On second try, with some parking added, plan to replace Roslindale repair garage with condos, stores is approved

the ZBA, BTD, and MBTA could manage to work together.

Meanwhile, the ZBA is obsessed with parking (in part because of complaints from neighbors), which in turn fosters a reliance and focus on the "necessity" of private car transportation.. which could be relieved with more robust public transportation and pedestrian infrastructure, thereby making it more likely that appropriately-sized developments get approved.

development will never work for the residents of the city if the city doesn't approach it holistically.

on the bright side, that decision and others like it in Rozzie really helped push me into being pro-housing.

Disappointing that 1 year later we have lost one housing unit and 1 commercial space (maybe? I know the last proposal included two spaces), added 4 guaranteed cars to the neighborhood, and delayed Chavez’s retirement by a year.

Saw a nice tweet that said something along the lines of, if we never let the “neighborhood character” change, we’d still be living in mud huts. But, hey, at least those mud huts would leave plenty of room for off-street parking.

Shops and living area close to the commuter rail, bus lines, and a neighborhood center is EXACTLY the kind of development we should all encourage.

NOT having parking should almost be a requirement...

The personal animus and supporting thumbs up against a resident who had the courage to speak up at the ZBA meeting are deplorable. "Nimby" is a mindless accusation. To quote one pundit:

The term exists solely as political rhetoric to be wielded against those you see as less open-minded than yourself; its vagueness is inherent. By design, it’s an epithet to be hurled in the arena of politics. [Source:https://bastardurbanism.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/s...}

.

There would be a place for these people to live, instead of taking up one of the precious few places in this country where we might build densely

Square, mundane monotone colored building.

Eliminate parking... like the idea of "SuperBlocks" in Europe: https://citychangers.org/superblocks/

Board Chairwoman Christine Araujo, who cast the lone no vote, said that the plan was "marginally better than the last proposal" because it included parking, but said it was still too big for the neighborhood.

ahahahah oh Christine never change.

Araujo said small business districts risk becoming choked in traffic as people hunt for a place to park

The worst problem with traffic in the square is that the busses have to mingle with car traffic on Corinth. The city could solve a lotttttt of traffic woes by taking a lane of parking and turning it into a bus lane. Jus saying. That would speed up a lot of traffic.

Of course the long term solution is the Orange Line Expansion but there's no appetite for that from the old school neighbors. Maybe some of the younger residents could get organized and start that, so that the stations will be built right as they retire.

She has been a real problem for development in Roslindale - pushing for parking in places that didn’t have it before - asserting her “aesthetic preferences” on buildings when ZBA has absolutely no jurisdiction on this particular issue. She’s overstayed her appointment and Wu needs to replace her ASAP.