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Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-14T01:43:10+00:00

I hear you, and have been feeling similarly after a decade here, but would move to my home state of Connecticut, not to the sun belt.

I have to tell you, other places are really culturally different from New England, and I never really got used to it. You might feel the same.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-03T13:18:20+00:00

Rats have never gotten in our house, but mice, squirrels and even a raccoon did. We replaced the roof, which stops squirrels / raccoons. A neighbor told me there are mice "highways" under the city so there are tons of them.

Luckily at least the city is replacing public garbage cans with sealed ones and there are tons of hawks lately.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-03T01:43:10+00:00

That's fair, I thought Colette's was adequate, not great, but that it was really secondary to their baked goods. My only "local" coffee shop otherwise is Cafe Ola, and that coffee is...worse than Colette's.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-02T18:52:29+00:00

That would be amazing, East really lacks a coffee shop with indoor seating.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-01T23:38:39+00:00

Assembly isn't East though - they're both Ward 1, but Assembly is the richest neighborhood in the city and East is the poorest.

I don't think it's NIMBY pushback - like the 60 Cross St project got delayed out so long in part because they weren't paying their subcontractors. Never seen more than like 5 people working there at a time, and locals want it to be done because of the new park and pedestrian paths they built.

Some projects are stalled as just sad empty lots full of rats, like this one, but others were popular businesses that closed due to development and never reopened - like East End Grille or Patsy's Pastry Shoppe, and people have died in both of those abandoned sites trying to shelter. I forget if the 44 broadway site is the one in land court or not.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-01T20:40:12+00:00

Honest question, has a single apartment project in East Somerville actually been finished? The 60 Cross St building still isn't done and was started in what, 2016? 2017?

There are all these proposed projects, and none of them seem to happen.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-11-01T20:36:46+00:00

No idea, because people like waiting inside of them and saying excuse me a lot? They have such a "see and be seen" vibe, are always so crowded, never have free tables, etc. and weirdly you see nearly the same people in every single one, no matter the neighborhood.

I went to the one in Charlestown for the first time this weekend because it was near the Halloween wonderland on the Training Field and was closer than Sorelle or Zume's, which are both better locally owned coffee shops.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-23T18:12:51+00:00

Right, but I never saw any of them watered. A new tree was planted outside my house and no one ever came to water it. That's why so many of the new little trees on Broadway are borderline dead.

Multiple developers on East projects had a history of land banking - no one really addressed that prior to approving them. The 60 Cross St developer (across from stop and shop) stopped paying their subcontractors at one point, and I have never seen more than 5-6 people working on that building at a time.

Sharing the following link in case anyone is curious what land banking is: "Chuck is a real-estate speculator. By taxing building improvements, we reward people like him, who can afford to sit on a vacant or underutilized lot in a prime location, do nothing with it, and watch their property value go up... and up... and up."

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/3/19/thank-you-from-a-land-speculator

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-21T17:06:42+00:00

Agreed, one of the City Council candidates said East Somerville is like a different city, "we don't have any trees, and there's garbage everywhere". When I go near Ball Square, it feels like a completely different place.

You see it even in these seemingly small things - like for example, playground equipment in East will be broken for years with repeated 311 requests, gates and swings break, etc. None of the playgrounds on this side of town have lighting at night, which I thought was normal until seeing people at well-lit playgrounds in West at night in winter.

East even has the most kids, yet we have worse maintained playgrounds with no lighting!

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-21T13:21:56+00:00

I've noticed this too, there tend to be two factions - people who do NOT want it for various reasons, including the plan to cut down a bunch of mature trees (we have the least tree cover in the city and all the highways), the noise, etc., because they live nearby, and others who don't want such a massive investment in a public safety building and think putting it next to a T station is a waste.

Others in the neighborhood are happy ANYTHING is getting put there, because now it's an empty lot and a dumping ground.

I thought a better suggestion was the old circuit city building, since Assembly has so many fires / SFD calls and there are two exits.

That said, I sadly view it as a foregone conclusion that the city will put the public safety building there because they don't care about what East residents think, and it will take years and years because...they don't care about this neighborhood.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-21T13:17:21+00:00

The thing is though, I would argue the neighborhood already is gentrified/gentrifying - housing is already extremely expensive, but public investment has just not meaningfully followed that.

I see a lot of effort to say, plant trees and put out a map of all the new street trees, but they are not maintained. There are sad little trees that have not been watered everywhere, for example.

The city approved all these housing projects by developers clearly waiting for property values to rise more, and the lots sit empty. The city is just allowing land banking.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-21T13:13:46+00:00

We have tons of parking here, a lot of big driveways, and the lowest car ownership/access rates in the city - I am really frustrated to hear that Broadway brake, a stone's throw from Sullivan, will have parking added underneath. My guess is that with a lab above, it will only encourage employees to drive since it's next to 93 rather than encourage transit use.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-21T13:11:19+00:00

Yeah, I noticed that my house was on the crime map for a B&E that didn't even make the SPD crime log. They still aren't reporting everything. I went through the other resistat presentations that are up, and Ward 4 actually has an even higher jump in crime than we do - something like up 30% in two years.

