I’ve participated in every public meeting since October 2023 and I have publicly supported a renaissance for our city center through the Watertown Square Area Plan … both the 4 Corners streetscape and the proposed zoning changes to enable new housing of at least 3,300 unit capacity. I call these “imaginary units” because the concept of unit capacity assumes that existing landowners will tear down whatever exists on their property today and build housing up to the plan limits (an unlikely scenario at best).
I strongly oppose the suggestion to limit “imaginary units” to 1701, either as a so-called “Phase
1” or as a final number. The phased approach suggested by one Planning Board member seems
like a thinly veiled attempt to kick the controversy down the road in hopes that a higher
number will ultimately be rejected. However, the 1,701 number is too low to achieve our goals
to make Watertown Square a vibrant, attractive city center and an economically viable place for
small businesses.
I agree with the Councilor who said that our Square is a failed area and has been failing for 30 years. I lived on California Street during the 1980s and never came to the Square, only through it. Today it looks just the same … rundown buildings, limited choices for shopping and restaurants, and questionable personal services businesses. I’m excited by the opportunity to take our city center back for the residents of Watertown! It can be so much more. I would love to have an ice cream shop and a book store there, but no one in their right mind would invest in such businesses as the Square is now.
Let’s put this Plan in context. It covers only a small proportion of our city’s land area. Exactly no one is suggesting to put five story buildings inside neighborhoods of existing single-family and two-family homes. Watertown Square is exactly the right place for additional housing density, given its access to city services and the best transit options we have to offer. As the planning team has repeatedly emphasized, it is unlikely that all 3,300 “imaginary units” will actually be built.
To those who say, let’s wait until transit is more reliable, I say you could find 1,000 reasons to wait. Implementing this plan will take who-knows-how-many years, so let’s get started. Citizens should focus their energy on lobbying for increased state-level funding to improve the currently disgraceful service provided by the MBTA. There’s no viable way to achieve the goals of the Plan except to pursue multiple improvements at the same time, coordinate these efforts, and work hard to ensure they all come together. That, in general, is what I do for a living so I know it can be done.
One Councilor expressed “concern about the large area of by-right zoning.” He betrays an underlying assumption that local residents should be able to, in effect, approve what gets built on property owned by someone else. This concept of “local control” is the vehicle by which individuals all over our state have found a myriad of ways to unnecessarily complicate the building process, nitpick design elements, beat back proposed developments and ultimately prevent new people from moving into their community. I believe this is IMMORAL and it’s EXACTLY THE REASON WE HAVE A HOUSING EMERGENCY IN MASSACHUSETTS. It needs to change. I support removing most “local control” by non-professional individuals from the process of approving new housing.
I heard so much fear from one Councilor – fear of any change whatsoever came through in almost a whimpering tone. Realistically, this city isn’t so beautiful that we should preserve everything in it exactly as is. Yes, the views from some homes may change due to this Plan. What she failed to mention is that any kind of change will benefit some people while being difficult for others. A “generational change” should be assessed based on both costs and benefits. If a handful of people “lose” while 35,000 people benefit, we should go with the choice that benefits the most people in our city.
To those who are concerned about increased traffic from the Plan, I have three responses:
- Car drivers are not the only people who matter. Allowing our Square be a pass-through to the Pike forever is unacceptable.
- The current traffic pattern in the Square is unsafe … for me as a car driver, for bicycles, and for pedestrians … especially the blind and elderly and young children. It’s too many lanes, too confusing and it must be simplified.
- The Planning team has said repeatedly that additional traffic forecasts and impact studies will be performed as we dive deeper into the planning process. Let’s see what those uncover.
Regarding the idea to put this Plan to a city-wide referendum, I say absolutely not! The City Council and Planning Board are vested with the responsibility to amend and approve this Plan. Delay is simply a tactic to try to beat back the entire plan. No plan will please everyone, and some residents demonstrate that they don’t want any change at all.
I urge the City Council and Planning Board to get going by approving this Plan. It’s an excellent “end of the beginning.”
Kathi Breen
Watertown Resident
Thank you Kathi!!!
Ms. Breen’s opinion betrays the perniciousness of misguided elitism. That some residents’ elected representatives (Planning Board members are appointed.) demonstrated a thoughtful combination of skepticism and optimism regarding the Watertown Square Revitalization Plan seems entirely appropriate to the moment. Similarly, concerned residents are not and should not be characterized as change-resistant worriers for wanting to get things right.
Many residents instinctively mistrust those who insist that so-called experts know best and are the disinterested spokespeople of the common good. On the contrary, transparent governance unimpeded by the efforts of elites and other minority interests to dominate has always been the enduring goal of grassroots power sharing by which individuals wish to steer the course of their lives and their communities. The referendum process is a healthy expression of residents’ desire for responsive representation.
Thank you for this heartfelt, articulate, and wise statement. I agree.
I’ve not followed the design process closely, but I have attended public briefings … and have been impressed with the openness, inclusivity, skills, and expertise of the planning team — both City and consultants. And I’m especially grateful for the vision and leadership of our City Manager. I also appreciate the consistent reminders that this is a process that we’ve only just begun.
So at this point it seems to me that we’re headed in the right direction … to revitalize Watertown Square, address traffic and street use issues, and significantly increase the number of housing units through changed zoning. To me, this is local government as it should be — tackling difficult problems, engaging citizens and communities meaningfully, developing and evaluating options, and making difficult tradeoffs transparently … based on information, experience and expertise.
I think the plan is OK. But the devil will be in the details, esp. the zoning changes. These will mandate whether we have a really improved Square, or if we have a bunch of ugly and cheap cookie cutter buildings like a few others that have been built. We need to watch the zoning changes carefully.
I also think that the councilors brought up some good points. The “fear” that you heard stems from years of promises from an opaque and incompetent Planning Dept that never came to fruition. The current government led by Mr Proakis has opened up the process and brought in some better vendors to help with design.
Thank you for writing this. It’s exactly how I feel!