Residents Share Their Desires for Watertown Square with City’s Economic Development Planner

Two members of the City of Watertown staff who will be designing the new Watertown Square led a group of more than a dozen people on a walk through the area to get an idea of what residents want to see in the center of town.

The walk, held on Sept. 5, was part of Live Well Watertown’s Walk N Talk series, and was led by Erin Rathe, the City’s Senior Planner for Economic Development. Joining her was the Director of Community Design, Erika Oliver Jerram. They wanted to get some ideas for what to put into the zoning that will be part of the final Watertown Square Area Plan. In July, the City Council and Planning Board approved a plan that will be the basis for the rezoning and redesign.

Some of the features that residents want to see in the square included small shops — like ice cream parlors, clothing stores, and bakeries — bringing back the Post Office, and a grocery store. Other ideas were a boutique hotel with a restaurant, or a microbrewery. People also didn’t want to lose the historic buildings left in the Square.

Many talked about making the area a place that is more pleasant to walk and shop. One person suggested creating a pedestrian-only area with shops, another wanted to expand the green space on the Delta onto what is now the bus turnaround lane.

The clear vision that people had encouraged Rathe.

“One of the most interesting things is hearing the same things from many people,” she said. “I think people have visions for what they want to be in the Square and I think that is very encouraging. I’d be much more concerned if people said, ‘I have no idea.'”

One of the stops on the stroll was Merchants Row — the alley off of Main Street next to CVS where a mural was recently created. Those on the walk said it felt sterile, and would like to see seating areas, perhaps a play structure, and more plantings under the trees.

Rathe said the area reminds her of a success story in Somerville’s Union Square: Bow Market. Packed into a once vacant building are now more than a dozen eateries, a brewery, clothing stores, and other retailers.

The project was part of a vision of Somerville’s then-planning director and now Watertown’s City Manager George Proakis.

The area was redeveloped by a pair of private developers, who were able to turn a profit after just one year. Rathe spoke with them to find out how they did it, and one of the keys was to find entrepreneurs who not only had a vision, but also a solid background such as running an Etsy store, selling at fairs or other business experience.

“They told me they have a really low failure rate with their businesses,” Rathe said. “We may benefit because most of the time it is a one year lease with a one year extension option for all of their business. And then those businesses want to expand into a bigger space and keep going, and Watertown may be one of those places that they do that.”

Making Watertown Square a place where those business owners want to be will be part of the redevelopment plan, Rathe said.

“The zoning is being written in a way to encourage redevelopment, and when you have the redevelopment of the housing then people want to put their businesses where the housing is,” she said. “They know that they will have a captive audience. They know they are going to have residents.”

One of the goals of the Watertown Square Area Plan is to make the area more accessible for cyclists and pedestrians. Rathe said studies of redevelopment projects in other cities that have made the areas more bicycle friendly found that people riding their bike tend to spend less, but visit more often than those driving.

“(People who bike) end up spending 25 percent more per month,” she said.

Another stop was the area near the dock in Watertown Square. Most people on the walk had visited the area at some point. Rathe said the Plan includes efforts to make it easier to get to the area.

Some people said they would like to see a kayak launch from the dock, as has been done periodically by the Recreation Department.

Rathe said the Charles River, and the parks along the banks, are controlled by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. That means the City cannot dictate what happens there, but Watertown officials can give recommendations or make requests for changes.

The final stop was at the main intersection where Arsenal Street comes off the Square, near Charles River Road. One big change to the Square will be removing Charles River Road from the main intersection. A resident of the neighborhood near the Charles River asked how she and other residents will be able to get to the Square. Rathe said she is not sure because the road design has not been completed yet.

The areas along Arsenal and North Beacon streets are some that have been marked for redevelopment with residential buildings of four stores or more. One resident did not like how City officials and consultants had described the current businesses, many with an automotive focus, had been described as ugly or not a good use for the area.