The week ahead is a quiet one with regard to Brookline land use meetings and actions. With this in mind, it’s a great week to sign up for the 1st session of the Brookline for Everyone’s Book Club (October 15 at 7pm at United Parish Brookline, sign up here) and dive into the inaugural book, Jeff Speck’s Walkable City.
Review Proposals for the Centre Street Lots
As a follow up to the “A More Walkable Brookline” talk from Speck/Dempsey at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on September 10 (you can watch it here), the Centre Street Lots Committee met last week to review 4 high level ideas and community feedback. We encourage you to take a look at the options discussed if you haven’t yet, which you can find starting on page 31 of this presentation. We have been impressed with the ideas and are excited at the possibilities for significant new housing, retail, and public space adding to the vibrancy of Coolidge Corner. We’ll be sure to keep you updated with any additional opportunities to weigh in on the future of this underutilized piece of land in one of the most vibrant parts of Brookline.
Adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in Brookline
Adding an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) can make your property more flexible, useful, and valuable. An ADU is a small, self-contained housing unit located on the same lot as a principal home, with its own kitchen, bathroom, and living space, and can be within an existing home, added onto the main home, or in a separate building on your lot. Brookline is a great location for ADUs, and now that they’ve been made legal at the state level, we want to encourage folks to consider the new possibilities. We put together a guide to ADUs in Brookline as a starting point for anyone curious about adding an in-law or nanny suite, a smaller unit to age-in-place, backyard cottage, rental apartment, or more. The guide can be found here.
Free Compost Drop-Off in Brookline
Did you know that Brookline offers 4 free compost drop-off locations around Town? About a year ago the Town implemented a new composting program that has had a real impact on diverting food waste out of local landfills, and they’re looking to expand the program. The Department of Public Works is asking for community input to identify 2-3 locations for program expansion, and are seeking input from the community via an online survey (click here!). Special thanks to Zero Emissions Advisory Board member & Town Meeting Member Kathleen Scanlon for helping to spread the word about this important, and successful, program.
Thinking About Density with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Land Matters Podcast
Density can sometimes be heard skeptically by folks thinking about how their community may change over time, but at the same time density is vital to creating the vibrant, walkable, diverse neighborhoods we value here in Brookline. On this week’s Land Matters podcast, host & Brookline Town Meeting Member Anthony Flint sits down with two experts in architecture and urban design to demystify density and discuss how density is a vital component to fun, exciting places. They importantly highlight that density doesn’t have to mean 100+ unit apartment buildings, but instead can look much more like many of the 12 to 20 home residential buildings that define Brookline (including the one I’m writing this newsletter from). The impetus for this conversation is a recent update to a great tool from the Lincoln Institute called Visualizing Density, which aims to help community members, leaders, and planners alike get a sense of what density can look like in a variety of settings. The entire discussion was enlightening and worth a listen in full. Check out the full podcast here.
And finally, Brookline Porchfest is next Saturday!
Brookline Porchfest is one of my favorite days of the year in Brookline, and is next Saturday, September 27 from 11am to 6pm. With over 100 bands scheduled to perform, there’s something for everyone, and a great way to meet neighbors and enjoy a Fall afternoon. Check out the schedule and map on the Brookline Porchfest website.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jeff Wachter, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone