Posts from — February 2010

[UPDATE: March 24, 2010--This post was adapted and published by the Newton Tab.]

One of the first things we can do, as residents and merchants of Newton, to improve our village centers may begin with our feet.

At Mayor Setti Warren’s summit in December,  pedestrian and bicycling improvements were identified as a city-wide goal. The summit groups on Infrastructure and on Environment and Energy both suggested improvements to mobility and access, as did the Community Life group: “Walk-ability, bike-ability, and better public transportation will help improve access for all.” Even in the summit discussion group on Public Safety, in which I participated,

Concern was expressed about the safety of our streets and sidewalks including maintaining and improving the infrastructure of existing ways, pedestrian safety at crosswalks, traffic calming measures in high risk areas, bicycle lanes, bicycle safety promotion, and evaluating vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian safety needs.

At the Newton Villages organizational meeting in January, participants echoed many of the same goals:

• Walk-ability, bike-ability, public transport, driving/parking.
• Pedestrian scale/access: walk-ability, bike-ability within the village centers should priority over autocentrism.
• Villages must be accessible by bike and foot.

[Read more →]

At the first organizational meeting of Newton Villages last month, a group of 22 Newton residents, including neighborhood, community, and business leaders, gathered to discuss how this coalition may work to improve our village centers for the benefit of all Newton residents.

Participants at this meeting represented neighborhood associations in Auburndale, Newton Corner, and Newton Highlands, the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters-Newton, Green Decade Newton, the Planning and Development Board, the Traffic Council, the city’s Economic Development Commission, and the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee.

The evening revolved around small-group discussions addressing two core questions about our village centers: [Read more →]