Slowly, downtown Framingham appears to be gathering a critical mass of destinations that will entice some people to do more than one thing and leave. It’s similar to the mantra of any commercial Web site: Get your visitors to “do one more thing.” Click on one more story. Buy one more item. Patronize one more [...]
Archive for January, 2008
Downtown Framingham’s potential
January 27, 2008‘Private splendor, public squalor’
January 21, 2008In a piece comparing old and new homes & neighborhoods in the Bay Area, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Carol Lloyd perfectly sums up the situation:
“In the Bay Area, where there are plenty of older neighborhoods with historic architecture, mature landscaping and pre-car, pedestrian-friendly urban planning, you’re often not buying just private square footage, but access [...]
‘Surround rail stations with pedestrian-friendly, green development’
January 20, 2008So urges Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen in an op-ed piece about the restoration of passenger rail service between Boston and Fall River and New Bedford.
While fully funding the $17.2 million planning for the rail project, the state in return is asking 31 surrounding communities to develop a land-use corridor plan that would “guide new development [...]
Silver lining dept.: Will housing and energy challenges help end sprawl?
January 7, 2008“The collapse in the housing market and high gasoline prices are bad news for middle-class homeowners left to sift through the wreckage. But if there is consolation to be found amid the rubble, it may be that the inexorable spreading out that has characterized American life since World War II might finally be coming to [...]
Another reason to get off the phone while you drive
January 2, 2008…besides the obvious one that you’re a safety menace to everyone around you if you’re using your cell phone while driving — no matter how careful you think you’re being while you’re talking (let alone text messaging). But now comes word that mobile phone chatters are also slowing down everyone’s commute.
“New computer simulations show that [...]
Storrow Drive outbound may close to motorists Sunday mornings
January 1, 2008So reports today’s Boston Globe:
A five-mile stretch of Storrow Drive could be closed to car traffic on Sunday mornings beginning this year, opening the riverside roadway to bicycling, walking, in-line skating, and other recreational uses, under a proposal being considered by state officials.
“The proposal by the Charles River Conservancy would close only the westbound side [...]
Public meetings about pedestrian access to transit in downtown Framingham
January 1, 2008The Department of Community and Economic Development is holding 2 public meetings about pedestrian access to transit in Downtown Framingham, both on Jan. 3: 4 to 6 pm at the Memorial building in the Blumer Community Room or 7 to 9 pm at TD Banknorth, 74 Concord Street. This was rescheduled from December due to [...]
