Category — Auburndale

Daddy’s Junky Music officially closed its doors this past Wednesday, shutting the door on one of the last truly local chains of guitar and musical instrument stores in the region. In talking about why this small regional chain failed, Fred Bramante (the chain’s founder) noted competition from online retailers as the prime reason. By buying online, customers saved paying sales tax (ironic perhaps as Daddy’s first store was just over the line in NH in a specific bid to draw Massachusetts customers for tax savings). While Daddy’s is more of a Boston institution, local Newton merchants like the Boston Running Company, Big Sky Bakery & Café, and New England Mobile Book Fair have either closed or are seeking to transfer to new ownership.

Yes, the economy is certainly somewhat to blame, but not entirely. And, since the UPS truck still drops off boxes from Amazon and Zappos throughout our city, what does it say about the commitment to our communities if we lose the merchants and stores that we love? How do we justify allowing the businesses that we wax nostalgic about to disappear?

Local merchants provide goods and services that we need and that are specifically tailored to the local market. In many cases they provide the essential foundation upon which the community itself builds. How many of us recall and treasure the bookstore, coffee house, diner, hobby shop, or even a record store that featured prominently in our lives?

Local merchants are active participants in the community themselves. They are as tied to the community as we are to them. It is much harder for them to pull up stakes and move to a different town than it is for a chain store. Since their success or failure is so tightly wound with that of the community, they are often exactly the ones most willing to invest in that community, through sponsoring local events and helping to fund things like local streetscape improvements.

Yes, the internet is convenient and cheap, but the community loses if that is the only place we shop.

So there are a few things we can do about this. Some of them involve changing regulations to try to either make things easier for merchants or to make it harder for chain stores to come into our village centers. However, this also seems to ignore the basic market reality of the situation.

Local merchants are only successful if people buy their food, services, and goods. Local stores are worth a second (or even a first) look. When you need a lightbulb, try stopping by Swartz or Waban Hardware. Need a book? Try browsing Newtonville Bookstore. The coffee and baked goods at l’Aroma are at least as good as Starbucks, and they have better teas.

Or better yet, try spending a weekend afternoon walking through Newtonville, Newton Highlands, Nonantum, West Newton, or Newton Centre and sampling the stores along the way. In between an excellent lunch and a few fine cups of coffee, I think it very likely you’ll find some new favorite haunts, and maybe even make some new friends along the way. And, you’ll enjoy yourself and help to maintain the village life that makes our city great.

Tony Moreira, who teaches technology courses at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, has posted an article about a series of items he’s hidden around Newton as part of a “geocaching” project, a scavenger hunt that require the use of GPS technology.

He’s hidden caches in 13 different village locations — even in Thompsonville. (Given today’s forecast, I’m hoping some are located near ice cream vendors.)

Moreira writes:

Childhood memories were the inspiration for the hides, and while looking for each cache, be sure to take in the local sights, shops, and check the cache’s listing at the geocaching.com website for interesting historic information about each location.

The Boston-area’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) will hold its annual meeting in Newton in June.

The keynote speaker is Barbara G. Fields, New England Administrator of the federal Housing and Urban Development Regional Office. The MAPC announcement says she will be discussing “the Obama Administration’s priorities in housing and community economic development, especially as they relate to state and local programs.”

After her presentation, attendees will sort into four breakout discussions on:

• Successes in Multi-Family, Mixed-Use Development
• Regionalization of Housing Services
• Senior and Supportive Housing
• Fair Housing

Among MAPC’s housing goals for the Boston area is for

“18. The region’s seniors will have more housing choices and opportunities to downsize while staying in their own community.”

The meeting will run from 8:30-11:30am on Wednesday, June 1, at the Boston Marriott Newton, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, in Auburndale. For more information on this meeting and to RSVP, please see MAPC’s event calendar.

5/31 update: This event has been rescheduled for 7pm on Wednesday, June 15.

Newton Mayor Setti Warren is hosting a community coffee for Newton Corner residents and business owners.

The mayor’s office is soliciting input on such questions as:

• How can we improve the quality of life in Newton Corner?
• What changes can we collectively bring about?
• How can you work with your neighbors, businesses and City Hall?

The Newton Corner meeting will be held from 7-8pm on Tuesday, May 31, at the West Suburban YMCA at 276 Church Street.

This is the third community coffee in a series of outreach efforts by the mayor. Earlier meetings have been held in Auburndale and Newtonville.

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This is re-posted from Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition listserv.  Please consider this opportunity to engage and help shape the future of the Riverside Station.

The Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition has been contacted by a representative of the Riverside Station development team. The developer, BH Normandy, is ready to meet with the community and present an updated proposal for the Riverside site. Working with our Ward 4 aldermen, a community meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, June 9th, at 7pm in the Williams School auditorium. Please mark this date on your calendars. More information will be forthcoming.

We have also been informed that the BH Normandy team is close to completing their Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”), and one of the purposes of the meeting is to gain input from the community prior to filing the report.  In basic terms, the purpose of the EIR is to look at the impact of the proposed development on certain items such as traffic, wastewater, air quality, noise and other matters.

We will need the help of residents to review, understand, and provide input for the EIR and we will need that help ASAP. If you have expertise in traffic or environmental issues, or you have outreach skills and are willing to help contact residents, please reply to this message or send an email to RiversideNeighbors@gmail.com.

It will take many residents to help craft a project that works for our neighborhoods, the City, and the developer.