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).

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.

[Read more →]

The Waban Library Center will host an evening of art, jazz, food and wine onto help fund the continued operation of the center, which was reopened by volunteers in 2009 after the city closed it and other branch libraries. The suggested price of admission is a $75 gift to the center, which is tax deductible.  The center operates under the direction of the Waban Improvement Society, which dates back to 1889 and operates today as a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer organization. The

The event on Saturday, May 7, will feature works of art by Marge Minkin, music by jazz musician Len Lyons, food catered by Whole Foods Market, and wines by Vinodivino. The Waban Library Center is located at 1608 Beacon Street, a short walk from the Waban T stop (on the Green Line D).  For more information, call 617-244-0700.

The Planning & Development Board will hold a public meeting on a proposed mixed-use development amendment to the city’s Comprehensive Plan , the document that provides guidance about how, where, and how much the city may grow and change in coming decades.

Mixed use development refers to the strategy of locating more than one type of land use (housing, retail, office space) in close proximity to one another and to existing infrastructure, like MBTA rail stops. For more information, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council offers a citizen’s guide to mixed-use zoning (PDF download).

The meeting, at 7:30pm on Thursday, February 24, at the Senior Center will include an overview of the findings and recommendations of the Mayor’s Mixed Use Task Force (MUTF). And, following the presentation, break-out groups will discuss separate elements of mixed-use development as they may relate to Newton: [Read more →]

Newton residents and others are invited to a book launch party celebrating the print publication of local author Ken Newcomb’s history of Newton Upper Falls, The Makers of the Mold: A History of Newton Upper Falls.

Sponsored by the Friends of Hemlock Gorge, the party will be held 7-9pm on Friday, February 4, at Echo Bridge Office Park, 383 Elliot Street, in the old Mills Falls Restaurant premises. [Read more →]

Newton Mayor Setti Warren will deliver his State of the City Address at 8pm Tuesday in the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall.

Members of the public are invited to attend. Based on the many town hall meetings he held in the fall, the mayor will no doubt address the state of the city’s facilities and finances. Seating is limited, so you may wish to arrive early.