Every time I go back to Moody Street in Waltham, I’m so impressed with how the neighborhood has been revitalized. Filled with interesting restaurants and shops, it’s also filled with people walking from place to place, along a streetscape that’s appealing in part because it offers little surprises and delights.
Between Moody Street and the cinema, [...]
Archive for June, 2007
The importance of surprise and delight
June 27, 2007Visit Art Gone Wild
June 24, 2007I finally had a chance to see the “Art Gone Wild” exhibit at Garden in the Woods, and I definitely recommend it. It’s a fun collection of a cross between natural landscaping touches and outdoor art, and it’s especially nice to see some new mini-exhibits along the main Curtis trail that many of us have [...]
‘Keeping Boston Walkable’
June 19, 2007“If at any given time you look and see that pedestrians along our streets are not diverse, it may be a signal to us that we are not making our community as accessible as we should,” write Michael F. Flaherty (Boston city councilor) and Wendy Landman (executive director of Walk Boston) in a Globe op-ed [...]
Calling it ‘Smart Growth’ Doesn’t Mean It Is: Hartford Courant
June 17, 2007There’s a nice opinion piece in today’s Hartford Courant, noting that developers are starting to label a lot of projects “smart growth” that are somewhat of a stretch.
Smart growth is more than mixing different types of housing units and tossing in a convenience store or two you can walk to. It’s about more traditional patterns [...]
Concord Center merchants battle Citibank
June 12, 2007It’s hard to argue that a Citibank would generate too much traffic, bring in “undesirables,” or hurt property values. Yet many merchants in Concord Center are nevertheless opposed to plans for a Citibank branch in the heart of the town’s historic retail district. And they’re right.
Concord Center might be a great place to locate from [...]
Proposal would encourage more students to walk to school
June 2, 2007The Safe Routes to Schools bill proposed for Massachusetts “is designed to help communities establish safety education programs; install new crosswalks, bike lanes, and signs; construct and replace sidewalks and traffic-calming bumps; and build multi use trails connecting to schools,” the Boston Globe reports.
It’s a great idea, although of course you’ve got to have [...]
