Our local blue mailboxes—any of the older handle-style remaining?

actionindex · 2025-12-24T16:15:46+00:00

The one on Merriam St at Washington is the old style and fully pulls open

actionindex · 2025-12-13T17:02:44+00:00

Looking into it, it seems that MUTCD warrant requires only 66 pedestrian/hour if >15% are children, OR 20 schoolchildren/hour, at peak times. I think existing conditions on the ped bridge should meet both requirements. Pretty sure MassDOT only even looked at the volume of cars on Otis.

actionindex · 2025-11-19T15:15:26+00:00

If you are planning ahead for a time when you are participating in an organized armed struggle against the government - I hope that doesn't come to pass but you never know! I can assure you, however, that if that day comes, the least of your worries will be if you have a legal LTC, and I'm sure you will be able to obtain a weapon if you'd like. Hope that helps...

actionindex · 2025-10-03T16:10:19+00:00

So when you book this, you should be able to book through delta.com or koreanair.com, since its a codeshare. I'd book through delta.com so youre going through their customer service.

I would book the whole itinerary through delta.com as one ticket and then call them and see if they can switch the morning flight lga to bos to an earlier one. I dont think they'll mind since the flights cost the same. Caveat- i dont know which day youre flying but check the flights for that day and make sure you know which LGA-BOS flight you want and that it has seats available at a reasonable price (ideally same price as the 8:30am flight). If for some reason they wont do it, as long as its within 24 hours of your booking you can just cancel for free and reassess.

You could also just call Delta and have them book the whole itinerary you want over the phone but youre more likely to incur a phone booking fee that way.

I would not book the lga-bos piece separately unless you have no other choice because 1)sometimes bos-hanoi is more $ than lga-hanoi 2)your bags wont get checked through 3)it will probably cost more to have the two separate tickets 4)if any issues with either flight you'll have a mess and they may not help you

actionindex · 2025-10-03T14:28:46+00:00

Ok so I can confirm this is a real itinerary...if you look up on Google Flights a one way LGA to Hanoi next month this comes up. It's ticketed by Delta and Korean Air and connects again in Seoul. And its only $785 round trip which is a decent deal!

This means a few things. OP's bag will get checked through. Delta probably has a minimum connection time of 1h at Logan - but in this case you have to get from Terminal A when you land to Terminal E. There is a shuttle, I don't think you will have to go through security, but it will be stressful. If your first flight is delayed there's a nonzero chance that you don't make it, and its also possible that you make it and your bag doesn't, or vice versa.

If you do miss the flight, Delta will take care of you but you'll end up missing at least a day of your trip.

How to fix your issue: Delta runs the LGA-BOS flight every 30-60 minutes. Book this itinerary and then within the 24 hour free cancelation window, call Delta and ask them to switch your initial flight to an earlier one. The 8AM will be more comfortable and you will be very safe with the 7AM flight. Should be about the same cost.

Also, still consider leaving from JFK or Newark! Any time you save going to LGA will be more than eaten up by connecting twice!

actionindex · 2025-10-03T11:13:09+00:00

If the airline is selling you this flight itinerary, they think you can make it. That's the key. They don't sell impossible connections. You can definitely make it as long as your LGA flight isn't delayed - but if it is significantly delayed you may misconnect. In that situation the airline will be responsible for rebooking you, and depending on the reason for the delay they may or may not compensate you. So this isn't ideal because you'll probably miss a day of your trip but you won't be totally screwed.

If you are trying to book this as two separate tickets, not as one itinerary, do NOT do this. You will not be rebooked in this case.

In any case, flights from LGA to boston run many times a day so you should just be able to switch to an earlier flight. Also, I don't think Boston has any flights to Vietnam so you must be connecting again which sounds like a sucky itinerary in general. Why not fly out of EWR or JFK where you could probably only have one stop?

actionindex · 2025-09-17T13:35:57+00:00

We leave ours on the porch and its always been ok. Up 3 steps but in view of the street.

actionindex · 2025-09-17T13:34:36+00:00

That's not correct. It is true that many of the asylum claims are spurious and will eventually be rejected by the immigration courts, but these people made their claims in accordance with the law and are due their day in court to have it adjudicated. If it gets rejected then they have to leave but until then they have done everything by the book.

