Ward 5 Resistat, Fall 2017
Oct. 19th, 2017 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mem_winterhill posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
whnaLet me cover the highlights from my side of the Hill:
Crime: city at a 30 year low, a 63% decrease since 1987. Same old stuff, a few house and car break-ins, package theft. More calls are of the nuisance and mental health (including substance abuse) issues. They are working on new strategies for handling those, more training. SPD committed to "procedural justice": fairness, transparency, opportunities for voice, impartiality. All police procedures now online + searchable.
NIT (neighborhood improvement team): program to address properties with chronic problems (abandoned, disrepair stuff). 38 cases from Sept 2016-Aug 2017. 20 active, 18 closed. Some of these need escalation to courts. They are working on them, challenges to closing them. But good to know that there's a way to kick these things into a process.
Airplane noise: considered the changes to Winthrop Tower plan a success for the city. Someone from da Ville is now officially on 33L Task Force. But still a known issue.
https://www.somervillema.gov/somervision
Somervision review. 5 years into this process, where are we? Updates from several city departments. New jobs on track. Housing + affordable housing a hard problem in a hot market. But city has 100 homes permanent affordability initiative, trying to compete on buying units. Looking at developing a tool for tenants getting first option to buy property at market value (I'm not entirely clear on this, sounded like Denise Provost was working on this?).
Development in "transformative" areas associated with Green Line. Includes an upcoming visioning meeting for Magoun-->Ball Sq area (see flyer here: https://imgur.com/a/j64rs ). Oct 24, 6-8pm at the VNA 259 Lowell St.
Green space: possibly the toughest thing in our high density situation. But re-furbing many existing parks, looking to create new. Look for upcoming meetings on Foss Park and Draw 7 park.
Mobility issues: walking, biking, traffic calming strategies all underway. "Neighborways" slow street painting projects (might be one we want to look at as an event?). Watch for Vision Zero action planning meetings (reducing bike/pedestrian harm). Frustrated neighbor complained about insufficient bus service, city answer was unsatisfying. But MBTA is not easy to work with.
Sustainability/climate: carbon neutrality studies + planning underway. City wants input on climate--see this survey: tinyurl.com/y7dI4fc7 See also the Sustainaville site for these reports: https://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville
Crime: city at a 30 year low, a 63% decrease since 1987. Same old stuff, a few house and car break-ins, package theft. More calls are of the nuisance and mental health (including substance abuse) issues. They are working on new strategies for handling those, more training. SPD committed to "procedural justice": fairness, transparency, opportunities for voice, impartiality. All police procedures now online + searchable.
NIT (neighborhood improvement team): program to address properties with chronic problems (abandoned, disrepair stuff). 38 cases from Sept 2016-Aug 2017. 20 active, 18 closed. Some of these need escalation to courts. They are working on them, challenges to closing them. But good to know that there's a way to kick these things into a process.
Airplane noise: considered the changes to Winthrop Tower plan a success for the city. Someone from da Ville is now officially on 33L Task Force. But still a known issue.
https://www.somervillema.gov/somervision
Somervision review. 5 years into this process, where are we? Updates from several city departments. New jobs on track. Housing + affordable housing a hard problem in a hot market. But city has 100 homes permanent affordability initiative, trying to compete on buying units. Looking at developing a tool for tenants getting first option to buy property at market value (I'm not entirely clear on this, sounded like Denise Provost was working on this?).
Development in "transformative" areas associated with Green Line. Includes an upcoming visioning meeting for Magoun-->Ball Sq area (see flyer here: https://imgur.com/a/j64rs ). Oct 24, 6-8pm at the VNA 259 Lowell St.
Green space: possibly the toughest thing in our high density situation. But re-furbing many existing parks, looking to create new. Look for upcoming meetings on Foss Park and Draw 7 park.
Mobility issues: walking, biking, traffic calming strategies all underway. "Neighborways" slow street painting projects (might be one we want to look at as an event?). Watch for Vision Zero action planning meetings (reducing bike/pedestrian harm). Frustrated neighbor complained about insufficient bus service, city answer was unsatisfying. But MBTA is not easy to work with.
Sustainability/climate: carbon neutrality studies + planning underway. City wants input on climate--see this survey: tinyurl.com/y7dI4fc7 See also the Sustainaville site for these reports: https://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville
no subject
Date: 2017-10-20 06:14 pm (UTC)