We loved seeing everyone at our Fall Happy Hour this past Monday at Grainne O’Malley’s. We enjoyed some great conversations with neighbors and friends, new and old, and are energized for a busy Fall Town Meeting calendar ahead. Thanks for helping us create such a great community of local advocates!
Yes! In Brookline Forum: “Housing for All in Brookline: For-profit and Nonprofit Developer Perspectives”
On Wednesday, September 18 our friends at Yes! in Brookline are sponsoring a forum on Housing for All in Brookline: For-profit and Nonprofit Developer Perspectives. Two Brookline residents who are active housing builders, Amy Schectman and Zeina Talje, will discuss the obstacles they face, and overcome, to build housing for us all. Cathleen Cavell, Town Meeting Member Precinct 1, will moderate. The forum will be from 7:00-8:30 pm, Brookline Town Hall, Select Board Hearing Room, 6th floor. This in-person event will be live-streamed by BIG. The event is co-sponsored by GBIO Brookline, Brookline Community Development Corporation, Brookline for Everyone, the Brookline Housing Authority, Brookline Planning Board, and Brookline Housing Advisory Board. Register to attend here.
Updates on Two Important Ongoing Planning Processes
The Town will be holding meetings of 2 important planning processes, both on Monday evening, that serve as important opportunities to think about what Brookline could look like in the coming decades.
The Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study Community Advisory Group will be holding a hybrid meeting on Monday, September 16 at 6:30pm, meeting at Brookline Town Hall Room 111 and Zoom. The committee has been meeting since March to explore commercial development and housing opportunities along Boylston Street near the Newton/Brookline line. To this point the committee and consultants have mostly been gathering feedback from the community. Monday’s meeting will provide a status update of their work and lay out a proposed phased approach to rezoning the area. Review the agenda and sign up for the Zoom session here, and you can review comments and feedback from the community here.
The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee is also meeting on Monday, September 16 at 7:00pm, on the 1st floor of Brookline Town Hall and via Zoom. This committee, and the Comp Plan process are just getting started, and this meeting will primarily be for discussing how the Town and project consultants will be engaging with the community. Public engagement is a crucial element of the process, as who gets to have their priorities and needs baked into the final comp plan will significantly influence the outcome. We are confident that a vibrant, diverse community is a priority for a majority of Brookline, which includes more housing across the income spectrum to tackle housing affordability, more economic development to bring jobs and customers to our commercial districts and spread the cost of services across a wider taxbase, and safe infrastructure for all community members to walk, bike, roll, and drive around town, all while keeping a laser focus on lowering our collective carbon footprint and climate impact. This is a committee we’ll be paying a lot of attention to throughout their work and will be sure to highlight the most important action items. If you’re interested in learning more about their community engagement tactics, click here for more details to attend or register for the Zoom link.
The Intersection of Public Health and Complete Streets
The Brookline Advisory Council of Public Health will be meeting on Monday evening, September 16 at 5:30pm in the Denny Room (basement) of the Public Health Building, and via Zoom (agenda and registration here). One agenda item that caught our eye is a conversation with Amy Ingles, Transportation Administrator at the Department of Public Works about Complete Streets. Building safer streets that can accommodate all members of our community and the various ways they get around is an important element in maintaining the mental and physical health of our neighbors, and bringing a public health lens to Complete Streets can help folks skeptical of the changes it might entail recognize its broad importance to Brookline.
Addressing Our Housing Shortage with “Missing Middle” Housing
The Boston Society for Architecture (BSA) is holding what is sure to be a great event on Tuesday, September 17 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the BSA space at 290 Congress Street, Boston, and live streamed, titled “The Persistently Missing Middle: The State of Housing Design and Development in New England.” The event will consist of “a panel discussion of architects and public leaders who will share innovative approaches to creating, developing, and financing feasible ‘missing middle’ housing solutions.” More info and how to register for this FREE event can be found here.