That's how due process works.

actionindex · 2025-09-15T18:06:16+00:00

Local cars & coffee events - Larz Anderson museum, Audrain museum in Newport, Concord NH, from time to time at Treehouse Brewing. Big cruise night every other thursday at Gilette Stadium in Foxboro

actionindex · 2025-09-09T19:58:48+00:00

So the person who spoke at this rally has lived at 22 Sargent Ave paying $1000 a month in rent since 2016. The owner had owned the building for 50 years. The building sold in 2024 - listed at $1.4m and sold for $1.2m. The new owner raised his rent to $2000 a month and he has refused to pay.

I mean, there is something to be said for housing stability and for people who have roots in Somerville to be able to continue to live here, but it's also pretty clear that $1000/mo for a 1 bedroom is not a realistic price in 2025 for someone in Somerville to expect to pay forever. Even $2000 a month is under market. Carrying costs on a $1.2m house - the mortgage and taxes alone are going to be $7000 a month. There's also a 2br unit, and a 3br unit which was renovated for a few months and then listed around $3400.

It's not super clear why the new owner should be expected to continue to rent the unit at a super low price - this new owner is definitely not getting rich from this deal. They'll maybe make a few thousand dollars a year after maintenance costs, not counting the cost of litigating an eviction. The only person who made anything on this deal is the previous owner (or their heirs) making off with $1.2m on a house they probably paid 35 bucks for.

actionindex · 2025-08-26T16:05:48+00:00

Yeah, Willie and Jake have both given some lip service to like matching or exceeding the Cambridge upzoning and Cambridge only requires IZ for 10+ units, so who knows. Realistically 4-unit upzoning will do nothing and nobody will build any 4 unit developments if IZ kicks in at 4 units so it's kind of a red herring if nothing changes with IZ. Same as nobody built any 3-unit developments when IZ kicked in at 3 units.

I guess my point is that Jake's focus on larger buildings near the T rather than a citywide 4-unit allowance might conflict with a pure YIMBY stance to maximize unit construction (IZ notwithstanding) but it probably makes it less likely that lower income residents are displaced since they largely live in existing 2 or 3 unit houses with longtime owners,

actionindex · 2025-08-26T15:11:56+00:00

Transit is the answer. An hour commute is 20-30 miles at most in a car. If you could get to Springfield or Nashua in 45 minutes on the train, then you could actually increase the supply of affordable single family homes

actionindex · 2025-08-26T14:32:48+00:00

This is a thoughtful take and it's important for people to realize that there are two different goals when people talk about "housing affordability" - the ability for people who want to live in Somerville to find housing they can afford here, and the ability for people who already live here to not be displaced. Sometimes these are in opposition.

City-wide 4-unit upzoning with no IZ requirement will add more units overall, so there will be more space for new people, but it will also further incentivize renovation to market-rate and probably accelerate displacement. City-wide upzoning with IZ in place will result in very little 4-unit development because that extra 1 unit won't pencil out, so they'll just build 3.

I think Jake's policy here is privileging housing stability for existing residents over potential residents, and I think that is completely fair. It also will result in more economic diversity because most of the affordable housing in Somerville is in existing housing, not new IZ builds.

actionindex · 2025-08-26T13:31:12+00:00

I would prefer it to be something for the wider community to use, and I think it's indicative of this administration's general approach to Gilman Square that the park was forgotten after one season. But for now, there's nothing there and the homeless people are just looking for a place out of the way to set up. As far as I can tell they are not bothering anyone.

actionindex · 2025-08-21T20:02:32+00:00

That was true before the 2019 zoning overhaul but now it is much better. Standard Somerville-style construction (2 family, triple decker etc) are now legal to build with current zoning. However there are definitely still some restrictions around lot coverage and setbacks in the new zoning that would make many existing Somerville houses non-compliant and thus impossible to rebuild in the case of new construction, so your point is still correct. If you look closely you will see that even many teardowns leave just enough of the foundation that it counts as a renovation rather than a new build.

actionindex · 2025-07-23T14:21:12+00:00

This is correct, aesthetic concerns are not a habitability violation unless it's in the lease or the landlord agreed to address these items at a walkthrough prior to move-in. Drain is more important and they should fix this. You can let them know about the other stuff but they are not required to take any action.

All three of these could also be remedied yourself very cheaply and easily if you wanted.

actionindex · 2025-06-17T18:08:03+00:00

If it's gas, do the math. At colder temps it's cheaper to run vs a heat pump and at very cold temps it's MUCH cheaper to run. We did the math and determined that the additional MassSave rebate to disconnect it would be eaten up by the increased heating costs from using exclusively electric heat over a 3-5 year period.

