Come Celebrate With Brookline for Everyone!
Brookline for Everyone will be celebrating the holiday season with our annual gathering on the evening of Monday, December 16th from 5:30-7:30pm. Friends, family, and neighbors are welcome! Info and RSVP here. 2024 has had quite a few ups-and-downs, but what better way to leave the year behind than reflect on the year, discuss opportunities ahead in 2025, and raise a glass with friends, old and new.
Brookline.News Wants Your Housing Story
Our town’s online newspaper, Brookline.News, is seeking brief submissions from residents:
“Are you renting, or do you own? How did you find the place where you live? Can you afford it, or does it stretch your means? Is it a haven or a source of stress and insecurity? Do you think you’ll stay?” Share your housing story here. We hope you’ll share your story — especially if you are newer to Brookline, struggling to stay in Brookline, or have had your network impacted by housing.
Brookline Meetings of Interest this Week
- The Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study Community Advisory Group (see background here) has a hybrid meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 6:30-8:30 pm, in person at Room 103 in Town Hall and via Zoom (agenda is here, register here for the Zoom). The agenda includes updates from the EDAB Subcommittee, a recent HAB meeting (see more below), and a presentation by the consultant, RKG Associates, on “massing test fits” which, in plain English, means testing out and demonstrating ideas of what size and mass of buildings would fit on different parcels or combinations of parcels.
One specific proposal for the Chestnut Hill neighborhood is for a large combined property at 1280-1330 Boylston Street (Route 9), across from “The Street” shopping area, which is in Newton. The developer, City Realty, has proposed a large mixed-use development including around 200 apartments, a hotel, and lots of retail space, which would become one of the largest taxpayers in Brookline, greatly easing our financial challenges. The project webpage is here. At its recent meeting on Dec. 4, the Housing Advisory Board heard a short presentation from City Realty about housing aspects of their proposal. As currently proposed (but likely to be reduced due to neighborhood pressures to make the overall project smaller), there could be 180 traditional apartment units, of which 27 would be affordable, plus 115 senior (55+) apartments with 17 affordable. In addition, the developer would pay $8,775,000 to the HAB’s Affordable Housing Trust in Brookline, which would be the largest ever payment to the Trust, and could help it finance hundreds of additional affordable homes. There will be an opportunity for public comment at around 8:15, and we encourage pro-housing advocates from the neighborhood and throughout Brookline who are able to attend to speak up for the urgent need for more mixed-use development, including a significant number of new homes, housing, as part of any redevelopment plan. - The Fisher Hill West Uses Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday morning, Dec. 19 at 10:00 am, via Zoom only (register here) to continue planning the future of the Town-owned parcels at the former Newbury College campus on Fisher Avenue and Hyslop Road. We strongly encourage them to prioritize space for a significant new affordable housing development. More information on the project is here, and the meeting agenda, including minutes of the initial meeting held in September, is here.
What we’re reading this week
From the NYT, we loved this article by Binyamin Applebaum a few weeks ago: Note to Democrats: It’s Time to Take Up Your Hammers, which dramatically connects the Democrats’ disappointing performance in the national election to their failure to address the nation’s housing crisis. He argues that restrictive zoning laws and limited housing construction have worsened affordability issues, alienating voters. Sound familiar? According to Applebaum, “America simply isn’t building enough housing, which has driven up prices, which has made it difficult for millions of households to keep up with monthly rent or mortgage payments. . . Popular anger about the high cost of housing, which is by far the largest expense for most American households, helped to fuel Mr. Trump’s comeback.” Appelbaum urges Democrats (which includes most of Brookline, where we voted overwhelmingly for the Harris/Walz ticket) to champion housing reforms and new construction to rebuild trust and demonstrate commitment to economic justice. We agree!
Thanks, and have a great week,
Jonathan Klein, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone