To: Watertown City Councilors
From: Linda Scott
Subject: Response to Councilor Gannon’s comments on Watertown’s History on June 27, 2024
ATTN: Please include this letter in the record and read at the July 16th Joint Hearing
Dear John,
I am sending this to all of the City Councilors, but I’m addressing it to you, since I am responding to the comments that you made about the history of Watertown at the June 27 Joint Meeting of the City Council and the Planning Board. Your comments gave me food for thought. I thought about how circular the path of Watertown has been … large, broken down factories replaced with office space. That gave way to Bio Tech labs.
It’s been a pattern in Watertown’s history to go all-in on one thing. Bio Tech is no exception. And given our large buy-in to this form of business (even planning to build very tall bio tech buildings in very small neighborhoods (those “certain neighborhoods” that you referred to in your comments)), this trend is already concerning.
The direction that has been set for Watertown by our City Council (with the strong and vocal reservations of many Watertown residents) is concerning in many ways. We’re not even into our tenth year of this direction, and already brand new bio tech buildings sit unoccupied, the layoff rate in this industry is quoted at around 30%. Permits for new buildings in Watertown languish, with requests for long extensions.
Given our hope for financial redemption from this industry, these are troubling times. The easy- peasy “gravy train” seems to be ending, as large companies with no loyalty to a constituency and area are moving South to less expensive climes. And yet, this is not new to us. There’s a building on Pleasant Street that went through many iterations of our “planning” process: office space … bio lab … before it finally morphed into housing. Pleasant Street: how well did our “planning process” work out there? Do you see why residents have concerns??
Now, the newest “craze” … we’re moving on to very large housing projects. Not that this is a sudden phenomenon in Watertown. We’ve been very successful at building housing, being lauded for our efforts:
By all measures, this is no NIMBY community! Here are two word clouds that were done by Watertown residents within the past decade:
Word Cloud One; What attracted you to Watertown?:
Word Cloud Two: Resident Concerns for Watertown:
But, as usual, Watertown can’t proceed with care. We go “full speed ahead,” throwing any kind of caution to the wind. We’re mandated to do 1,701 housing units? Let’s do 6,000! No? Okay. Let’s do 3,000. Pay no attention to the bankrupt and inefficient MBTA and the possibility of 3,000 plus additional cars moving in with the 3,000 plus new housing units. By the way, all of this while other major housing projects (that don’t count in that 3,000 number) are already in the works.
You mentioned that the 1980 Mass highway plan was to funnel cars through Watertown. “We used to have small businesses and restaurants and places to bump into people,” you said. Don’t look now, but those still exist, John. Just ask Bob Airasian (founder, Watertown Business Coalition) about them.
Their statement about the Watertown Square Area Plan: https://www.watertownmanews.com/2024/06/13/letter-watertown-business-coalitions-asks-for-the-watertown-square-area-plan/ With wholesale, nearly unbridled, growth in the Square, the very thing that makes us unique, our small, diverse businesses, will disappear, and our “Sense of Place” will become “Anywhere, USA.” Take a look at the corner of Moody Street and Main in Waltham to see our future.
What has been missing are clear signals and incentives by our City government for upgrades and improvements for our downtown. No apparent “vision” for decades! In a phrase coined by Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “benign neglect.”
One of the exceptions to this is our library, a shining beacon in the dark, with a beautiful seating area out front and a plethora of programs scheduled for day and night that bring residents of all ages to the Square. In fact, the library is a shining example of how the old and the new can be successfully combined into an intriguing (and even classy) example of how Watertown could develop. Even with this, there’s anecdotal information that says the Council was hesitant to proceed with this. It took residents having bake sales and selling patio bricks to bring this to fruition.
As far as those “vibrant Watertown neighborhoods” that you fondly mentioned, they’re very busy:
Fending off rats from unbridled construction. (They’re not busy with family gardens, because that would attract rats.). Note: Kudos to our Health Department, which is leading a valiant effort to contain this problem.
Advocating for neighborhood school crossing walk safety (that took 8 years!).
Carefully negotiating the hazards of cracked and neglected sidewalks.
Dodging pot holes on their streets.
Contacting the City DPW, when their street is improved … good news, but the water and gas line accesses were paved over in the “improvement” process … bad news.
Advocating for street trees to be planted and nurtured.
Unsuccessfully advocating for dangerous, dying trees that are overhanging streets and lifting up sidewalks to be taken down.
Cleaning up the flotsam and jetsam that’s left behind on their streets by the new trash trucks, with no extra personnel to walk behind and pick up the objects that didn’t quite make it into the truck.
Dealing with the debris that’s left out on the street by renters who move out and absentee landlords who simply collect the rent.
Dodging cars that are using their streets as cut-throughs, with no thought that people (and their kids) live on these streets.
Worrying about fire truck access, because with the increase of non-family (unrelated) renters come bikes and scooters, but also come multiple cars for multiple roommates that add to parking up a street, making emergency access iffy at best.
Waiting for buses near their homes, sometimes for an hour, to get where they need to go. John, the Watertown neighborhood picture is not as rosy and “vibrant” as you might think. Being a city-wide councilor, you (and the rest of the councilors), I thought might want to be aware of this.
Finally, in closing, could we please slow this housing planning process down a bit? Let’s start with the 1,701, get that squared away and then take a long view at what we’ve accomplished. Again, keeping in mind that many housing units other than the 1,701 are now in progress as well.
Could we also mandate a trial run of the new components for traffic flow in the Square?
Oh, and speaking of traffic, did you know there’s something big being planned for Newton Corner and the MassPike? It’s called the Newton Corner Long-Term Planning Study. Just ask Steve Magoon. He assigned one of his Watertown transportation staff to be part of that process. Wouldn’t information about that major project be good for you and the public to know when planning for Watertown Square?
Thanks for your patience! I’m not known for my brevity, I’m afraid. See you at the Middle School.
Linda Scott
Letters can be sent to watertownmanews@gmail.com
This letter is so full of lies and distortions, it’s hard to know where to begin.
1. Biotech (that’s how it’s spelled) is a clean, modern industry which employs thousands of people right here in Watertown. It is a LIE to say that Watertown has been “planning to build very tall bio tech buildings in very small neighborhoods” — all the developments have been in areas which were already zoned for commercial/industrial use, and it is perfectly legitimate to build such developments in areas zoned for that purpose, even if there are residences nearby.
The Life Sciences industry always goes up and down in cycles, and it is on the upswing as I write this. Laypeople who don’t understand its dynamics will always misunderstand whatever dot point they see in the news. The empty space will eventually be leased, and building owners have every incentive to lower rents until they lease the space. Most of the life sciences companies here are actively contributing in some way to developing new drugs to treat cancer and other life-threatening conditions for patients who desperately need new treatment options…. the faster the better. There is simply no reason to criticize the life science industry, as this writer has consistently done. She seems to resent that people who work in this industry make more money than she does.
2. It is a LIE to say that the Watertown Square Area Plan represents “wholesale, nearly unbridled, growth in the Square.” It is the result of a detailed, orderly and transparent planning process which will make our Square much more walkable and lively, a place where residents and visitors will want to spend time. It does “control growth” by reserving certain areas for special permit treatment. And, of course, the planning process over the last 9 months has listened to all voices including this author’s.
3. The 1701 unit capacity number doesn’t represent units that will be built. That’s why it’s deceptive to suggest that we could just choose that number, wait for those units to be built, then see how it goes. There will never come a time when all those units are built and then we can sit back to evaluate “how it went.” Instead, the unit capacity number is the sum of units which could be build on individual properties which will enjoy new zoning and fewer restrictions to prevent housing from being built. It’s the zoning change for individual properties that we need.
These accusations of lying coming from someone who has repeatedly lied about her neighbors positions and motives? A clear case of the pot calling the kettle black. Jeez. . .
Ready, shoot, aim! Our new city motto!
Completely agree with your superb overview of what has/is occurring
in Watertown. So resonate to your thoughts regarding the Watertown
Public Library – such a gem. As an 85 old senior daily walker I am frequently
aware of the poor to dangerous sections of some sidewalks and streets. And
though you did not mention it, I find it difficult to justify all the new
positions being added to the Town payroll.
Will another meeting at the Middle School auditorium promote some
progress – I doubt it, but lets try.
Thank you Linda Scott for your reasonable, insightful and repeated contributions to the conversation. I would wager that a hefty majority of longtime Watertown residents would agree on 2 points, slow down this process there is no compelling need to ram it through and definitely do no more than the 1700 or so units the state is asking for.