Category — Chestnut Hill

Design of the mixed-use building by Newton-based Architects2, http://architects2boston.com/.

The big news this week has been the redevelopment of the vacant Omni Foods site on Route 9 in Chestnut Hill. That project, by Newton-based New England Development, has met with both begrudging approval and outright opposition, which you may have already read about in the Newton Tab, Newton Patch, and Newton Streets and Sidewalks.

Meanwhile, in Nonantum, a small, mixed-use development promises to bring five two-bedroom housing units, new retail space, and parking spaces into the village center. This project will take the place of a single-family house on Adams Street, just off Watertown Street.

This is exactly the kind of development recommended in Newton’s Comprehensive Plan. It will enable residents to walk to nearby shops, restaurants, and public transportation. Having more residents living in village centers, as the plan states, “would likely expand the available range of goods and services offered there. It would also increase the stock of affordable housing located close to employment centers and public transportation.” [Read more →]

A housing development in the northern edge of Chestnut Hill has won a national award from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

ULI picked the Fairways and Carriage House at 33 Commonwealth to receive a Jack Kemp Workforce Housing 2010 Models of Excellence award. Only four developments nationwide received the award from 29 submissions. The other winning developments were in the District of Columbia, Denver, and Baltimore. [Read more →]

In a post yesterday, “livable communities” blogger Steve Miller suggested a healthy environment requires three things:

1. Smart Growth,
2. Active Transportation, and
3. Human-Scale Architecture.

This year, we’ve written about smart growth, some definitions of it, and how its principles might apply in the context of Newton. At the same time, a Mixed Use Task Force, created by Newton Mayor Setti Warren, worked to clarify the vision of the 2007 Newton Comprehensive Plan as it relates to large commercial/residential developments. These conversations should continue.

Also this year, the mayor founded a Transportation Advisory Committee , including Newton Villages co-founder Matt Cuddy, to help shape our transportation system, “enhance the quality of life in Newton’s neighborhoods and village centers,” involve a broad base of citizens in the conversation, and develop a long-term framework for policy and implementation. Good stuff.

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In this age of 3-D films and TiVo, it may be easy to overlook the good old-fashioned performance spaces in our village centers. But, perhaps this holiday season, we can take time to enjoy them.

Newton Villages welcomes efforts of the Newton Cultural Alliance (NCA) to create collaborations between the city’s arts organizations and our local merchants.

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A futurist view?

File this under “wishful thinking,” but… [Read more →]

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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