West Cambridge / Alewife Area Infill & Small Developments

Lots going on in this article. Honestly, if the councilors feel that CCF is moving too fast for them, then too bad. Cambridge has been asleep at the wheel with Alewife - it's high time someone woke them up.


One takeaway is that CCF has actually proposed to build the western bridge:

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The eastern bridge would be built by the City. I assume it's still being funded by a consortium of developers:

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I'm still not sure why building desperately needed housing near transit is generating so much angst. Cambridge unlike almost every other municipality is really stepping up and constructing new apartments quickly. Regarding traffic, it was a problem before and will remain one until flying cars are invented. That's not a reason to slow down the building of housing.
 
Rover said:
I'm still not sure why building desperately needed housing near transit is generating so much angst. Cambridge unlike almost every other municipality is really stepping up and constructing new apartments quickly. Regarding traffic, it was a problem before and will remain one until flying cars are invented. That's not a reason to slow down the building of housing.
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I don't think it's the housing generating angst, but the rest of the proposal. The councilors opposed are big housing proponents. They're concerned about the developer's commitment to deliver on public benefits (including the bridges) and that they don't have enough information to responsibly vote.
 
Equilibria said:
I don't think it's the housing generating angst, but the rest of the proposal. The councilors opposed are big housing proponents. They're concerned about the developer's commitment to deliver on public benefits (including the bridges) and that they don't have enough information to responsibly vote.
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But it's not the developer's job to build a bridge. It's the city's. This is why we get boring architecture. By the time everybody gets paid off the offsetting savings come out of the building design.
 
Rover said:
But it's not the developer's job to build a bridge. It's the city's. This is why we get boring architecture. By the time everybody gets paid off the offsetting savings come out of the building design.
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This is precisely why the neighborhood is a mess. Cambridge refuses to build the bridges it should and to create a meaningful plan for growth.
 
Finally getting a better pedestrian experience sounds great, but this is the best (only?) spot for a VEHICLE bridge to finally get connectivity through the Cambridgepark rat-trap. Even with this bridge, it's a half-mile between Alewife and the development. The pedestrian-only bridge makes sense by on the east end by Wheeler street, where Fresh Pond retail comes into play for all those apartment blocks.
 
Vagabond said:
Finally getting a better pedestrian experience sounds great, but this is the best (only?) spot for a VEHICLE bridge to finally get connectivity through the Cambridgepark rat-trap. Even with this bridge, it's a half-mile between Alewife and the development. The pedestrian-only bridge makes sense by on the east end by Wheeler street, where Fresh Pond retail comes into play for all those apartment blocks.
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I'm not sure you can get a vehicle bridge over the tracks from the end of CPD from an approach standpoint. The ped/bike bridge will be able to make a right-angle turn and ramp down.

Obviously something one could have planned for decades ago (and they did - it's in the Fishbook).
 
Vagabond said:
Finally getting a better pedestrian experience sounds great, but this is the best (only?) spot for a VEHICLE bridge to finally get connectivity through the Cambridgepark rat-trap. Even with this bridge, it's a half-mile between Alewife and the development. The pedestrian-only bridge makes sense by on the east end by Wheeler street, where Fresh Pond retail comes into play for all those apartment blocks.
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Cambridge is allergic to any kind of roadway capacity improvements anywhere, so the best we can hope for is a pedestrian bridge.
 
Equilibria said:
I'm not sure you can get a vehicle bridge over the tracks from the end of CPD from an approach standpoint. The ped/bike bridge will be able to make a right-angle turn and ramp down.

Obviously something one could have planned for decades ago (and they did - it's in the Fishbook).
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Fishbook wanted a highway on-ramp. This pedestrian proposal is right where there is NO obstruction and could very conceivably support a 2-lane bridge.
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I mean the fishook isn't really the city's plan there anymore.
 
Hoping the developer re-files, the Solicitor said they were able to at the City Council meeting yesterday. More likely than not, I expect this to turn into a suburban lab/office park with a publicly funded bridge sometime in the future.
 
CancelEuclid said:
Hoping the developer re-files, the Solicitor said they were able to at the City Council meeting yesterday. More likely than not, I expect this to turn into a suburban lab/office park with a publicly funded bridge sometime in the future.
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Very glass-half-full take assuming the City is capable of setting aside navel-gazing brainlock to actually build a footbridge, any footbridge. This is hardly the first such proposal they've gone up to the cusp of a vote on and predictably managed to "Yeah, but..." themselves back to the drawing board with cold feet.

Alewife gives them all brainworms. It just does. Every time.
 
‘We have never felt unsafe in our neighborhood until now’: Coyote chases woman with dog near Alewife Station

www.bostonglobe.com

‘We have never felt unsafe in our neighborhood until now’: Coyote chases woman with dog near Alewife Station - The Boston Globe

It was around 9:30 p.m. and Deanna Lydon was walking her 60-pound, 8-year-old pitbull near an empty parking lot close to Alewife Station in Cambridge when a coyote snuck up behind her. At least one other encounter was reported Friday night.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

Spoiler alert: her dog was a 60-lb pit bull. I'd honestly be more afraid of that dog than a coyote.
 
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