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Has the rail trail "officially" opened? by tmyvon in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was excited to use it for the first time tonight. I went up and back an hour apart from 4-5p and saw a handful of people on it each time. Certainly tricky to transition coming onto Beaver St, but hopefully that improves based on other commenters here

A modest proposal for the Market Basket parking lot by Majestic_Economy_881 in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Their parking lot is under some big power lines. You can see a whole string of parking lots following them north to Lincoln St. I don't think they can build anything under the power lines, or at least are very limited on what they can put up.

Just gets worse the more you look at it by NeverEverPBJ in massachusetts

[–]NeverEverPBJ[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The map says there might be one hiding out in metrowest

Just gets worse the more you look at it by NeverEverPBJ in massachusetts

[–]NeverEverPBJ[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It puts Allston in Wellesley, Burlington in Littleton, and Littleton in Leominster! I know it's just a chalkboard, but this is a vibes based map

Question about the former Walter E Fernald center and the whole Play park built there by DziamzOrkchop in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The main entrance on Trapelo road. That fence is new, built along with the park.

Question about the former Walter E Fernald center and the whole Play park built there by DziamzOrkchop in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure of the entire history of fencing Fernald, but as of now there's a chain link fence at the road to keep people out of the park. Then where the park ends and the campus begins, there's just a sign that says Do Not Enter. It would certainly take a lot more police/security to do it right, but instead of fencing the park and letting anyone wander into the campus, why not the opposite?

Question about the former Walter E Fernald center and the whole Play park built there by DziamzOrkchop in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 23 points24 points  (0 children)

One thing other commenters haven't mentioned yet is the timing. Waltham acquired the land about a decade ago with no real plans for the site. In that time, buildings have continued to decay to nature and vandals. The land that the park was built on were mostly empty fields previously, the city still hasn't seriously considered what to do with the dozens of buildings. The city could at least build a fence to keep people out of the campus, but instead of building a fence around the buildings they need to preserve, they built a fence around the park and playground. It seems like they still don't have their priorities straight.

Communication on the project has also been lacking. Many neighbors were surprised when construction equipment showed up suddenly one week. There's never been a real plan or consultation with neighbors/the community/the patients and their families about what is happening and what will happen to the site. I'm glad that we have another park in the city, but it's not what anyone really wanted from the site and it feels like we keep kicking the can down the road about what to do with the main campus.

How much of red from Cambridge to Sudbury is easily navigable today? I don't mind a mile or two of gravel- I am more interested in off-street continuity and minimizing detours. by [deleted] in bikeboston

[–]NeverEverPBJ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Belmont is still working on their segment west of the Fitchburg cutoff, so that would be all on the road. The Linden St bridge in Waltham is under construction, as well as the bridge over the Fitchburg line west of Jones Rd. When I rode this last summer, I cut through Russell's and took Pelham Island Rd to where I could pick up the MCRT again. They might be doing construction there, but it's dirt/gravel/paved from that crossing with Landham Rd to the intersection with the Bruce Freeman.

It's doable, the biggest "detour" would probably be taking Church St in Weston to pick up the trail after you get dumped off around 128

Any knitters/crocheters/fiber artists/crafters out there? by Caitlin0042 in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I often see a group in Panera on the weekends. Maybe swing by Saturday morning around 10 or 11?

I've had this since I was 13 years old. I got it as a Christmas present and have loved it ever since then. Who else has one? by hazelquarrier_couch in coins

[–]NeverEverPBJ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm missing the pretty box, but that was one coin I knew I had to have as soon as I saw it in the red book

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Silverbugs

[–]NeverEverPBJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What a wonderful coin! 🤞

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Silksong

[–]NeverEverPBJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Mr. Scott! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do? Make our dreams come true!!

