Big news about the proposed demolition of the McGrath Highway in #Somerville. The project had a public hearing last night; here's an overview. Some highlights in a thread below:
Highlight #1: the project has been stalled for a decade, but that might be a good thing. Traffic volumes have plunged and the new design (right) is significantly more narrow than the 2013 plan (left)
The 2013 plan called for 7 lanes because of traffic forecasts from CTPS, the regional planning agency, that predicted "7.5 percent to 12.5 percent" more cars by 2035.
In reality, total traffic has gone down by 1/3rd since 2011. A project designer called the current roadway "overbuilt."
Here's a fun story published in 1903 about the rise of automobiles in #SomervilleMA, including a debate over steam vs gasoline (steam was more popular but gasoline car owners were sure they were right). Also included is a comparison of the price of owning a horse. So much has changed, but so little has changed. #history#cars
When /r/somerville on reddit was asked: "What is the most used #Somerville online forum?" one user wrote the following take:
"As others have noted, facebook tends older and more conservative (the Davis Square group is -legendary- for toxicity), Reddit tends younger and more hyper-online, Mastadon is great if you want to talk exclusively with people who agree with you (not a bad thing, just something to be aware of), Bluesky is still a walled garden, Nextdoor -is- a trash fire, Instagram can't figure out what it wants to be, and nobody uses Threads."
Minor #urbanism rant: I frequently see "our public transit system sucks" as a reason we can't de-prioritize cars. This was said in the #Somerville subreddit today and like...
When people say this they almost always mean rail. Buses also exist and guess what - we can make them better by taking space from cars.
Even if we accept that public transit sucks, bikes also exist. More people can and do ride them than you think. We can also make them better by taking space from cars.
Do any of our readers live near the big empty lot in #Somerville's Gilman Square Green Line station? I'd love to talk with neighbors for a story I'm working on – give me a call at 207-310-0728.
It is absurd to me that you have to re-register to vote in every municipal election.
Anyway, #Somerville#Cambridge#Boston be sure to check your voter registration and re-register because I think today is the last day to do that for the upcoming elections. #SomerPoli#BosPoli
"Hello! It is my life's dream to row a giant pumpkin down the Charles River and I have finally saved up enough money to purchase one, but I just found out from the pumpkin grower that I need a forklift to receive it (as it is 1000 pounds)."
I wanna brag and shout out @inliuofjoan and myself (and others!) for the intersection of Franklin and Pearl street in #EastSomerville - the initial pearl street reconstruction plan included no treatments for this intersection which leads to two schools and a corner store. We advocated for a raised crossing, and now that it’s in, driver yield compliance has improved markedly! #safestreets#somerville#infrastrucure#walkablecities
@scottsthoughts@enobacon apparently these were put up not for people with poor turning abilities, but general "people won't know the road ends" situations 🤦
@inliuofjoan@scottsthoughts I'm worried that the Engineers think trucks need to be able to drive on the sidewalk and not that babies in strollers need to have no trucks or trailers on them.
What are the blockers from getting local political discourse migrated onto the fediverse?
Like, I live in #SomervilleMA - and we don't yet have any #SomervilleCityCouncil folks here yet, afaik. But most of them are relatively active still on birdsite?
We've got an election cycle coming up locally this fall, and I'm loathe to resume activity over on Twitter. #MAPoli#Somerville
Keep in mind the 1% rule though - even though the concept of virality here is wildly different than other social media platforms (Wow my post got 5 likes, red letter day!) - the vast majority of users are....just going to lurk.
But here, you have to post things, regularly, here for this game to be fun. You're rewarded by strangers who find your stuff.
The vast majority of my social circle doesn't get this place - its a lot of work to start over in a new social media platform when your social graph doesn't readily transfer, there's a lot of scolds, harassment is a HUGE problem, the UI is wacky, there's no search, and every other platform recognizes that, in order to be addictive, they have to spoon feed you from the algorithm once you run out of New Stuff to consume.
Looks like the #Somerville Home Depot and abandoned Circuit City might be up for redevelopment soon - lot just sold.
Not gonna lie, my home improvement projects are gonna take a lot longer now that I have to trek over to Everett for a home depot and I'm kinda bummed about that. It's been nice having one that is just a quick bike ride away. https://www.bldup.com/posts/somerville-development-site-acquired-for-142m
@bikepedantic don’t get me wrong we need the housing and that lot was underutilized. Just… I could be working on a project, realize I need it, and be back to work in 10 minutes. I would literally ride into the Home Depot, throw things in my basket, and ride out 😂. I’m gonna miss that.
The prospect of the city owning and operating the Armory arts building drew significant backlash, and community members asked for feedback called for more information about a process in which few answers existed.
> I am missing a wooden statue of a bird, about 5 inches tall, painted wood, in a kind of Native American style. I may have accidentally donated this to Goodwill in Somerville so maybe you or someone you know recently purchased it. I've had that bird my entire life and would really like it back. $100 reward and my eternal gratitude if you have it.
