NEW LIFE FOR CLARENDON HILL
City gives final approval for expansion, renovation of public housing Clarendon Hill, a 216-unit housing development in West Somerville, will be substantially enlarged, redesigned, and renovated, after the City Council last week authorized $14 million in borrowing to help finance the project. Located at 34 North St. between Alewife Brook Parkway, Powder House Blvd., and […]
SOMERVILLE EXTENDS EVICTION MORATORIUM ONCE MORE
End date now June 30, 2022 (Somerville Wire) – After the City of Boston lifted its eviction moratorium on March 31, Somerville is now the last municipality in the state to maintain a ban on evictions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last Thursday, April 21, the city extended that moratorium for two more months. […]
SOMERVILLE WIRE: APRIL 5, 2022 WEEKLY ROUNDUP
A documentary screening about police in schools, a discussion about government sponsored racism in housing, and the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program Articles DONATE TO THE SOMERVILLE MEDIA FUND! Somerville Media Center and BINJ join forces to create municipal foundation to support nonprofit community journalism HOW DOES THE FARE COLLECTION SYSTEM AT THE GLX WORK? Pols […]
SOMERVILLE WIRE: MARCH 22, 2022 WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Events at the Somerville Museum, a tenants’ rights webinar, and the Council on Aging Board of Directors seeks new members Articles EDITORIAL: MEDIA CONSOLIDATION ACCELERATES IN SOMERVILLE Gannett merges its Somerville Journal and Medford Transcript newspapers as BINJ’s Somerville News Garden project and the Somerville Media Center launch a new municipal foundation to fund local […]
THE GREEN LINE EXTENSION: TRANSFORMING TRANSPORTATION OR CAUSING DISPLACEMENT?
Photo by Cindy Weisbart New transit arrives in Somerville, met with a mixed bag of emotions (Somerville Wire) – Somerville celebrated the opening of the first phase of the Green Line Extension, with new stations in Union Square and Lechmere, on March 21. The moment was historic, the result of decades of planning, and passengers, […]
SOMERVILLE YMCA CONTEMPLATES FUTURE IN NEW BUILDING
The search for a new facility is on (Somerville Wire) – The Somerville YMCA is in an early stage of the process of searching for a new home. Established in 1867, the building that currently houses the community center was built in 1904. Due to the age of the facility and its declining condition, the […]
THE LACK OF ON-CAMPUS HOUSING CREATES TENSIONS AND INSTABILITY IN SOMERVILLE
“Shortages and insecurity in on-campus housing continue to push students to look for housing elsewhere—in surrounding communities.” Housing instability within Somerville continues to worsen as universities struggle to accommodate their rising student populations. Meanwhile, rental prices in surrounding communities increase. The growing divide between students and the community puts pressure on city officials, universities, and […]
BOSTON’S BOOMING LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRY MOVES TO SOMERVILLE
Image by Boynton Yards “The more we can encourage developers to build commercial properties, ironically, I think the more affordable housing that’s likely to result in.” The largest life sciences cluster in the nation, Cambridge’s Kendall Square, is reaching a saturation point. The industry, on the other hand, has no signs of slowing down and […]
WINTER HILL STAR MARKET SITE DEVELOPMENT IN DISCUSSION
The potential project, still in an early stage of planning, has benefited from community feedback (Somerville Wire) – On Nov. 8, the Land Use Committee held a public hearing to discuss the possibility of having the Winter Hill Star Market site developed by Mark Development, LLC. While community members did express some concerns, the response […]
OPINION: ONE TOOL AGAINST DISPLACEMENT, RENT HIKES, SPECULATION
“TOPA would allow communities to slow displacement and gentrification by removing some homes from the for-profit, speculative, escalating market, and making them permanently affordable.” Speculators are driving up prices, blocking new home-buyers, and promoting destabilization of neighborhoods, displacement of long-time residents, and gentrification. Is this inevitable? Those issues were the topic of my last newsletter. […]
