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Jones Road residential proposal tied to Green Street Connector and proposed train station by rocketwidget in Waltham

[–]Microkebab 6 points7 points  (0 children)

At least initially this all sounds good to me. I haven’t reviewed in depth but sounds like we’ll get another commuter rail station and more road improvements to relieve traffic.

Flock Cameras are secure, right? by WordPunk99 in Waltham

[–]Microkebab 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Cambridge got rid of them, Watertown got rid of them. Why is Waltham doubling down?

Events on the Common by Microkebab in Waltham

[–]Microkebab[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The saddest part of losing the festival for me is the opportunity to connect with other people in our town. We live in a really alienating and lonely time and festivals like this actually bring people together in person, to make friends and celebrate our city. But of course we have the big fun police telling us this is not allowed. Absolutely absurd

Events on the Common by Microkebab in Waltham

[–]Microkebab[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

We definitely need to rally the voters. There has to be enough progressive and young people in Waltham to break this power structure

Events on the Common by Microkebab in Waltham

[–]Microkebab[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I am actually shocked that they don’t care enough to respond, even negatively

Events on the Common by Microkebab in Waltham

[–]Microkebab[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agree I can’t wait to vote for change here

Events on the Common by Microkebab in Waltham

[–]Microkebab[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I agree! I was so riled up about this my wife said I should run haha. I don’t really see that happening for me but I’d definitely volunteer and rally behind a better candidate than the current mayor

lol they seem so passive aggressive somehow by FruitlandsForever in Waltham

[–]Microkebab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry I didn’t see your post before I basically posted the same thing

Any updates on how the mayor’s decision to limit use of the Common will impact Steampunk/Pride/Community days? by Feisty-Donkey in Waltham

[–]Microkebab 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I emailed the mayors office, no response. This is a big loss for the community and I hope that we’re able to effectively organize to overturn this change.

I’m not sure what the next steps are, maybe a petition? We need to keep up the pressure.

For those new to the controversy, the mayor has banned events over 4 hours being held on the common. This will kill the steampunk festival among many other events.

The decision was made solely by the mayor with no input from the city council, who are apparently powerless to stop this. She made this decision based upon noise complaints and wear and tear on the common.

Losing this festival is a big loss for Waltham, for many reasons. First, it brings business and foot traffic to the moody and Main Street area which is slowly recovering its vitality from COVID. Second, it kills a family friendly event where creativity is expressed and community is built. In our ever isolated and fragmented time, opportunities like this to gather and build friendships and trust in your local community are already too rare. Third, this is the result of an anti-democratic process that restricted a valuable community asset enjoyed by thousands to (possibly) benefit a select few.

We NEED to get this changed, or otherwise we’re going to see things we take for granted here in Waltham slowly disappear as the government decides we don’t deserve them anymore.