As residents of Newton age, they may find that their traditional single family home becomes more of a burden. Maintenance, repairs, carrying laundry to and from the basement, even changing a light bulb can become a challenge.

At some point in each of our lives, we may find ourselves doing a cost/benefit analysis of the homes in which we have invested much of our adult lives. We may choose to downsize, as our 80-year-old neighbors did a few years ago when they moved to Cronin’s Landing in the very walkable Moody Street neighborhood of Waltham.

We may look for condos in Newton’s village centers, a need being expressed by Newton empty-nesters.

For residents age 60 and older who wish to stay in their homes, Newton at Home is coming online later this year. The membership-based service will: [Read more →]

While ongoing political and citizen efforts to make Newton pedestrians safer this winter chart an uncertain course, as reported in the Newton Tab, we share good news.

In response to the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) formed by Mayor Setti Warren this summer, the mayor last month issued his response to the committee’s final recommendations.

Better yet, small groups of TAC volunteers continue working on solutions to parking, traffic, and pedestrian safety and connectivity. One group is discussing “urban fabric,” the physical form of the city which shapes how we occupy and move around in the city.
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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 →]

Yesterday, Matt and I had a wonderful and wide-ranging discussion (and I had one too many ginger snap cookies) yesterday with Marcia Cooper, president of Green Decade, who was supportive of our idea for building a coalition which promotes the quality of life in Newton’s villages.  She was very helpful in suggesting who else we need to meet in her group and in the community.

One of the most exciting topics we conversed about is “sustainable aging in place” and work being done by David Del Porto, a Newton resident with a long career working on sustainable strategies and ecological engineering. Please see his paper from October 2008 here. [Read more →]