West Cambridge / Alewife Area Infill & Small Developments

Equilibria said:
I'm not sure if I like the Legoland Discovery Center aesthetic, but they aren't bad looking. I just wish that Alewife had a mature plan and transportation network to direct and support all this investment.
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I'd like to see Cambridge getting more in the way of proffers, like better pedestrian circulation up/over/under Rt 16, and then go ahead and build big things here.

One day, we'll have the Green Line from Union Square-Alewife-Belmont-Waverly through here.
 
Arlington said:
I'd like to see Cambridge getting more in the way of proffers, like better pedestrian circulation up/over/under Rt 16, and then go ahead and build big things here.

One day, we'll have the Green Line from Union Square-Alewife-Belmont-Waverly through here.
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Honestly, Alewife should be shooting for something like Tyson's Corner or Downtown Evanston (outside of DC and Chicago). 5mi from Downtown, with a connection between at least Red Line and Commuter Rail possible, and a ton of underdeveloped land with no real NIMBY neighbors. This could basically be an edge city downtown if developed properly.

Instead, we get suburban superblock apartments with little cafes on the ground floor that they call "retail". What Alewife really needs is someone like Samuels to come in with a private vision and hold his or her own buildings to it, but what's happening in the Fenway is so unique as to be miraculous.
 
Arlington said:
I'd like to see Cambridge getting more in the way of proffers, like better pedestrian circulation up/over/under Rt 16, and then go ahead and build big things here.

One day, we'll have the Green Line from Union Square-Alewife-Belmont-Waverly through here.
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State did finally close the sale on the Watertown Branch ROW and transfer ownership to DCR (with City of Cambridge taking ownership of it across the Waterworks property). I think there's some some transportation bill funding to jump-start the next phases of the Watertown Greenway. That'll help a lot.

Construction crews in front of the Waterworks have been reshaping the driveway entrance at the Parkway last couple weeks installing new curbs and striping an expanded bike lane through the parking lot. I know because of all the severe washout problems that plague the portion of the ROW on the parkway-facing side and under the driveway bridge that the path is going to go off-ROW to hook in to the existing Fresh Pond Reservoir path right after the Huron underpass. Then go through the parking lot and hook into the existing bike-exclusive path set back from the parkway. It'll put more bikes around the reservoir path walkers, but the washout problems down below are just too severe and would render the path unusable for days at a time after heavy rain or snowmelt.


The only disappointing thing is that there appear to be no concrete plans at the moment for bridging the gap directly from the reservoir to Alewife. No path on the ROW behind the Mall and gas station to Danehy Park (the New St. sidewalk bloody sucks when the landscaping trucks are out in the morning), no easement acquisition behind Trader Joe's between Wheeler St. and Terminal Rd., no ramps up from Terminal to the Fitchburg Line overpass for getting direct to Alewife, and no dedicated ped overpass of the Fitchburg Line to connect the path systems on dedicated route. Conceptual renderings, yes...action plan or funding source, no. So there's going to remain a vexing gap and scary walk on the parkway sidewalk in front of the Mall that discourages linking the crowds on the Fresh Pond/Watertown path system to the even bigger crowds on the Minuteman/Fitchburg Cutoff/Somerville Community/Mystic River path systems.

I'm disappointed this isn't a vastly higher priority for the city. I know from living just on the other side of Danehy how sorely needed this is to make all that disconnected development at Wheeler, New, Alewife, and Acorn Park functionally integrate. Baffles me that this isn't Priority #1.
 
"Please pardon our appearance"... Are they apologizing for the way that place has looked for the last 30 years? Heyoooo. I remember remember when that was public housing on the other side of the tracks and that shopping center was very gritty. There used to be a Zayre's and a Woolworth with a lunch counter in the middle of the store.

Here is a dope Zayre's commercial: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z-fSfUEUoxE
 
Czervik.Construction said:
"Please pardon our appearance"... Are they apologizing for the way that place has looked for the last 30 years? Heyoooo. I remember remember when that was public housing on the other side of the tracks and that shopping center was very gritty. There used to be a Zayre's and a Woolworth with a lunch counter in the middle of the store.

