Category — Newton Highlands

As you may know, MassDOT is working to widen I-95 to include four travel lanes from Route 24 to Route 9. The design work will likely be completed in fall 2012, with construction to begin in 2013 and completed in 2016. The proposed 127 million dollar project will widen 3.3 miles of I-95 including the three interchanges (Kendrick Street, Highland Street and Route 9).

The Public Safety & Transportation Committee of the Board of Aldermen will hear a report from the City’s Director of Transportation, Clint Schuckel, on Wednesday, February 8, in Room 202 of City Hall. The public is invited to ask questions about the project and its expected impacts.

Big Picture Framing 81 Union Street, Newton Centre and 60 Needham Street, Newton Highlands (plus other locations)

Barry Stahl & Bob Clayton opened Big Picture Framing, Boston’s premier chain of custom framing stores, in 2000.  (Barry was raised in Newton, but now lives in Metrowest.)
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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.

vinodivino 899 Walnut Street Newton Highlands, MA 02461  vinodivino.com

Raphael Keller-Go, a Brookline resident, opened vinodivino in 2004.   vinodivino is a real wine shop with 10 employees offering 100+ wines under $20, and without the” blah blah blah”.  [Read more →]

Lincoln Street is transformed for one afternoon each year when Newton Highlands hosts its annual Village Day. This year’s event is scheduled to take place this Sunday with food and retail vendors, rides and entertainment.

Please mark your calendar and keep your fingers crossed for good weather. (It’s been a busy week or we would have posted a note on this event earlier.) And, if you would like to create an event in your neighborhood or village, please read this earlier post.

Also take note: the Hyde Center and the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council host concerts and movies throughout the summer. Download the schedule (PDF).

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.