The following announcement was provided by Housing for All Watertown:
Housing for All Watertown (HAW) would like to invite all to the “What Will It Take to Build 100% Affordable Housing in Watertown?” forum on Sunday, Feb. 23. The purpose is to gain an understanding of Watertown’s Affordable Housing situation and the possibilities for change. There will be presentations followed by a panel discussion of developers and planners.
Panelists:
Madeline Lee, Senior Project Manager, Just A Start
Mel Miller, Project Manager, Preservation of Affordable Housing
Laura Weiner, Housing and Planning Consultant
Sara Barcan, Executive Director, HRI
The forum will be in the Watertown Savings Bank Room at the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St., from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
To RSVP click here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-will-it-take-to-build-100-affordable-housing-in-watertown-tickets-1244250961119
I’m on the waiting list for years!!!! I was born and raised here !!! Can someone call me regarding this
Hoping this will be recorded for those that can not attend?
Affordable housing is a laudable goal, but one far easier to imagine than to achieve. In Watertown especially, we are sensitive to the lament that “I can’t live in the town I grew up in”, which I’ve heard since moving here 30 years ago. It only gets more true over time.
The housing market truly reflects supply and demand: too many people pursuing too few available homes inevitably drives up prices. Watertown is small in area, but fairly densely populated (8th in the state, after such cheek-by-jowl towns as Somerville and Cambridge, but more crowded than Arlington and Boston). A victim of its success (the Arsenal development, good town management, location, location, location, etc.), Watertown is feeling the pinch of growth and development. Again, as a result of success.
“Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” the 1957 movie asks. Never saw it, so I can’t say, but success could spoil Watertown. As a relative newcomer (30 years is nothing), I am impressed by the town’s cosmetic surgery over the years (not least returning Filippello Park to parkland from incinerator and dump). Its redevelopment of Watertown Square, sadly long an eyesore, promises to be its best “procedure” yet.
Enough preamble, now my ambivalence. If housing is to be more affordable, we’ll need more of it, a lot more; that and/or someone other than the lower income resident will have to pay for it. The Town is looking to go above the minimum number of units required by the MBTA law, without yet defining an upper limit. Keeping options open sounds wise. Part of the prescription for the Square is more people, fewer cars. Less a crossroads (ten—10!—roads in and out), more a neighborhood: hear, hear! But many of the new units will come without parking. That’s understandable, if a deal breaker for some. But if the MBTA is behind this model of redevelopment—more people, fewer cars—how sure are we that the MBTA can hold up its end of the bargain? I, after 30 years of No. 71 bus “service”, not so much. I salute Phillip Eng, head of the MBTA, for his efforts underground. Removing all slow-go zones has been miraculous (shouldn’t be, but is). For Watertown Square to work for new residents, however, surface transportation will have to step up its game. All those crossroads mean nothing for a commuter waiting for a bus that’s in the shop.
Last point: I see what for me is an ominous trend: zoning “reform”. Cambridge just nixed single-family-only neighborhoods (“Cambridge eliminates single-family zoning in historic move”, Boston.com, Feb 11). This development has been in the pipeline for some time (“NEPPC report: Relaxing density restrictions is most effective way to increase multifamily housing”, Boston Fed website, Oct 2022). Watertown has a Zoning Board and a Historic Commission, both of which regulate growth and redevelopment to suit the wants and needs of residents. The town is also embracing new housing, much of it intended for lower income families. As I stated at the top, this is a laudable goal—for both newcomers and existing residents. But where? The Square can’t grow infinitely dense (it will collapse on itself like a black hole). Other neighborhoods will need to share the growth; it has to affect someone’s “back yard”. And how? Affordable housing doesn’t just build itself. Someone has to pay for it. I’m sure the presenters at this event have answers—my questions or doubts are not new—but those of us who know how lucky we are to live in Watertown owe it to the next generation to leave it at least as terrific as we found it, if not more terrific. I think Town management has done a (why not?) terrific job so far. But we—residents and officials—ain’t seen nothing yet. Meet the future: whether that’s an invitation or a warning is up to us.