old, but it seemed kind of cheap and not very well maintained. It certainly didn't seem very welcoming, and it appeared more like a Target Parking lot than a train station.
I rushed back to research on the Internet about the town development. Surely the developers of the wonderful new town village are planning to restore the old stone train station into a welcoming entrance to their dense development! Nope! Nothing could be found on the station or train line.
What is wrong with the MBTA and development in this state? So many missed opportunities for pedestrian oriented development near transit stations. TOD is becoming so generic! If a development is within a few miles of a rail line, it's considered Transit Oriented Development. In fact, I've heard a new term that better qualifies REAL transit development. It's called Transit Adjacent Development. It implies you can walk from a rail station to retail, office, or housing.
The Hingham Station is nowhere near the downtown area of Hingham even though there is a wonderful town center WITH PARKING!! Cohasset also has a cute village center, but the train stops near busy Route 3A with acres of parking. Parking is important, but it shouldn't be the ONLY reason to locate a train station in the middle of nowhere. I'm hopeful that North Scituate Village and Greenbush station can create a vibrant mixed use area of retail, office, and housing. At least there is a foundation near those stations to build upon. Plus the town of Scituate rezoned the area to create denser development with retail on the first level and housing above.
I'm so disappointed that so many great opportunities seem to be missed by current planners. The thinking seems to be that people ONLY use the train for their morning and evening commutes TO Boston. We MUST provide ample opportunity for these SUV surburban people working in Boston to park!! Well, what about creating opportunity for BOTH pedestrians and cars on either end of the system? Bostonians might enjoy a day out in Westborough, Hingham, or Scituate if there was something NEAR the stations they could enjoy!!
European cities seem to do a much better job of this. However, their infrastructure was there long before the automobile. A good example in the Boston area is Concord. It has a nice train station that has retail, and it's walkable to the shops in the center. It seems to me that communities should start looking at their transportation centers as a welcoming asset to the town rather than as a necessary evil.
OK........that's my rant. I was just so disappointed yesterday to see a really nice developement with such missed opportunity.
When the weather gets better, I'll do a TOD update on the Greenbush line with pictures.
http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2006/11/04/when_bigger_is_also_better/
It is a new "lifestyle" or "town center" development in the heart of Westborough. It has a nice mix of upscale retail, nice brick and stone exteriors, reuse of some existing buildings, and some interesting architecture for a retail development.
The Worcester/Framingham Commuter Rail line whizzes right by the front door with a beautiful Richardson style stone train station that is in great shape, although appears to be empty.
After my lunch at the brand spanking new Panera Bread, I tried to find the actual Westborough stop on the Commuter Rail. It's in an industrial area on the edge of town in a development that NOBODY would ever WALK to! It's only a few years old, but it seemed kind of cheap and not very well maintained. It certainly didn't seem very welcoming, and it appeared more like a Target Parking lot than a train station.
I rushed back to research on the Internet about the town development. Surely the developers of the wonderful new town village are planning to restore the old stone train station into a welcoming entrance to their dense development! Nope! Nothing could be found on the station or train line.
What is wrong with the MBTA and development in this state? So many missed opportunities for pedestrian oriented development near transit stations. TOD is becoming so generic! If a development is within a few miles of a rail line, it's considered Transit Oriented Development. In fact, I've heard a new term that better qualifies REAL transit development. It's called Transit Adjacent Development. It implies you can walk from a rail station to retail, office, or housing.
The Hingham Station is nowhere near the downtown area of Hingham even though there is a wonderful town center WITH PARKING!! Cohasset also has a cute village center, but the train stops near busy Route 3A with acres of parking. Parking is important, but it shouldn't be the ONLY reason to locate a train station in the middle of nowhere. I'm hopeful that North Scituate Village and Greenbush station can create a vibrant mixed use area of retail, office, and housing. At least there is a foundation near those stations to build upon. Plus the town of Scituate rezoned the area to create denser development with retail on the first level and housing above.
I'm so disappointed that so many great opportunities seem to be missed by current planners. The thinking seems to be that people ONLY use the train for their morning and evening commutes TO Boston. We MUST provide ample opportunity for these SUV surburban people working in Boston to park!! Well, what about creating opportunity for BOTH pedestrians and cars on either end of the system? Bostonians might enjoy a day out in Westborough, Hingham, or Scituate if there was something NEAR the stations they could enjoy!!
European cities seem to do a much better job of this. However, their infrastructure was there long before the automobile. A good example in the Boston area is Concord. It has a nice train station that has retail, and it's walkable to the shops in the center. It seems to me that communities should start looking at their transportation centers as a welcoming asset to the town rather than as a necessary evil.
OK........that's my rant. I was just so disappointed yesterday to see a really nice developement with such missed opportunity.
When the weather gets better, I'll do a TOD update on the Greenbush line with pictures.