A HOUSING PLAN ON STEROIDS IS MARCHING US TOWARD YOUDOPIA

Ever get the feeling you’re being herded down a path without knowing why?

Sometimes that feeling is just a feeling but sometimes it’s a voice in your head, warning you that something is fishy here.

Watertown has been adding housing units and will continue adding housing units. For the most part, people are okay with that, though they may object to the size and appearance of some of those structures.

The current argument is about the number of new units being proposed and the location of those units.

At first, there were two options on the table. The first option called for by-right zoning changes that would allow for 6,320 new housing units and the second option would allow for 2,631.

The latest option put forward by the design team calls for 3,133 new units.

All of these units would be located within the Watertown Square Area Plan.

A longtime Watertown resident, who is also a prominent local builder, predicted that 6,320 units would result in about 16,000 people − almost half of our current population – being crammed into the Watertown Square Area.

Those who are clamoring for higher buildings and maximum density are thrilled by this prospect. They tell us that in addition to helping solve the state’s housing crisis, the maximum density will make Watertown “more vibrant.” We could become one big Arsenal Yards.

By comparison, the latest option of 3,133 units might seem much more palatable, if you consider potentially 8,000 new residents being added to the population and placed in one small section of the city to be a good idea.

The group of well-organized and highly vocal residents who are clamoring for higher buildings and more density might reluctantly settle for the 3,133 option. But how about you?

How do you feel about suggestions to replace the parking lot behind CVS with apartment buildings?

Are you excited by the prospect of having congested sidewalks that feel like being in Costco the day before a snowstorm?

It’s called vibrancy and if you’re not on board, it’s because you are old, or boring, or a NIMBY, or all three.

And finally, how do you feel about being deprived of a third option that makes a lot more sense − the missing option of 1,701 units, required by the state’s MBTA communities mandate? Many of us share the opinion that even 1701 adds too many units to Watertown Square. Following the lead of other communities, we could fight it (based on units already built or are currently online to be built) but we won’t fight it because we don’t happen to have a firebrand in government or in the community to lead that courageous charge. 

But, we hear absolutely nothing about the 1701 option mandated by the state. Not from the consultants. Not from the staff. Not from the City Manager.

We might call it the Big Shush.

Here’s a comment made on March 29, in Watertown News from Donna Leone (whom I do not know), which pretty much sums up my impression of the public process:

 “One thing that has stood out to me from these meetings is that the presentation team are not just urban planners and designers, they’re a sales team, and they’re good at it. Fortunately, it’s encouraging to see that many aren’t buying what they’re selling, myself included.

Until the questionable voting issues are resolved, and other options and alternatives to the housing side of this project are put on the table, I can’t  in good faith trust that these meetings are being conducted in an honest and unbiased manner.”

Yup! Very slick dog and pony shows and a very lax voting system, allowing people to vote anonymously, and multiple times, and permitting voting by non-Watertown residents. This is meant to pass for solid data?

Donna Leone’s comment continues:

“As far as my reading of Mr. Proakis ‘s response I understand that this doesn’t mean that 1,701 units plus the additional units will be built, but it does serve as an open invite for developers to come in and take over the square.”

True. No commercial property owner within the newly rezoned Watertown Square area will have to sell their property to developers to build apartment buildings – unless, of course, they get an offer they just can't refuse. I bet, in this housing market, those offers are already in the works.

And one more thing about grading what we’ve seen of the public process −

Promotion gets an “F.”

The Manager and his team began the public meetings by expressing their delight at the excellent turnout.

We are a city of about 35,000, of which about 25,000 are registered voters. Each of the Watertown Square meetings drew fewer than 300 attendees. Promotion for the meetings has been almost exclusively through social media.

Here’s what doesn’t get done:

Large signage placed on the delta and at other high-traffic locations throughout the city, advertising the times and locations of the meetings.

Notices of the meetings included with property tax and water and sewer bills mailed to homeowners.

Oversized, glossy postcards of the kind sent by candidates to registered voters during election campaigns.

Actual door-knocking. With all the new large-salary employees being hired by the city, who do not live in Watertown, this outreach might double as a great education and orientation experience for those new hires who think they are now working for Generic Town, U.S.A.

I am aware that many of you who are saddened and enraged by this tricky takeover but have remained silent, are not sheep. You are just fed up and cynical. But, seriously, what does it cost you to rouse your friends and neighbors and start rattling some cages at city hall?

Just pick up the phone or send an email to every councilor and the Manager and tell them you’re wise to the Big Shush and the only vote you want to cast and the only box you want to check is for:

1701 AND DONE!

If they ignore you or suggest that you get on the path to progress, their answer is essentially this:

 

 Bruce Coltin, The Battle For Watertown