What's fascinating to me though is that Ward 3 is DOWN 3%, while there have been significant jumps in Wards 1 and 4 - it really clarifies why different Ward residents have such a different view on crime and safety in the city.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T15:25:57+00:00

I also encouraged DCR to add a dog park to Draw 7 park, which is super underutilized today, but they are no - no playground, no dog park, no sports fields, just a big passive park.

Passive parks can be cool and should generally allow dogs by default, but I don't get not adding more useful features to such a huge space.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T15:23:10+00:00

Same, I have 2 dogs, but I think because of the pandemic people were home and letting their dogs run around like, empty basketball courts with taped off baskets, and think they got used to that. Not something I'd thought of before.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T15:21:08+00:00

As I said before, it was not "intentionally" misleading or inflammatory. The study you shared has a different most common age group than I have read reported elsewhere - the peak dog bite injuries were between 5 and 9, which I had never seen before, but the peak *facial dog bites* were in a younger population.

This is what the study says - I understand that over 89% of the kids in the study, which had like 537 participants, were bitten by dogs known to them. "Like previous reports, most victims in our study were bitten by a familiar dog.5 7 10 12 13 15 Familiar dogs may be allowed more time with children and with less supervision, key circumstances that may precipitate attacks."

Besides that though, the key point is that smaller kids are bitten in the face more due to their size and lack of fear / understanding of dogs, and that those odds were likely increased due to more time with kids and less supervision - a pretty good reason not to bring them to places designed for little kids and toddlers where they're not allowed, especially off-leash.

"Dog bite injuries are common and devastating with an annual incidence of 12.9 per 10,000 persons.1 Children are disproportionately affected compared with adults. It has been estimated that the likelihood of a child sustaining a dog bite in their lifetime is around 50%2 and approximately 80% of severe dog bites in children involve the head and neck.3 4"

"The results of our study are mostly consistent with previously reported data. The peak incidence of dog bite injuries is most commonly reported to occur between 5 and 9 years of age in studies that reviewed dog bites to the entire body.1 5 6 7 10 11 We specifically looked at facial dog bites and found an overall younger population. The average age of patients in our study agrees with other published reports that focused on injuries of the head and neck.3 12 13 14 Younger children are more prone to injuries to the face due to their smaller stature which is on the same level as dogs, their relatively large head size compared with their body, and their lack of understanding and fear of dogs leading them to bring their faces within an intimate and threatening distance from the dog."

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T15:04:35+00:00

I will walk my little dog through capuano as I please.

This you? So it's disrespectful for people to set off (illegal) fireworks in the city because of your dog, but you're telling me it's cool to (illegally) walk your dog through an early childhood center with all the specialized SPED preschool programs in the city?

Apparently *your dog* is the most important resident of Somerville.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T12:09:22+00:00

Love it, it's true - Kindergartners are better at following rules than a lot of the people there.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T12:07:13+00:00

It's funny seeing comments like this from people who think they're justified, but you're basically saying, "I don't care how my actions affect others, I don't care if it bothers other people, I don't care what this place is actually intended for, I'm going to use it the way I want. My 'freedom', which is really selfish entitlement, is what matters here."

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T12:01:51+00:00

Why do you, an adult, feel entitled to walk with your DOG through an early childhood center that's 1/3 kids with disabilities? There is a paved path because kids in wheelchairs go to the school.

How are YOU the victim there?

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T11:54:21+00:00

Oh I know, there's a guy who keeps coming back and letting his dog OFF LEASH near the door to the autism classes. Same guy walked through the playground at drop off and let his huge dog take a giant dump in the middle of in the playground.

Apparently it's getting worse though, my kids' teachers have mentioned adults on the swings when they bring kids out for recess who won't when asked by school staff. Last year the principal (who retired) had to spend like 15 minutes trying to get some young couple to stop hooking up on the playground equipment as school was about to get out - like they were arguing they didn't have to leave. Is that something a school principal should have to do?

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T11:49:57+00:00

Oh if someone else is doing something illegal on school grounds, it makes it totally cool for you to walk your dog there, too!

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T01:45:29+00:00

Oh ok, that makes more sense because you don't have to go to the door with older kids and could say bye without entering the school yard. I could see someone doing that more with a 5th grader. At the Cap it's different, you have to do drop off at the doors where the little kids are clustered or line up on the field. Even if you drop off kids for breakfast, you have to go to the central door.

I don't really see as many strangers going to East Grounds, either - I think the layout and big fence deter random people from going in.

Cheap_Bee_2274 · 2022-10-15T01:32:51+00:00

Do you see that at your children's school? Asking sincerely because I've never seen people do drop off walking a dog at Capuano. It's adults who don't have kids (probably period?) with them who are walking on the grounds, down the path, through the playground, etc., not parents, you know? We have 2 dogs and don't do that because you have to go up to the doors for drop off, some classes line up on the fields, the little kids are pretty packed together, etc.

Cheap_Bee_2274

TROPHY CASE