"Then, of course, there was the hugely ambitious plan, driven largely by Summers, to develop a second campus across the Charles, in Allston. The land purchases and the planning cost millions and millions; the actual construction of the 350 acres of new housing, laboratories, museums, parks, and athletic facilities would cost billions and billions. Just the projected maintenance for the first building under construction, a $1 billion new home for the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, has been said to be $100 million a year. This February, Faust announced that the university would finish the basement, then stop work on the project. She has said the halt is temporary, but few are convinced. Allston residents worry that their neighborhood will be left with a massive hole in the ground."
The "quiet crisis" at Harvard for President Faust
A long look at Harvard's president and Harvard's financial straits in Boston Magazine: Drew Gilpin Faust and the Incredibly Shrinking Harvard. Here's the main Allston section...
New Harvard Ave building to get Urban Outfitters
In the new building near Comm Ave between Staples and TJ Maxx...
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/05/25/daily48.html
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/05/25/daily48.html
Urban Outfitters will open its fourth store in Greater Boston, having signed a lease for 13,500 square feet in Allston, Mass.
The lease, announced Thursday by Boston Realty Advisors on behalf of the site’s landlord, includes 2,400 square feet on the first floor of 226 Harvard Ave. and 11,000 square feet on the second floor. The three-story, 30,000-square-foot building was developed on a speculative basis, or without a tenant, beginning in the first quarter of last year
"Amenity rich" needs a school
The BRA talked more about the housing for the Holton St Corridor last night, and told us that the goal was to create an "amenity rich" neighborhood. There has been a lot of talk about new parks and some discussion about new retail along Western Ave, but many residents last night talked about a key amenity that is currently missing from the BRA's plan and stressed that a K-8 is a top priority to attract families and long-term residents and create a more stable community.
Our neighborhood is fortunate to have a great school in the Gardner Pilot Academy, but that ends at 5th grade and I know families who consider leaving the neighborhood in favor of a neighborhood where their kids can have more continuity in their education. The 700 units of new housing proposed last night means approximately 2000 new neighbors and something like 200 new kids. Even for the existing K-5 population the Gardner is already bursting at the seams.
If we are going to build all this great new housing we need to have a compelling answer to prospective homebuyers and renters who will ask "Where will my kids go to school"?
Our neighborhood is fortunate to have a great school in the Gardner Pilot Academy, but that ends at 5th grade and I know families who consider leaving the neighborhood in favor of a neighborhood where their kids can have more continuity in their education. The 700 units of new housing proposed last night means approximately 2000 new neighbors and something like 200 new kids. Even for the existing K-5 population the Gardner is already bursting at the seams.
If we are going to build all this great new housing we need to have a compelling answer to prospective homebuyers and renters who will ask "Where will my kids go to school"?
Boston T Party departing from Brigton
The first Boston T Party will embark from Brighton's Washington St stop on Sunday at 7pm. Sounds like fun!
Mahoney's staying in Brighton
The best thing to happen on Western Ave in a long time is that Mahoney's Garden Center has a new 10-year lease. If you haven't been there recently, they have significantly increased their selection and quantity of plants and, with so many plants flowering, it is more beautiful than ever.
Good morning rat
A neighbor asked me yesterday why so many newspaper stories mention the rats of Allston. Apparently there aren't many of them where she lives, but I told her that there is no shortage of them in other parts of the neighborhood.For example, here's a furry little critter I saw on my neighbor's front steps this morning at 8:35 while walking my dog. Twenty five minutes later it was still there sitting there on the same step.
We certainly have a lot of uncertainty
These days we are in the dark about how various forces will change our neighborhood in the upcoming years. When will Harvard finish its Science Complex? What type of development will replace the KMart and the rest of the Holton St Corridor? When will many of the improvements described in the North Allston Strategic Framework actually be done?
So I was intrigued by this headline and story about how uncertainty affects people's happiness, and I found it ironic that is it written by a Harvard professor, considering that Harvard is the driving force behind so much of the uncertainty and mystery about our future.
What You Don’t Know Makes You Nervous - Happy Days Blog - NYTimes.com
So I was intrigued by this headline and story about how uncertainty affects people's happiness, and I found it ironic that is it written by a Harvard professor, considering that Harvard is the driving force behind so much of the uncertainty and mystery about our future.
What You Don’t Know Makes You Nervous - Happy Days Blog - NYTimes.com
Which way is our spiral?
The cover story in the current edition of the Yale Alumni Magazine looks at the New Haven Renaissance and Yale's role in helping it happen.
There is little doubt now that New Haven is a healthier, more prosperous, more fun, and safer city than it has been in the memory of most alumni. 'When we use the word 'spiral' in speaking of our large cities,' wrote the Hartford Courant's Tom Condon two years ago, 'it is almost always preceded by 'downward.' In New Haven, they are saying 'upward.''
One example of Yale's positive and stabilizing impact is that since 1994 more than 900 Yale employees have purchased a home in New Haven with as much as $25,000 in financial assistance from Yale. Each dot on the map of New Haven represents a home purchased through Yale's Homebuyer Program.
Wouldn't it be great to have for North Allston and North Brighton to have a similar town-gown integration, a shift from absentee landlords to homeowners, and more people walking or biking to work?
