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Allston residents worry about impact of 10 years of Harvard construction on parking, their homes' foundations
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Comments
Looks like it's time for a
Looks like it's time for a satellite parking area with shuttle service! Harvard must have a few old buses kicking around.
Resident Parking
I have to side with the community on this one. There is a massive construction project at a church near Ashmont right now. For over the past year, the construction workers park in the resident only spots, which it sounds like they do not have in Allston, and take 95% of the parking close to the train station. This is despite the fact that two streets over the resident sticker requirement is lifted.
Selfishly I need to park near the train because my wife needs our car to pick up our daughter in the afternoon. I live in the city, in that neighborhood, so yes, I feel like I should have a priority to park. (I can hear all the "free-market", former Boston living, suburban, NH types getting revved up now... "How dare you take "ownership" over the public streets!!!")
If Harvard has parking available, or like KVN suggested shuttling them, is a good idea. Lord knows it would take long enough for the city to actually throw up a "Resident Sticker Required" sign. And then they would actually have to enforce it...
If you want your street to be
If you want your street to be residential only you can apply by getting signatures of other neighbors (over half).
http://www.cityofboston.gov/parking/residentparking/
ugh.
numerous members of the community: "there's a huge problem here."
Harvard dingus: "we don't believe there's a problem."
I can almost picture him dismissively waving his hand as he says it. "very cute, with your silly 'parking problems', now go away."
If it doesn't effect the
If it doesn't effect the "best and brightest" of transients, it doesn't matter to academia. Big surprise there.
Harvard is one of the biggest
Harvard is one of the biggest employers in the state, while that doesn't mean they shouldn't be responsive there is such a anti academic feel to some people especially on boards like this its so one sided. Meanwhile, all these corporations are getting huge subsidies to build in the squid port and taxpayers are shelling out another billion for the convention center, people should at least acknowledge that academia is building (and built during the recession) that provides lots of jobs, instead of reflexively whining every time an educational institutional tries to do anything.
Didn't build during the recession
Harvard stopped construction in Allston during the recession, and still hasn't re-started work on its largest mothballed site
http://www.wbur.org/2009/12/10/harvard-allston
But there was lots of other construction
You are, of course correct that Harvard's Allston project was mothballed, but there was lots of other construction around town.
This highlights one of the biggest advantages of having many universities and other institutions in your economic mix - they often undertake projects that are anti-cyclical (from a macroeconomic standpoint). While Harvard's action in the Allston case was sadly pro-cyclical (I knew several people who left their other jobs to work on that in 2008, and who were hurt badly as a result), overall, the academic construction often works to our collective benefit.
Now, let's stop repeating the mistakes of the past 5 years, and get West Station and an inland HSR route under construction before interest rates rise further and these needed projects end up costing us 10x more (or more) than they would have if they had gotten underway in 2009 as they should have.
Harvard stopped some
Harvard stopped some construction during the recession (like the science building) but plenty others, including the new art museum, graduate housing and a new park along the Charles, and residential buildings in Allston were moving forward.
Ever have to deal with a community group?
Quite often "this will/is causing us a lot of problems" means "we expect developers to solve all our problems or we will hold a project for ransom".
When the old printing company in North Cambridge was being built out as housing, the local obstructionism factory was demanding that the group trying to build "solve all our flooding and parking problems before they do anything else".
Right. Decades or even century of flooding problems in a filled in area, but new people have to fix them.
This was on top of demanding that a site zoned for 51 units, with a 33 unit proposal on the table, be built out as no more than three units "to match the density of the neighborhood". Yep - they were actually claiming that there was half-acre zoning in North Cambridge. (33-55 units per acre in that area) They also demanded that 1/3 of the site be paved for the sole use of free neighborhood parking, on top of two spaces per unit ... when the development abutted a path to Alewife.
So, I have learned that any and all "demands" from some community groups need to be filtered through a bed of salt, quite frankly. Otherwise, what you are hearing is often "any developer that comes into MY neighborhood has to pay to fix any and all problems in MY neighborhood because MY" and not any actual documentation of any actual problems resulting from or likely to result from a specific development.
amen, Sister.
n/t
Easy solution
Require that community groups and other opposition PROVE their claims beyond a reasonable doubt instead of the current system whereby any and all claims are presumed to have validity unless disproven beyond a reasonable doubt by the project team.
Bingo
I've been going to these meetings for 10 years and this is one of those issues that the Task Force falls back on when they need something to gripe about, whether there's actual construction happening or not. Read down the article and note that one TF member actually says that it's irrelevant whether there is/isn't a construction parking problem, they still expect Harvard to do what they want. Typical.
Harvard is still learning how to be a good neighbor, but many TF members don't have realistic expectations about Harvard's responsibilities either. Turning every mtg into a confrontation keeps a lot of neighbors away.
local obstructionism factory
Well-said. These are the same people who were so "concerned" about the well-being of the local Central Square businesses (~20 years ago) that they held up that redevelopment project (after ground had been broken) until all of them had moved to other neighborhoods and other towns.
"Whether you’re right or
"Whether you’re right or wrong doesn’t make any difference”. So logical!
Harvard is reneging already.
Not six months ago Harvard and their contractors all agreed to provide parking for all these construction workers. The have violated the agreement, as usual. We are screwed, they will wait us out until 100% of Allston is theirs. My guess is in 50 Years the entire Allston neighborhood will be owned by Harvard--It's no joke.