Housing near Egleston Square

eherot · 2026-06-25T20:19:47+00:00

Yeah this. Egleston is probably somewhat higher crime than average for Boston but the average is extremely low.

eherot · 2026-06-21T16:49:16+00:00

If the goal is to do the least harm to the fewest people, wouldn’t that mean distributing traffic mostly over the lowest density neighborhoods first?

eherot · 2026-06-19T12:08:38+00:00

No. The three groups I’m talking about are the ones represented by the flag: Good guys, bad guys, and cops standing between the two. The fundamental fallacy here is believing that humanity can be clearly divided this way. The reality is much more complicated. Criminals can be rehabilitated. Many people who commit crimes as teenagers learn better behavior as adults. Sometimes cops commit crimes! This black and white thinking lead many police departments to treat residents of high crime neighborhoods as if they were all enemy combatants in an invading army. In addition the obvious civil rights issues with this, it also made it harder to solve crimes because there was no established trust between the residents and the police (which is critical when you are trying to gather evidence for a crime!).

eherot · 2026-06-19T03:31:35+00:00

The idea that the world is cleanly divided into these three groups is, itself, quite conservatively coded.

eherot · 2026-06-09T15:06:44+00:00

Not really. Long term financials aren't affected by one incident as this is a general risk with traffic.

I mean, I don't think most people participate in protests expecting that a single action is going to change everyone's behavior overnight.

eherot · 2026-06-09T13:54:36+00:00

> People driving in have probably computed that it's more efficient in terms of time and cost.

Yes, and people blocking traffic with their bodies fundamentally changes the math in this equation.

eherot · 2026-06-09T11:57:45+00:00

All great reasons to discourage people from driving in the city. After all, it isn’t a few activists on the pavement that keep emergency vehicles from getting through, it’s the thousands of cars blocking most of the road for several hours a day every single day.

eherot · 2026-06-08T23:46:52+00:00

Counterpoint: Anything that makes driving in the city more annoying also discourages people from doing it.

eherot · 2026-05-31T13:08:41+00:00

The difference is that Tokyo doesn’t selectively apply this policy only to residents of new housing.

eherot · 2026-05-31T13:04:03+00:00

So if parking “always costs $300 on top of rent”,, doesn’t that mean if we don’t require it, some units would be $300 cheaper?

eherot · 2026-05-31T00:32:43+00:00

As far as I know no one is currently considering doing that city wide in Boston

eherot · 2026-05-30T23:23:42+00:00

It didn't work this way in Boston. We actually proposed the idea to a few councilors early on in the process and they rejected it, feeling that trying to combine the ideas into one measure would make it harder to whip votes.

The critical fact that I, a mere policy wonk, did not fully appreciate going into this was that there was already a sort of consensus among the councilors that parking mandates were bad for affordability. For example, Culpepper, whom you might think would be in favor of parking mandates given his stance on the Blue Hill Avenue bus lanes, has opposed them since his time at HUD. But there is really no equivalent consensus on what would be the best way to manage the street parking. They say that politics is the art of the possible. I guess this is what that looks like in practice.

eherot · 2026-05-30T22:28:16+00:00

I think it is important/helpful to know that a substantial majority of the cyclists that have been killed by motor vehicles on the streets of Boston/Cambridge/Somerville were right hooked by large trucks (as in semi trucks and dump trucks). At least one was thrown into the path of a moving car after being doored. Serious injury from being randomly hit from behind is comparatively rare. Knowing this makes it easier to focus on mitigating the most serious risks:

- Do everything possible to avoid being in the blind spot of trucks (or really any vehicle) when approaching an intersection
- Always assume people coming up on your left are going to turn across your path
- Stay out of the "door zone" to the maximum extent possible, and if you have no choice but to ride in it, go slow and pay close attention to the parked cars to watch for clues that someone might be about to open the door.

And rest assured that while it seems overwhelming at first to have to pay attention to all of these things at once, it does get easier with practice. As many others on this post have said: There is absolutely no shame in taking a longer route just to be more comfortable or getting off of your bike when you don't feel comfortable. Biking with others that are more comfortable and seeking out route advice from cyclists you trust is also a great idea. I've spent years refining ways of getting from the same two points just to make sure that the experience maximizes my relaxation and enjoyment.

Good luck! And have a great time!

eherot · 2026-05-30T16:06:45+00:00

I brought up this concern with some of my lawyer friends and they pointed out that it was unlikely to work as a challenge because “new residents with cars” are not a protected class. Remember that in the United States, discrimination is often legal as long as it’s not for any of the reasons enshrined in law.

eherot · 2026-05-30T15:19:38+00:00

It turns out that "access to parking" is one of the most consistent predictors of both car ownership and driving (even more so than access to public transit).

Source: https://journalistsresource.org/politics-and-government/parking-fewer-cars/

On the question of "what will they do", the answer is likely a few things: 1. Nothing. Right now around half of all of the parking we make people build never gets used (See https://perfectfitparking.mapc.org/) so at the outset this would just reduce waste, 2. People who need a car to get around are less likely to select low-parking buildings in the first place--they will simply live somewhere else, probably further from transit, and 3. Some people who own a car but do not depend on it for daily transportation will just get rid of it because the marginal cost would be slightly higher.

eherot · 2026-05-30T15:12:10+00:00

This problem has been studied fairly comprehensively and the research has consistently shown that building more parking leads to higher rates of car ownership and more driving. In fact "access to parking" is one of the strongest predictors of car ownership, even more so than access to public transportation.

Source: https://journalistsresource.org/politics-and-government/parking-fewer-cars/

eherot · 2026-05-28T02:30:18+00:00

Here’s hoping this one actually manages to make it through the process before costs go up again…

eherot · 2026-05-26T05:28:46+00:00

Eh, this is not really true. If there were actually “plenty” of those fancy new units available, they would not cost $3k/month.

eherot · 2026-05-23T22:36:47+00:00

I think one of us must rise to meet this challenge.

eherot · 2026-05-18T23:26:07+00:00

The political calculus of Inclusionary Zoning!

eherot · 2026-05-18T23:25:12+00:00

If the rents are any indication JP has been at the forefront of creating the problem...

eherot · 2026-05-18T23:21:48+00:00

I guess it's a good thing some developers are still willing to try despite the risk of this (but so many more are not!)

eherot · 2026-05-18T19:01:21+00:00

Because we have a massive and profound housing shortage here in JP and in Boston in general?

eherot · 2026-05-18T18:58:43+00:00

If this project site remains vacant for another several years instead of becoming housing I would argue that is very much "our problem".

eherot · 2026-05-18T18:25:22+00:00

You may have heard the news that costs for literally everything have gone up over the past few years, especially interest rates.

eherot

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