Here is a dope Zayre's commercial: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z-fSfUEUoxE
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The new facade actually looks pretty decent. But that place is never gonna get any better unless they tame the asphalt wasteland. The lot is jam packed during lunch hours and when the discount movie theater is opened, except for the far corner by Terminal Rd. which is just a truck stop for big rigs and speed trap for people cutting over to/from New St. But there's got to be a ton of induced demand there from locals too lazy to carry their purchases. Even a slight parking reduction or re-landscaping the damn thing into islands between controlled access driveways is unlikely to reduce patronage there.


I also can't believe with how many cars jam that rear-access driveway off the parkway next to Ma Magoo's that they fixed up that pair of abandoned garage shacks and are trying to re-rent them out. Nothing can get through that pinch point and they want to bring more truck traffic through here?
 
Czervik.Construction said:
I remember when that was public housing on the other side of the tracks and that shopping center was very gritty. There used to be a Zayre's and a Woolworth with a lunch counter in the middle of the store.
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Yeah, no kidding. I lived in the public housing (Jefferson Park) from 1955 to 1966, my age 5 to 16. We got out just as "the projects" were spiraling into a crime ridden welfare zone. Thankfully it was remodeled in the 1980's, but it still sucks. The liberal dream gone awry.
 
The public housing across the tracks still exists, and Jefferson Park is actually up for another redevelopment. The City is planning to demolish all structures and rebuild with a new design. News and full plans here:

http://www.cambridge-housing.org/Whats-New/Planning-Development/Planning-News

It certainly could use an update. The number of units will actually decrease from 108 to 98, but it seems the individual units will be larger. Still no plans for a pedestrian bridge to Danehy.
 
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CSTH said:
Wow. That's a nice upgrade.

Still a strip mall.

But a nice one.
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Nothing will ever be nice about that until the atrocity of a parking lot is redone. Rotary was all plugged up by somethingorother so I went New St. to Terminal Rd. to reach Trader Joe's yesterday a little before noon. Nearly got hit in the windshield by a football thrown by a couple of Cambridge cops to some big rig truck drivers who they were having a pickup game with right in front of the cinema on the de facto truck stop that exists on that side before the theater opens for the afternoon. Big rigs and cop cars parked straddling like 12 spaces diagonally.


Is it too much to ask for a few curbs and medians to bring some semblance of order to all that chaos?
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
Nothing will ever be nice about that until the atrocity of a parking lot is redone. Rotary was all plugged up by somethingorother so I went New St. to Terminal Rd. to reach Trader Joe's yesterday a little before noon. Nearly got hit in the windshield by a football thrown by a couple of Cambridge cops to some big rig truck drivers who they were having a pickup game with right in front of the cinema on the de facto truck stop that exists on that side before the theater opens for the afternoon. Big rigs and cop cars parked straddling like 12 spaces diagonally.


Is it too much to ask for a few curbs and medians to bring some semblance of order to all that chaos?
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Well, there are speed bumps. Not like they can't be easily avoided by veering into the millions of empty marked parking spots and contributing to the overall chaos, but hey, they're trying. :rolleyes:

It almost makes you hope they just leave the area alone because whatever half assed cost cutting measures that likely get taken will surely make the problem worse.
 
Actually in Arlington, but Thorndike Place is proposes in East Arlington near Rte 2. 219 apartments. Some environmental concerns are obviously present due to the marshes in the area.
 
pixelsand8 said:
Well, there are speed bumps. Not like they can't be easily avoided by veering into the millions of empty marked parking spots and contributing to the overall chaos, but hey, they're trying. :rolleyes:

It almost makes you hope they just leave the area alone because whatever half assed cost cutting measures that likely get taken will surely make the problem worse.
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I think the Plaza rework of the facade is a good first step

Next there should be added a 2 or 3 story parking structure back in the corner by the Theatre

I'd leave the first 20 or so rows of distributed parking directly in front of the stores -- The combination of the structured parking and the open parking would free up a substantial part of the parking lot near to the roadway which could then be opened to small to medium scale development -- much like the redo-of the Porter Square strip a few years ago

Finally -- rework the strip itself -- take the central core and add a tower of 6 to 8 stories on top of the retail pedestal -- leave the Whole Foods and the other wings mostly alone -- a bit like -- The Landmark along the Riverway
 
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