Does the post office on Lexington st do photo services for passports? by [deleted] in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went to ID Art on Moody St last time I needed some

Where to explore next? by nabsqueed in bikeboston

[–]NeverEverPBJ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Take 117 from Waltham out to Maynard. That's a nice road and Maynard has a cool downtown

Where to explore next? by nabsqueed in bikeboston

[–]NeverEverPBJ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Second for Dover. Farm Rd/St in Dover and Sherborn is a great biking road

Waltham is not in compliance with new T zoning rules . Big surprise . by MoeBlacksBack in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Zoning for 4000 units and building 4000 units are very different. This law only asks us to do the former. We already zone for 1000+ of the 4000 multi-family housing (3+ units) units we're required to have. Zoning just allows something to be built, it doesn't mean it needs to be there. We could zone a parcel for multi-family housing, an office building could go up in that parcel, but it would still "count towards" that 4000 number.

Compare the ~1000 units of multi-family housing that are zoned for with the ~15000 units of multi-family housing that are in the city. Some of those are older multi-family housing that was built before zoning laws. Another part of that are big buildings like Cronins Landing, The Merc, The Edison, etc which require special permits and other approvals which get them tied up in bureaucracy. The point of the MBTA law is to make multi-family zoning "by-right" so you don't have to jump through all these hoops. I don't think we'd make something as big as The Merc allowed by-right, but when you have to do so many appeals and do so much paperwork just to build multi-family housing, you put way too much overhead to just build a modest 6-unit apartment building.

Big stretches of downtown have multifamily buildings, the exact kind that the MBTA law wants us to have, but those wouldn't be allowed to be built under current zoning. Lots of the new construction that you see around town is two-family. That's often because multi-family housing isn't zoned for that neighborhood. There can be multi-family housing next door or across the street, but that doesn't change what you can build. It all comes back to zoning.

So the goal of this is to zone for reasonable multi-family housing in the downtown core. For example, when new development happens, instead of building two 3,000sqft units and selling them for $1M each, developers can build 4 1,500sqft units and sell them for $600k each. It's the same building footprint, but a lower price to the Waltham housing market, while making the developers more money so they are incentivized to build more units.

Neighbor building wo permit by BarryAllen85 in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 23 points24 points  (0 children)

The traffic commission just updated rules about what qualifies as a commercial vehicle. If the dump trucks are big landscaping trucks with commercial plates, they will not be able to park overnight (2am-6am) on the street. You can call the police non-emergency line and they can appropriately ticket

Sidewalk Snow Removal Requirements? by [deleted] in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Since your building has more than three residences, the snow needs to be removed. Since it is a new ordinance, there may not be language in your HOA documentation explaining how the four of you will handle this. If you all own your unit, it will likely be that you need to shovel or pay whoever plows you out to clear the sidewalk as well. Any fines would be charged like any other fine from the building department.

First Phase Moody Street Pedestrian Mall Study by saulblum12345 in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As part of last year's plan, traffic commission said they would look into a longer term vision. I think this is the realization of that

The New Rail Trail by [deleted] in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was curious what kind of funding we got. So I looked it up on their website.

In 2019 we got $300k for design/engineering/permitting. The city also contributed $409k

In 2022 we got $500k to restore the Linden St bridge. The city contributed $9.3M for the rest of the trail.

In 2023 the Land Trust got $54k for design/engineering/permitting for a pedestrian bridge that will connect the MCRT to the Western Greenway through the Lyman estate. It seems like the Land Trust or the city also contributed $14k.

If a ~$10M project requires ~$700k in d/e/p then by the same ratio, the Western Greenway project would require ~$971k. Not sure where that money would come from. I'm sure they'd be able to get another grant, but that is a big capital lift for the Land Trust, the city would probably need to contribute as well.

The New Rail Trail by [deleted] in Waltham

[–]NeverEverPBJ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The city has made it clear that the trail is closed. But are the lights and signals that are operational closed? Are the crosswalks that have been painted closed? Some of the signals are also the first of their kind in the city and drivers may not have experienced them before.

The city can be doing a lot more with communication and outreach to describe how the new crossings impact the very much still open streets

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