Radio Boston looks at the Boston Mayor's race
Friday from 1-2 on WBUR (90.9 FM), Radio Boston will talk with the candidates for Mayor of Boston.
Lincoln Street ribbon cut
Thank you to Mayor Menino, Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development, the Allston Brighton CDC, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and everyone who joined us this morning to celebrate North Allston's first and only public art installation.
Monday ribbon cutting w/Mayor Menino
Improving this strip of land on Lincoln St between Royal and Mansfield streets was a long and interesting experience that started approximately 14 years ago.
On Monday morning at 11:00 we will celebrate the project with Mayor Menino, the Allston Brighton CDC, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and others.
If you aren't familiar with the site or as a reminder of what it looked like a few years ago, here are a few before and after views.
On Monday morning at 11:00 we will celebrate the project with Mayor Menino, the Allston Brighton CDC, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and others.
If you aren't familiar with the site or as a reminder of what it looked like a few years ago, here are a few before and after views.
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Everett St Gets Greener
 | Thanks to Grow Boston Greener, Mahoney's Garden Center, and the dozen-plus neighbors who came together this morning to help plant 17 new trees on the Everett St slope alongside Lincoln Street. We have made incredible strides since the ABNNF adopted this site last year and it was great to work alongside many familiar faces and some neighbors I had never met before. All the planning meetings we attend month after month haven't accomplished much in terms of physical improvements in our community, which makes it all the more gratifying to be able to get our hands dirty while turning this sliver of land into one of the greenest and most attractive places in our neighborhood. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a trend! |  |
Crimson story on Wednesday's CWP meeting
The Harvard Crimson :: News :: University To Freeze Property Purchases
This excerpt pretty well sums up the meeting. As a community I think we did an excellent job of focusing the meeting on the social and economic issues that are more likely what will make the new development of Charlesview a success or failure. Clearly we are going to insist on a lot more detail than just yellow squares on a map labelled "housing".
This excerpt pretty well sums up the meeting. As a community I think we did an excellent job of focusing the meeting on the social and economic issues that are more likely what will make the new development of Charlesview a success or failure. Clearly we are going to insist on a lot more detail than just yellow squares on a map labelled "housing".
"While BRA officials had intended to focus largely on street grid and park design in Allston’s Holton Street Corridor at Wednesday night’s Community-Wide Planning meeting, discussions instead turned towards considerations of mixed-income and affordable housing in the future neighborhood, as well as the density and connectivity of the planned residential communities."
Everett St planting on Saturday - Please join us
Everett Street Tree Planting
Saturday, May 16 - 9am to noon
In cooperation with Grow Boston Greener, we will do some spring cleaning & plant trees on the Everett St slope between Lincoln and Adamson. Please bring a shovel or rake and lend a hand!
Saturday, May 16 - 9am to noon
In cooperation with Grow Boston Greener, we will do some spring cleaning & plant trees on the Everett St slope between Lincoln and Adamson. Please bring a shovel or rake and lend a hand!
Harvard to buy another Allston property, and a pause
Harvard announced last night that they have made a deal to buy the Supply New England property between Seattle and Windom Streets. Harvard doesn't own it today, but the deal means that Harvard will own the property in no more than 10 years.
(this is a correction to a previous version of this post which said that Harvard already owns the property)
Also, Harvard stated that they will not purchase any property in A/B for the next year. Considering Harvard's dire financial situation, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that they will spend their limited resources on their current campus instead of more property that won't be developed for decades.
(this is a correction to a previous version of this post which said that Harvard already owns the property)
Also, Harvard stated that they will not purchase any property in A/B for the next year. Considering Harvard's dire financial situation, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that they will spend their limited resources on their current campus instead of more property that won't be developed for decades.
Tuesday morning assult in N. Allston
BPDNews.com: DAILY INCIDENTS FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2009
"On Tuesday, May 12, at approximately 12:21am, Officers assigned to Area D-14 (Allston / Brighton), responded to the area of Coolidge Road @ North Harvard Street for a report of a robbery in progress..."
Community Supported Fish - maybe coming to/near Allston
Cape Ann Fresh Catch is trying set up the fish equivalent of a CSA - you pay a fixed amount at the beginning of the season to get a variety of fish each week for 12 weeks.
There has been a good amount of interest in the Cambridge/North Allston area, so hopefully there will be a convenient pick-up location for us. Right now they are exploring how many people are interested, not looking for a commitment. More info is available at their website.
A 12 week subscription will start in early June
Half share of whole fish: 4-6 lbs per week $180
Full share of whole fish: 8-12 lbs per week $360
There has been a good amount of interest in the Cambridge/North Allston area, so hopefully there will be a convenient pick-up location for us. Right now they are exploring how many people are interested, not looking for a commitment. More info is available at their website.
A 12 week subscription will start in early June
Half share of whole fish: 4-6 lbs per week $180
Full share of whole fish: 8-12 lbs per week $360
Town/gown retail conflict in Porter Sq
With closing of market, area loses big taste of Japan - The Boston Globe
"But after two decades of service up a slice of Japan at the area's sole Japanese-only market, Shinohara will soon be saying farewell. Lesley University, which owns the Massachusetts Avenue building where the market is located, wants the space for its bookstore."
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