Posts from — June 2010

Here’s a quick heads-up on a project we’re developing with the Chamber of Commerce.

We want to find opportunities to improve our village centers, and have fun in the process. We’re going to run scavenger hunts in our villages’ business districts, starting this fall. Teams will go out with cameras and work through a list of challenges like:

• Photograph a GREAT window display
• Find a senior citizen walking in the village
• Find a block of metered parking spots that are all taken
• Find empty parking spots in a private lot that would probably be used if it were allowed

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You may have thought once or twice before, “Why do developers do our planning for us?  They tell us what they want, and we react.  Why don’t we have our own vision?”

Mayor Warren has convened a committee to create that vision–the Comprehensive Plan Mixed Use Task Force (MUTF). The group is led by the rightly esteemed Phil Herr, who led the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee that gave us our 2007 Plan.

[NOTE:  Two Newton Villagers (Andrea Kelley and John Pears) are serving on the MUTF.  As updates on the MUTF work are available, we will post them here.]

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I just got word that this week the Mayor is finalizing the membership of his new Transportation Advisory Committee.  If you care about Newton’s quality of life, and if you’re knowledgeable or simply interested in transportation, this is an opportunity you should consider.

From the City:

Have a special interest or expertise in transportation and want to serve your community? Let us know! Mayor Warren is establishing a new Transportation Advisory Committee and Newton residents are needed to assess the City’s accommodations for all modes of transportation including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists and will recommend ways to improve the infrastructure for all ages and abilities. For more information, please contact Andrew Warner, Community Outreach Coordinator, at 617-796-1103 or email your resume and/or letter of interest to awarner@newtonma.gov.

Karma Fine Imported Crafts

57 Union Street, Newton Centre

Part specialty retail, part gallery, part cultural exchange. Karma blends traditional techniques and modern bridging cultures through fair trade.

Phuni Kim Meston, who currently lives in Weston (after being a Newton resident for 12 years), established Karma Fine Imported Crafts in 2006. She has 2 employees.

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Despite the persistent gray skies, the rain stayed away, and hundreds of people turned out for Village Day in Newton Highlands on Sunday.

A crowd milled along Lincoln Street on Sunday.

Several blocks of Lincoln Street were closed to traffic as local merchants opened their doors and in many cases took to the sidewalks and street to meet and greet neighbors and friends.  [Read more →]

As I hope everyone knows, Newton Highlands’ Village Day is tomorrow.  To the unwitting observer, this would seem unrelated to the recent beautification work I observed a couple of weeks ago.

In fact, the two are intimately connected, and made possible through the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council (NHNAC).

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