Greetings, and welcome to March,
Snow, snow, still everywhere. We want to start with a special THANK YOU to all Town employees who helped keep us safe during the storm and get our roadways and sidewalks clear as fast as possible.
Now, on to the meetings of interest this week
- The Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study Community Advisory Group meets on Monday, March 2, at 6 pm in Room 103 of Town Hall and on Zoom (agenda and registration here), to focus on details of the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) with City Realty, the potential developer of a 5-acre portion of the overall site. The MOA is a permanent, binding agreement with the developer for all the proposed public benefits (totalling more than $24 million) connected with their plan for three new buildings for a hotel, apartments, medical offices and ground floor retail; these public benefits are in addition to the expected $4.2 to $6.3+ million in annual next tax revenue to the Town). There will be time for public comment at the end, and we encourage those who feel comfortable to speak up to emphasize the public’s interest in taking action now for the benefit of the Town and all of its 63,000 residents. This area, along Route 9 near the Newton border, was prioritized twenty years ago for study, has been under active review for the last two years, and remains Brookline’s best opportunity for mixed-use development, including housing, retail, and commercial uses.
- The Housing Advisory Board (HAB) will have its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 4, from 5:30-7:30 pm via Zoom. You can find the full agenda here and can register here. The meeting will include preliminary discussion of two housing related Warrant Articles for the Spring Town Meeting (on Inclusionary Zoning and Accessory Dwelling Units), as well consideration of whether to allocate AHTF funds to support the Senior Housing Planner budget in the Town Planning Department.
Two reminders: Comp Plan Survey and Town Elections
- There is one day left to complete the Comprehensive Plan Survey (link here) by March 2. If you only have two minutes, just focus on questions at the beginning about Brookline’s overall goals (and feel free to skip the rest). If you believe Brookline needs more homes at all price points — particularly mixed-use, transit-oriented development that supports fiscal stability, strong schools, vibrant business districts, and climate goals — make sure that view is reflected. Just do it now!
- And, There is STILL Time to Run for Town Meeting. The deadline for petitions is still two weeks away, and you only need 10 signatures from your neighbors to run. We’re excited about so many candidates throughout Brookline, but there’s room in nearly every precinct for new, pro-housing Town Meeting Members. Let us know if you have questions about the process or to get connected with past B4E-endorsed candidates! Email us at BrooklineForEveryone@gmail.com. And if you are able to contribute to our campaign efforts, you can donate here.
Planning Ahead: Next B4E Book Club will meet on Thursday, March 26 at 7:00
Our next B4E Book Club will meet on Thursday, March 26, from 7:00-8:00 at BHS (MLK Room) (register here!). We’ll discuss Henry Grabar’s Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World. Grabar explains how much America has given up for parking, and unpacks several core NIMBY arguments about parking. The book will certainly provoke thought about several current Brookline projects like 26 Pleasant Street (where an apartment building is proposed to replace a 50 year old parking lot!), the Centre Street Lots project, and even the Chestnut Hill Commercial Area development. As Grabar points out, Americans pay a lot to keep parking cheap (or free). Come join us as we discuss the book and the future of Brookline. Sign up here!
What we’re reading this week (in addition to the Book Club book)
We can’t provide a link due to paywall issues, but we loved the recent article by Henry Grabar in The Atlantic titled High-End Construction Really Does Help Everyone: A new rung at the top of the housing ladder permits people lower down to climb up. Grabar reports on a new study that followed what happened when a 43-story condo building opened in Honolulu. Researchers tracked who moved in, and where they came from. The 512 new units ultimately produced at least 557 vacancies across the rest of the city, as households moved out of older, less expensive homes, which were then filled by others moving up from even lower-cost housing. In one case, the chain reached all the way to transitional housing. This kind of “vacancy chain” effect has been found in other U.S. and European research as well. Building market-rate housing doesn’t replace the need for subsidized affordable homes. But it does create movement, reduce overcrowding, and ease pressure on older, lower-cost apartments. In a tight housing market, adding homes at the top helps people all the way down the ladder. (For true polity nerds, you can find the 40-page research paper here.)
Then, there are the two housing related Brookline.News articles this week (and quoting your humble editor):
- A plan for 18 small apartments in a vacant office building turned into four big luxury condos. Housing advocates aren’t happy, and
- Developer proposes seven-story apartment building in Coolidge Corner parking lot.
And finally, our own Brookline TMM Anthony Flint has a great Bloomberg News article, How Zoning Won, on the 100-year anniversary of the Euclid vs Ambler Realty Supreme Court Decision that legalized zoning as we know it. My takeaway: a single Supreme Court ruling in 1926 hard-wired single-family and exclusionary zoning into American law, fueling sprawl, segregation, and today’s housing shortage. A century on, we’re stuck with a system that no longer serves us — and it’s up to us to modernize it ASAP to meet today’s realities
Thanks, and have a great week,
Jonathan Klein for Brookline for Everyone