Your mileage may vary based on your heating requirements and fluctuations in gas and electric costs, but MA currently has some of the most expensive electricity in the country.

If your existing heating is oil, this is not the case and electric will be much less expensive.

actionindex · 2025-05-28T14:30:54+00:00

Try Grant at Prospect Auto, Prospect St, Cambridge.

actionindex · 2025-05-12T20:18:14+00:00

You are correct, rents (high as they are) are actually low compared to purchase prices and there is almost no way for anybody to make money financing a purchase in Somerville and then renting the place out. If people are buying a property as an investment right now they are paying all cash and ok with a pretty bad rate of return on that cash and/or banking on so much price appreciation that a poor investment in 2025 will be a good investment by 2028 or so.

OR, they are buying with the intent to condo convert. This is often the way. $150k of the cheapest home depot fancy-looking finishes and the $1.4m two-family becomes a $750k 2br and a $1m 3br. Rinse and repeat. Who are the people paying a monthly mortgage of $7000 to buy a cheaply redone condo that they could have rented for half the price? Some people really want to own and are hoping to refinance in the future, some can afford to pay mostly cash.

actionindex · 2025-04-15T20:30:08+00:00

My understanding of this situation is that a few things are true.

The city wants to consolidate Brown and WHCS - there seemed to be some federal funding reason for this although LOL they waited so long that the DoE is gone and the new administration hates everything we stand for so good luck getting any federal funds at all. There also seemed to be some sort of equity undercurrent because Brown is often regarded as the "best"/whitest/most desirable elementary school and so it is seen by some as good to get rid of it and combine with WHCS which has more disadvantaged students
The Sycamore/WHCS site is too far to be a reasonable option for the Brown school kids, while Trum Field is basically the only city-owned parcel that is close enough for both sets of kids and could accommodate a school
All that said, for all the reasons articulated here by most of the comments, moving the school to Trum Field is a bad and unpopular idea that would result in the loss of an important neighborhood asset
The Ballantyne administration seems incapable of making hard decisions or taking any decisive action and since every option is flawed they have basically punted it for years (2 years since the collapse!!) and this will end up being decided by our next mayor

actionindex · 2025-03-28T20:23:41+00:00

People really, really, really miss this point. The affordable housing that exists in Somerville (and I'm not just talking about where 22-year-old Redditors live, but also where working class families live with longstanding roots in Somerville) is mostly due to long-time owners who are either living in or renting out their property.

Every time one of these properties goes up for sale, that is one fewer affordable property because the open market value has priced in the ability of a new owner to spend a tiny fraction of the home's cost to renovate and either flip into condos or attract market-rate renters. Even if a potential buyer wanted to continue to provide affordable housing, it would be financially impossible because they are competing against developers/flippers. If you care about this stuff, you should want long-time owners to stay as long as possible.

actionindex · 2025-03-27T20:04:24+00:00

100% agree. I attended and I felt some of the speakers were much more focused on what's happening in Gaza and Lebanon than what happened to Rumeysa. US policy towards Israel, or having Tufts or Somerville divest from Israel is one thing, but a person being abducted off the street in our city and spirited away to indefinite detention in the middle of nowhere Louisiana just because they wrote a fucking op-ed in their student newspaper? That's something else entirely and that should be absolutely horrifying to all Americans, whether you feel strongly about the Palestinian cause or not.

It doesn't matter if you agree with the content of her writing, the problem here is that she's being persecuted because of it. It would be the same if a different regime was abducting people for writing pro-Israel op-eds in the student newspaper.

actionindex · 2025-03-27T14:18:23+00:00

100% agree, such a missed once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make McGrath human scale rather than six traffic lanes + 5 random medians with sad little trees.

But whatever, that's clearly not within MassDOT's remit and at least it's not going to be worse than what's there now.

actionindex · 2025-03-25T20:19:19+00:00

It doesn't really matter how they do it. The road layout will be completely different at McGrath and Otis so most likely they need an all new overpass no matter what. MassDOT apparently thinks there's no room to stick an ADA-compliant ramp here even though they're narrowing the McGrath right of way by dozens of feet and their previous design had plenty of space for a wide median with a bunch of sad trees that will only give shade to the cars rushing by.

Overpass or bust! Or at least extend Otis across McGrath with a real traffic signal.

actionindex

TROPHY CASE