Michigander in Mass

A real estate conglomerate from Chicago has agreed to buy Boston real estate firm Spaulding & Slye Colliers for at least $150 million. [...] Spaulding & Slye’s big development projects include the first part of the massive NorthPoint campus in Cambridge. Work on the first phase of the project - between the Lechmere and Bunker Hill T stations - started this year and will include the construction of 330 condos in two buildings. The firm also recently developed an eight-story, 160,000-square-foot building for biomedical labs in Boston’s BioSquare off Albany Street.


Full story at the Patriot Ledger.

I always wondered what happened to the Green Line's "A" line. Well boy could I have used it when I was working in Watertown--as it used to head straight into Watertown Square. You can read all about it on Wikipedia. Why did it close down? Because the government forced the MBTA to deal with American contractors who had no idea how to build a trolley, because the auto companies did a damn good job of killing all forms of passenger rail and the aero companies, well, what the hell are they supposed to know about building light rail vehicles?

After watching and reading the news reports about Stoughton traffic, the Assembly Square Ikea store is making me more and more nervous. I bought Mayor Joe's vision for Assembly Square hook line and sinker, but maybe because all the pretty models they built didn't show traffic backed up onto I-93, Rte. 28, Broadway, Sullivan Square, etc. Wig's and the MVTF's arguments (see Wig's comment in the, er, interesting and frank--if mostly anonymous--debate on the Somerville News site) are making more sense to be--I understand them better now. Is this really good for Somerville?

From The Somerville News:

The plan to develop the old MaxPak factory site with a building featuring over two hundred condominiums will be discussed over the next three weeks.

Ward 5 Alderman Sean T. O'Donovan will host three public meetings to discuss the project with neighborhood residents on Nov.29, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14 at the Visiting Nurses Association at 259 Lowell Street.

The meetings start at 6:30 pm.

I don't write a lot about parks and outdoorsy things, even though I love them, and even though Somerville lacks them to a terrible degree. But my wife and I walked across the Salt & Pepper Bridge (aka the Longfellow Bridge) a week ago and I really noticed how bad a condition it's in. It's not the only DRC property that's suffering.

The green light on the Green Line extension project remains on, but waiting on the opposite street is the return of Arborway service and the Red-Blue connector projects, both stalled. What's good news from Somerville and Medford is not so good for others. And the increase in parking spaces for the Fairmont commuter rail line seems to be a concession to the rich, McMansion-owning taxpayers in the outer burbs. Somerville residents may be able to breathe easier (if it weren't for all the pollution), but we shouldn't rest on our laurels.

First, let's put in a strong show of support for the prioritization of both the connector and Arborway projects. We need to help the other core communities around here.

But next, let's not lose sight of some other priorities for transportation, the first being the Assembly Square Orange Line stop. While this stop would add about two minutes to my short reverse commute to Malden Center every day, it would HELP cut down on traffic a small amount (although how many people will take the T to shop at a store where 90% of the stuff is bigger than a breadbox I don't know).

But then what?

Nearly 14,000 residential units, primarily condominiums, are currently in the construction pipeline in Boston, the city's planning agency said yesterday. Though exact comparisons don't exist, officials believe the number of units under development equals or exceeds the building spree of the 1980s. Full story on Boston.com.

What does this mean for Somerville and Cambridge?

As the Brickbottom 18th Open Studios approaches (it's this weekend), I got to thinking: where the Hell is Brickbottom anyway?

It's been in the news recently. This is from a City of Somerville press release from just two days ago:

The Brickbottom District, once a thriving neighborhood that became an early casualty of urban renewal, sits just across the Boston city line, adjacent to the McGrath O’Brien Highway. The area is currently home to a number of small businesses, primarily those engaged in auto repair and auto-related services. There are also several underutilized industrial sites and vacant lots and a trash transfer facility on city-owned land. Mayor Curtatone recently announced that the City had reached a new agreement with Waste Management, Inc. that will relocate the transfer facility within three to five years to a more remote site.

The city is teaming up with the Boston Society of Architects to hold an international urban design ideas competition for the industrial Brickbottom area in East Somerville.

Somerville Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning officially launched the competition ("BrickBottom - EDGE as CENTER") at a session at this week's BuildBoston conference (which by the way has some great tours of the city of you don't mind the price). The BSA and the City of Somerville have invited designers to envision the future of the "pivotal post-industrial area."

From the program:
Urban design schemes for the area will conceptualize the ideas of neighborhood and infrastructure that accompany the redevelopment of large areas of underutilized industrial land. Given the sites current potential for development and future light rail transit connections, coupled with existing physical and economic constraints, the competition asks: what is the future for the BrickBottom District in the contemporary urban context?

I will reiterate some comments Wig Zamore made on the S_T_E_P mailing list:

The Green Line extension, the future form of Route 28 (boulevard or arterial sewer) and the relationship of Brickbottom to Union Square will all undoubtedly be important for designers to consider.

It will also be interesting to see the full extent to which this competition engages the Somerville community and how it treats the land use - transportation - air quality - public health continuum that affects eastern Somerville.

Brickbottom re-development will be post-Assembly Square. Thus how the urban designers deal with the 100,000 trips per day predicted by Federal Realty for Assembly Square may be the single biggest issue they face.

I agree. This distric would be served by the proposed Washington Street Green Line stop on the new Medford extension (where the rails cross Washington Street in the map above). This area suffers from a similar problem to that of Assembly Square: access is relatively limited: for Assembly, it's either Rte. 28 or I-93 (crap, my exit off I-93, exit 28, will be badly impacted by the traffic going to Assembly Square from either direction--I hope most of that traffic is off-peak). The river and rails cut the site off on two sides, at least for auto traffic.

In the case of Brickbottom, it's Rte. 28 again (aka McGrath/Obrien Hwy.), or Washington St. The rail cuts it off from the Innerbelt industrial area.

Some suggestions to help integrate these industrial areas:

1. Connect the Brickbottom area via roads and pedestrian tunnels to both the Innerbelt and Northpoint districts.

2. Enable better and more pedestrian access to Union Square.

3. Visually and physically connect the Washington Street T stop to Brickbottom--ensuring pedestrian traffic.

4a. In addition to the Washington Street stop, add a 'T' station at the junction of all three districts (the lower right corner of the map), with pedestrian access to all three districts and service (potentially) from both the Union Square and Medford spurs. Call it Brickbottom/Innerbelt or some such thing.

4b. If this doesn't fly, at least call the Washington Street station Brickbottom.

Partners HealthCare and its affiliate, Massachusetts General Hospital, said yesterday that they intend to sue state officials for not including a connection between the MBTA's Blue and Red lines as part of the state's effort to offset increased air pollution from the Big Dig. Full story on Boston.com.

After following Somerville development for a whole whopping year, I think I've got a better understanding of the dynamics involved. Hell, I think I understand where the MVTF is coming from. But, still a fan of development when done responsibly, I was pleased to see the recent news of a potential land swap deal that could reignite the stalled project and land Ikea in Somerville, for better or worse.

So first, the land swap, and now, an MVTF founder chomping on an Ikea hot dog? What has the world come to?

Well, Magoun Square new makeover plans are being criticized for not being too different than the old plans, except for the price tag. And it still doesn't address a few key issues. Is the new price worth it?

Want to sound like a native here in New England? The first thing is to learn the place names. New Englanders love to heah forrinahs pronounce some of our more difficult place names. God help the non-native newscaster or weather-person his first few months here. So, to ease the transition and test just how well you might be able to fit in, here's a quick quiz for you. Maybe I'll make this a series, if it's popular enough.

It's tough to fit in. I just saw a native get ripped to pieces for not pronouncing Tewksbury as authentically as he could (as far as I could tell, it's "TUX-bree", but he says "TOOKS-bree", or "TEWKS-bree" and he grew up there). And that's a relatively easy one. Try these (answers follow). I'll start easy:

1. Chelmsford
2. Medford
3. Berlin
4. Revere
5. Woburn
6. Quincy
7. Concord
8. Norfolk
9. Reading
10. Peabody
11. Dorchester
12. Worcester
13. Leicester
14. Leominster
15. Scituate
16. Billerica
17. Haverhill
18. Cochituate

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR ANSWERS)

.
.
.
.
.
.

1. Chelmsford: CHEMS-fid (note the typical dropping of the 'ah', er, 'r')
2. Medford: MEH-fid (but 'r's aren't the only thing we drop)
3. Berlin: BER-lynn (we love shifting the syllabic stress)
4. Revere: rih-VEAH (pretend you're at the doctor's office at the end)
5. Woburn: WOO-bin (you'll note we get a little lazy at the end of words)
6. Quincy: QUIN-zee (note the 'z' sound here)
7. Concord: KHAHN-kid (note all the vowel shifting going on heah)
8. Norfolk: NOR-fik (fik the folk)
9. Reading: RED-ing (like the railroad in Monopoly)
10. Peabody: PEE-biddy (remember it as "nobody" or P-diddy or whatever)
11. Dorchester: DAH-chest-ih (or DOT-chest-ih, or just DOT)
12. Worcester: WIST-ah (two syllables -- WUH-stah is also acceptable)
13. Leicester: LEH-stah (um, yeah, right, whatever)
14. Leominster: LEH-min-stah (can you hear the British influence?)
15. Scituate: SIT-chwit (two syllables)
16. Billerica: bill-RICCA (this is just wrong, or a test for "forinahs")
17. Haverhill: HEY-vrill (hey, this is just lazy)
18. Cochituate: cah-CHIH-chwit (hell, I *still* can't pronounce this)

But even the natives will argue over these pronunciations, so take them with a grain of salt. Send me your feedback--I'm not a native obviously. Open the club up to some new folks. We just need the passwords.

Oh, and be sure to visit The Wicked Good Guide to Boston English. (UPDATED at 4:16PM)

I tend to bury myself in a book on my short MBTA ride, but lots of people like listening to their iPods or chatting on the phone. Watch out! Thieves are targeting you!

Stoughton got slammed with Ikea traffic for the grand opening of their first Massachusetts store:

IKEA crowds snarl region

By Elaine Allegrini and Tim Grace, Enterprise staff writers

STOUGHTON - They built it and the crowds came, but some were turned away Saturday when the parking lot of the state's first IKEA filled up.

State police closed the ramps from Route 24 at Exit 19 mid-day to avoid a traffic backup on the highway because the parking lot was full.

Cars from New Hampshire and other New England states were spotted in the grid-locked traffic around the store that opened Wednesday amid widespread attention.

The highway ramps were opened in late afternoon, but state police on the scene monitored the situation and were prepared to close them again if necessary.

Inside the lot and along Stockwell Drive, the main access road leading to the mega-retailer, town police dealt with a steady stream of accidents Friday and Saturday.

And, for residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the store, traffic made any trip out of the house an all-day adventure.

Stoughton resident James Hannon lives on Turnpike Street, less than a mile from IKEA.

The 30-year-old warehouse worker said his one-mile commute usually takes "about a minute."

But IKEA traffic has stretched that to nearly a half-hour.

"Yesterday I just walked," Hannon said Saturday. "It took me less time.

"I went with my roommate to take his dog to Petco over on Stockwell and it took us almost an hour to get there."

Karen Pike, also of Turnpike Street in Stoughton, said the traffic has cut her off from half of the region.

"I can get out of my driveway if I want to turn right but turn left? Forget about it. It's a nightmare out there," Pike said.

Just south of IKEA on Central Street in Avon, resident Stephen Bolduc said clogged roads have slowed his family to a crawl. "It took my sister half-an-hour, 40 minutes to get home from Stoughton," a trip of less than five miles.

John Purnell, also of Central Street, Avon, said he spent 45 minutes driving the two miles from Route 24 to his home. "It's just amazing," he said.

IKEA did prepare for the crush of traffic before the store's opening, hiring dozens of local police to work traffic details. The store also paid for improvements to Stockwell Drive and paved a second access road, giving the store an exit onto Turnpike Street.

Spokesmen for the store did not release opening day traffic estimates but store openings in Texas and Illinois drew tens of thousands.

Shaping Sustainability: Transnational Visions and Local Dreams
Please join us on Thursday, November 17, 2005 from 6-9 pm at Tufts University, Lincoln Filene Center, Rabb Room.

6-7 pm Poster Session & Networking Event with light refreshments
7-9 pm Presentations followed by a Moderated Discussion

Presentations will include examples of sustainability initiative Tufts students have been involved with in Australia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, and Sweden. From a local perspective, Michael Roach will discuss the goals and action steps of the Sustainable Arlington community initiative.

Sponsored by Tufts Institute for the Environment, University College of Citizenship and Public Service, and the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Department.

For more information, contact Jessica Erickson, phone 774.238.0220, email jessica.erickson@tufts.edu.

The Boston Globe reported today that "[l]andowners in the Assembly Square area are nearing a deal that could break a seven-year stalemate and bring both a new Ikea furniture store and a mixed-use, transit-friendly development to the banks of the Mystic River."

A land swap betweek Ikea--which owns 17 acres of land bordering the Orange Line and the Mystic River--and the company that owns the Assembly Square mall would "move the Swedish furniture chain away from the prime waterfront land that Ikea opponents and city officials have sought to save for a denser urban riverside redevelopment."

The current Ikea property would be used for dense residential develoment, and Ikea would move closer to I-93, Circuit City and Home Depot (in the stretch of land alongside the Orange Line currently reserved for mixed-use development).

From the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's Regional Record e-newsletter:

Smart Growth Alliance to EOT Chief:
20-Year Transportation Plan Needs More Work

The Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance (MSGA), which includes MAPC, has delivered detailed comments on Governor Romney's draft 20-year transportation plan. In a letter to Secretary of Transportation John Cogliano, co-signed by 20 organizations, the Alliance praised the plan for providing "a comprehensive vision that includes all transportation modes," but expressed concern that the plan "lacks clear details regarding implementation."

The Alliance also praised the plan for focusing on two critical needs in the metropolitan Boston region: repairing bridges and expanding public transit. In the state, 547 bridges are considered sub-par, and over 1,000 bridges will reach their fiftieth year during the next decade. Generally, bridges require major repairs after 40 years, which is why the plan devotes $1 billion to bridge repair between now and 2010.

The plan also focuses heavily on public transit, listing the following major projects for development:

• SIP Commitments ($769m) – 2008-2013;
  
• Silver Line III ($756m) – 2006-2011;
  
• Urban Ring Phases 1 and 2 ($982m) – 2018 and beyond; and
  
• Blue Line to Lynn ($314m) – 2017-2022.
  

Three highway projects are also listed in the plan: Interchanges of I-93 and I-95 at Canton and at Reading/Woburn ($52.5m); and Route 3 Add-A-Lane ($180m).

The MSGA raises a number of key problems with the plan, including:

"The plan relies on unrealistic financing expectations, such as success in every federal New Starts application." The letter clearly states that new sources of revenue are necessary to finance the plan, including value capture programs and more state capital spending on MBTA projects.

While praising the plan for suggesting that corridor planning should precede major state investments in highway or transit projects, the Alliance calls upon the state to explain more precisely when corridor planning will be triggered, who will work with municipalities on the plan, and how the plans will be enforced.

The MSGA raises a number of key problems with the plan:

"The plan relies on unrealistic financing expectations, such as success in every federal New Starts application." The letter clearly states that new sources of revenue are necessary to finance the plan, including value capture programs and more state capital spending on MBTA projects.

While praising the plan for suggesting that corridor planning should precede major state investments in highway or transit projects, the Alliance calls upon the state to explain more precisely when corridor planning will be triggered, who will work with municipalities on the plan, and how the plans will be enforced.

---

Notes: The SIP commitments include the Green Line extension; "New Starts" is a possible source of funding; the corridor planning mentions the state's commitment in the Long Range Plan to financially assist cities and towns in conducing corridor land-use planning in major expansion projects.

Read the full MAPC article

See the Long Range Plan (Click on Long Range Plan)

The Green Line's rehabilitated extension to Lechmere will reopen tomorrow, ending nearly 17 months of taking shuttle buses for about 11,000 commuters a day.

From: Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston

Dear Colleague,

We would like to remind you about the next event in the Boston 101 Speakers' Series:

Sprawl in Overdrive: Hurdles to Smart Growth
Wednesday, November 9
Noon
Room 301, 3rd floor Taubman Building
15 Eliot Street
John F. Kennedy School of Government

Remarks by
Anthony Flint, Smart Growth Education Director at the Office for Commonwealth Development, former reporter for The Boston Globe

Comments by
Alan Altshuler, Dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Design
The author of the forthcoming book, Developing America: Dispatches from a Suburban Nation discusses the anti-sprawl movement, the backlash against it, and the continuing of dispersal of residential living.

Anthony Flint was a reporter for 16 years at the Boston Globe and a former research fellow at the Graduate School of Design and the Lincoln Land Institute. He will offer a political, cultural and economic analysis of movements such as smart growth, New Urbanism, green building, and why these new ideas are encountering such stiff resistance. This event is co-sponsored by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and the Taubman Center for State and Local Government.

Wednesday, November 9 at 12 noon
Room 301, 3rd floor, KSG's Taubman Building
(15 Eliot Street)

Please also join us for the next Boston 101 session co-sponsored by The
Program on Criminal Justice Policy and Management.

Immigration and Crime: Recent Patters and Future Challenges
Monday, November 21
5:00 p.m.
Bell Hall, 5th floor Belfer Building
Corner of JFK and Eliot Streets
John F. Kennedy School of Government

Remarks by
Robert J. Sampson
Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences,
Chairman, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
Co-author (with Jeffrey D. Morenoff, and Stephen Raudenbush) "Social Anatomy of Racial Ethnic Disparities in Violence," American Journal of Public Health (February 2005)

Comments by
Larry Mayes
Chief of Human Services for the City of Boston, who formerly worked with members of Boston's Cape Verdean Community as head of the Log School and as a youth street outreach worker employed by the Ella J. Baker House

Why do black youth in the United States commit violent acts almost twice as often as white or Latino youth? In recently published research based primarily on data from Chicago, Sampson and his colleagues found that the reasons have little to do with individual poverty or inherent racial differences. Rather, four factors-the marital status of a young person's parents, the prevalence of professionals and managers in his or her neighborhood, whether he or she is a first- or second-generation immigrant, and the proportion of other people in the neighborhood who are immigrants-account for most of the differences in violent crime rates for youth. According to Sampson, the findings suggest that the disparity in crime rates "is largely social in nature and therefore amenable to intervention in community rather than individual settings."

At this event, Sampson will discuss this research and its implications for policymakers. Larry Mayes will offer a brief response, reflecting on his own experiences working on these issues in Boston's Cape Verdean community.

This free event is presented by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and the Kennedy School's Program on Criminal Justice Policy and Management.. For more information, contact Polly O'Brien at 617-495-5091 or polly@rappaportinstitute.org.

Monday, November 21 at 5:00 p.m.
Bell Hall, 5th floor, KSG's Belfer Building
(Corner of JFK and Eliot Streets)
David Luberoff
Executive Director

MBTA's FY 2006 - FY 2011 Draft Capital Investment Program (CIP) Public Hearings

The MBTA is preparing to publish its Draft Fiscal Year 2006 - Fiscal Year 2011 Capital Investment Program (CIP). The CIP provides the public with an understanding of the Authority's planned capital expenditures for the current year, as well as a five-year planning horizon, and outlines our future capital investment initiatives. The Draft FY06 - FY11 CIP will be available on the MBTA's website (www.mbta.com) on November 18, 2005.

The MBTA promotes community input to its capital program via public hearings and written comments. The hearings are an opportunity for the communities in our service district to participate in the CIP's development.

Public hearings are scheduled as follows:

1. Memorial Hall Public Library, Andover, MA - November 30th @ 6 - 7:30pm
2. Worcester Public Library - Saxe Room, Worcester, MA - December 1st @ 6 - 7:30 pm
3. Framingham Town Hall - Ablondi Room, Framingham, MA - December 5th @ 6 - 7:30 pm
4. Roxbury Community College - Dance Studio, Roxbury, MA - December 6th @ 6 - 7:30 pm
5. Plouffe School - Cafeteria, Brockton, MA - December 7th @ 6 - 7:30 pm
6. Somerville High School - Cafeteria, Somerville, MA - December 12th @ 6:30 - 8:00 pm
7. North Shore Community College - Lynn Campus - MBTA Conference Room Lynn, MA - December 13th @ 6 - 7:30 pm
8. State Transportation Building, Boston, MA - December 14th @ 5:30pm - 7:00pm

We will give a short (10-minute) presentation at the beginning of each hearing. The remaining time will be set aside for public comment. You may also comment via e-mail at cipinfo@mbta.com or send written comments to:

MBTA
Budget Department
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116

Should you have any questions with regard to the public hearings, please feel free to contact Charlie Passanisi at (617) 222-3365 or via email at cipinfo@mbta.com.

First Parish Church, Church Street, Harvard Square

"Transit oriented development" and "smart growth" are new initiatives in urban design aim to create "green cities." Peter Smith of the Boston Society of Architects discusses these movements with Larissa Brown, chief planner for urban design firm Goody, Clancy, and Kristina Egan , director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance. How is it possible to design urban communities that are economically and environmentally sustainable? How do such communities work? Are they coming to your region soon?

I've pointed folks in the past to some good "railfan" sites, including one that I helped with some maps. I love this kind of urban exploration. I grew up in a much more suburban setting--Northville (and Plymouth) Michigan.

Northville has been known for many different things over the years, including:

1. The Water
   
2. The Water Wheel
   
3. The Maybury Sanatorium
   
4. "The Northville Tunnels" (i.e., The Wayne County Training School for Feeble-Minded Children)
   
5. "Northville State" (i.e., the Northville Psychiatric Hospital)
   

Many of these sites made for some good (sub)urban exploration--especially the Training School's tunnels and abandoned buildings. Rule number one for keeping kids out of abandoned buildings and tunnels: don't build a youth league soccer field inside the grounds of an old abandoned mental institution.

I climbed down into one of the tunnels--near where we used to play soccer. Some fool left them open. I walked a short distance, but didn't have a flashlight and didn't want to get killed. But I came back a month or so later to do some more exploring. All the tunnels were sealed off, but some of the buildings were open. I just remember reading reports from kids that were just scattered around the buildings, like somebody left in a hurry, you know? It was really weird getting a peek into people's lives through the eyes of these counselors' reports.

The web site has some sample reports. Thanks to Harley for the link to the "Northville Tunnels."

Friday's Herald talked up several transportation-focused blogs in the Boston area--many of them outlets of rage for frustrated T riders. It names them, but doesn't link to them, so here they are, along with an excerpt:

• MBTA's Write to the Top Program - "If you have concerns regarding service, select the service below and click on the MBTA official's email link, and he or she will respond."
  
• T-rage - "...because then I'd have to use the T's elevators--also known as VUTS [Vertical Urinal Transport Systems]--and I don't think I could cope."
  
• Life on the Green Line - Okay, I can't find this blog to save my life. Help!
  
• Transport Avenger - "I wish I was a tourist. That way when I didn't hear my interchange listed, I could go to the conductor window and punch him in the mouth."
  
• Bad Transit - "Charlie's back, and he's ticked." (N.B.: Bad Transit is an excellent site and is looking for financial support. You should support them!)
  

But these aren't the only sites worthy of transportation aficionados. Here's a few more:

• Boston, Mass. Rail Pics
  
• MBTA Railfan Page (Pics and Tips)
  
• Railroad.net's MBTA Rail Operations Forum
  
• Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University
  

And here are some apparently abandoned sites:

• The MBTA Rider's Network
  
• Boston Transit & Traffic
  
• G.O.A.T. MBTA
  
• The MBTA Sucks Site
  
• Ashmont Development Blog
  

And some other ways to get involved:

• The Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA (AACT)
  
• The Arborway Committee
  
• MBTA Advisory Board
  
• Friends of the Community Path
  
• Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP)
  
• Transit Works
  

And finally, some other resources:

• Free Palm trip planning software
  
• MBTA GIS information
  
• MassBike
  

I'm sure there's more. What have I missed?

"These are the times that try men's souls. In the course of our nation's history the people of Boston have rallied bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened. Today, a new crisis has arisen. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as the MTA, is attempting to levy a burdensome tax on the population in the form of a subway fare increase. Citizens, hear me out. This could happen to you!!"

Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charley
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA

Charley handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charley could not get off that train.

Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.

Now all night long
Charley rides through the tunnels
Saying, "What will become of me?
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"

Charley's wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charley a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through.

Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.

As his train rolled on
Through Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed,
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted
And I'm absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride."

Now you citizens of Boston,
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O'Brien
And fight the fare increase
Get poor Charley off the MTA.

Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned

More info at Roofscape Magazine.

Lechmere sevice will resume on November 12th, according to an MBTA press release. Only the E-Line goes there though. This will be in effect until Lechmere moves across the street.

Take this test. Then take this one.

More bad environmental news for Somerville: The city is eighth-worst in the state for environmental hazards according to a new report from Daniel Faber, a professor at Northeastern University.

The Friends of the Community Path and the Somerville Dog Owners Group are co-sponsoring a park clean-up on the Community Path, Saturday, November 5, 2005, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm (rain date: November 12).

Here are the details:

+ + + + + + + +

Community Path Clean-Up

co-sponsored by the Friends of the Community Path and the Somerville Dog Owners Group

Date: Saturday, November 5
(Rain Date: Saturday, November 12)

Time: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Meet on the Path between Willow and Cedar At Lexington Park.

For more information contact:

Michele Biscoe, Chairperson
Somerville Dog Owners Group
e-mail: michelebiscoe at somervilledog.com
website: www.somervilledog.com/somdog/

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization wants to hear your ideas about the future of transportation in the region! The MPO invites you to its Open House on Tuesday, November 15. Two identical sessions will be held: 12-2 PM and 5-7 PM. Please read the attached press release and flyer for details. We hope to see you there!

Stay tuned for details, as soon as I can actually see the attachments... :-/

SOMERVILLE -- The opening of a Christmas Tree Shops in Assembly Square here yesterday was the first tangible sign that a long-stalled vision for an urban village of housing, office, and retail space in the area may be advancing.

The Boston Globe (registration required) has the full story.

Fred will be at this one, which is always a Good Thing...

Central Artery Environmental Oversight Committee

Still Hazy After All These Years:
Fulfilling The Central Artery Project Transit Commitments

November 22, 2005
3:00-5:00 p.m.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr
60 State Street, 26th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts

Please RSVP to danwilson1@verizon.net

Kenneth Miller, Deputy Secretary for Planning, Executive Office of Transportation

Fred Salvucci, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation

Peter Shelley, Director, Conservation Law Foundation Massachusetts Advocacy Center