This week we’re excited to launch our revamped website, www.brooklineforeveryone.com. We think this site is easier to navigate, helps folks understand why more housing is so important for Brookline, and looks great! Thanks to B4E board member Katha Seidman for spearheading this major effort!
Onto the week ahead.
Upcoming MBTA Communities Kickoff: We hope you’ll join Brookline for Everyone and Abundant Housing MA at 6:30pm on Tuesday, February 28th at Hops N Scotch for Brookline’s 2023 MBTA Communities Kickoff. This year Brookline has the chance to pass the MBTA Communities Act, a set of reforms that allows the transit oriented housing our community needs. This is Brookline’s best chance to promote economic diversity, environmental sustainability, and racial inclusion through housing. Join Brookline for Everyone in advocating for the housing we need to make living in our community an authentic choice. Come to hear about Brookline’s MBTA Communities Act compliance plans, but more importantly, come to connect and share a drink with pro-housing neighbors and friends. This event is free, but contributions are gratefully accepted. Register here!
Brookline Board and Committee Hearings:
- The Zoning Board of Appeals will be meeting on Thursday, February 16 at 7pm to consider the potential conversion of the 1 unit building 1726 Beacon Street to a 4 family home. This project received a positive recommendation from Planning Department staff and general support from the Planning Board (recommending more details on trash removal and to decrease the number of parking spaces from 4 to 3). This is exactly the sort of project we should be celebrating along a major transit corridor and near stores, restaurants, and Waldstein Playground. We encourage you to reach out to the Zoning Board of Appeals via Madison Anthony (manthony@brooklinema.gov) to express your support for this conversion. Click here for more information and to register to attend.
- On Monday, February 13 at 7pm, the Zoning Board of Appeals will hold another hearing on 845 Boylston Street, a 40 home building with 10 affordable units. We’ve discussed this project before, and you can read the B4E comment letter here. If you haven’t submitted comment in support of this proposal to the Zoning Board, we encourage you to do so via Maria Morelli (mmorelli@brooklinema.gov). Click here for more information and to attend this hearing.
- The Community Preservation Committee will be meeting on Monday, February 13 at 6:30pm. This is an important funding tool for supporting low-income housing and greenspace in Brookline. We encourage folks to follow along with their deliberations to make sure housing remains a top priority of the committee. Click here for more information and to attend.
Brookline for Everyone Supporters: We want to highlight all the folks who have contributed to the Brookline for Everyone non-profit in the past year. As a 501c4, we are not obligated to disclose our donors, but think it’s important to let folks know just how many friends and neighbors contribute to making our work possible. And most importantly, to send out a huge THANK YOU to our financial supporters. You can view our donor list here. We also want to highlight that financial contributions are just one way to support our pro-housing activities; we want to thank everyone who learned a bit about why more housing is so important, spoke with your neighbors about housing, voted for Brookline for Everyone endorsed candidates, submitted public comment to a town board or commission, challenged your own assumptions about why Brookline looks the way it does, or engaged in any way. And if you’re able to contribute to our work, we encourage you to support the Brookline for Everyone PAC; as we gear up for the May election, every dollar counts.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jeff Wachter, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone