Hudson TM Likely to Consider ‘Smart Growth’ Zoning

Town officials are likely to ask Hudson voters to rezone 13 properties for housing or mixed use, adding up to 551 new housing units in both old mill buildings and open space, the MetroWest Daily News reports.

The rezoning would follow the state's smart-growth initiative, which offers funding to towns that are willing to zone for denser development in downtowns near public transit. Michelle Ciccolo, community development director, told the News that one mill owner is ready to convert some of 34 Tower St. into housing if the plan is approved.

Mixed-use development can bring more vitality to a downtown, especially if it's accompanied by streetscape improvements that make residents want to walk around, as well as retail and commercial destinations people would want to walk to. The question facing voters is how dense the developments will be, and whether town services like water, sewer, roadways and schools can support the new units without spending more than state funding and taxes would bring in.

There is also the likely issue of whether residents want a more densely populated downtown, which brings advantages of vibrancy and critical mass to support more businesses, but also can change the character of a small-town downtown. In the case of existing buildings, though, it seems a good option for old mill buildings to include some housing -- the buildings are already there, and adding residential usage would bring more life to the business district, as long as that housing is designed well enough so people actually want to live there.

I see this issue as a curve, and each community's downtown has one. For part of the curve, denser development is better than sprawl, because it creates that critical mass which will support local businesses and a walkable retail area for nearby residents. This isn't just for urban areas; business districts in Concord and Wellesley manage this effectively.

At some point on the curve, though, development gets to be too much for a community. This point differs from place to place, of course -- midtown Manhattan has a different scale than downtown Framingham. Knee-jerk opposition to denser development doesn't make any more sense than blind support to all dense development. Good planning understands the overall goals of a neighborhood and how best to achieve them. Without understanding and agreement on those broad objectives, though, it becomes all but impossible to come to useful conclusions about individual projects or zoning requests. That appears to be the issue surrounding the controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, N.Y., which might be a great stand-alone project on its own merits, but will have an enormous impact on a residential brownstown neighborhood (see Atlantic Yards: Through the Looking Glass in the Gotham Gazette). The Hudson zoning idea, however, seems at first glance like it will have a much lighter impact on downtown.

Pedestrian Streets: A Couple of Examples From Europe

In a few European cities, there aren't separate spaces for pedestrians and cars at all, but instead they all share one large space -- the idea being to calm traffic and make it clear that the public space belongs to all. While I didn't quite run into that while in Reykjavik last month, it was interesting to see a number of city streets where sidewalk and roadway weren't separated as much as we expect.

I'm not talking about a design for automobiles where walkers are clearly an afterthought, such as the ludicrous "walkway" painted onto the roadway next to BJ's in Framingham. That's a place where few would feel safe actually trying to walk. I mean a thoughtful design where the roadway isn't so obviously a so-called traffic sewer, but instead is part of streetscape -- material is more decorative than blacktop, and is narrow enough and surrounded enough by walking areas that drivers naturally slow down. Such as this:



It worked well. In fact, when we first got to the city, we weren't even sure some of those streets were for cars at all, until we saw others driving there. (There are actually a reasonable number of cars on the streets there; I just waited for traffic to pass so I could get a good shot of the street material).

Note the lack of a curb. Walkway and roadway are on the same leve, but landscaping barriers and deocrative work demark driving and walking areas. Also see how wide the pedestrian areas are compared to the driving area, which makes for a very pleasant pedestrian experience.

Likely even more enjoyable for people on foot: Montpellier, France, where cars are banned from the city center altogether, although there are motorized trams for transport. "Montpellier's hidden squares and busy narrow streets are a delight for the pedestrian on the prowl," writes John Allemang in the Toronto Globe & Mail, in a travel article headlined A Utopia Sans Automobile. "For a visitor, the virtual absence of cars is paradise . . . an unstoppable delight in this bar-filled biosphere where tables crowd into every square, flute solos seep out of the upstairs windows of the pale golden buildings and the sweet sound of conversation reverberates along the quieted winding lanes. . . .

"Released from the usual pedestrian preoccupation with personal survival, I ambled along in aimless innocence, pleased by pretty well everything I saw — gold-painted mimes cranking a donation-fed antique movie camera, a whirling carousel, the 19th-century opera house that seems straight out of Paris (minus the honking horns), an esplanade of chestnut trees and flower vendors, a space full of happy people who know that cities should be made for them and not the other way around."

One of Summer’s Greatest Pleasures: Outdoor Dining and Drinking

The heat's finally broken, temperatures are tolerable, and outdoor dining once again emerges as one of the greatest pleasures of summer. Not only sitting on my patio having breakfast; but eating outside in a public space, enjoying the view.

Yesterday we were at Nantasket Beach in Hull with some European-American friends. While enjoying the day and our stroll, we were lamenting the lack of nice cafes along the water, as you see in so many coastal areas along the Adriadic. Somehow a snack stand isn't quite the same. And then we saw the new Ocean Club, where much to our pleasant surprise, they did allow us to stop in for some cold drinks and sit at a table with decent view outdoors (if not the best tables, reserved for meal service). That short break sipping a chilled soda at a table overlooking the ocean was such an enjoyable addition to the afternoon. It's great to see places like that cropping up locally at the beach.

Of course, Newbury Street in Boston is one of the best urban spots for outdoor eating and drinking. My husband and I managed to snag a table at the Piattini Wine Cafe after work for a very enjoyable dinner. Good food, outstanding streetscape, lots of people-watching -- those are the things that attract people to a city in good weather, along with cultural events (such as free Shakespeare in the park nearby) and, for some, shopping.

Brazilians in Framingham: Community Opportunities

In a lengthy editorial titled Boa Vinda (welcome) Framingham, the Boston Globe discusses immigration issues in town and the transformation of downtown Framingham from what it claimed was once a "ghost town" (well, um, not exactly. Although I agree that Brazilians have moved into some empty storefronts and generally helped spiff up and vitalize downtown) into "Little Brazil." While much of the piece focuses on immigration policies, this part of editorial particularly caught my eye:

We have to break the wall between the Brazilian community and the rest of the community," says Ilma Paixao, president of the Brazilian American Association, which is located downtown. Paixao would like to see longtime Brazilian residents help newcomers engage in civic affairs.

"Learn English!" is a phrase that gets tossed at immigrants like a slur. Ironically, many immigrants concur. They want to learn English. They want more American-born English speakers to patronize their businesses.

I've long felt that making an effort to get more U.S.-born residents to patronize Brazilian-owned businesses downtown would be great for the community all around. It wouldn't only help the businesses by expanding their customer base; it would help longer time town residents feel like newcomers aren't purposely excluding them.

Here are my ideas:

Get some kind of common window logo designed that Framingham businesses could put up indicating that information is available in Portuguese, another one for English, another one for Spanish, one for Russian, and so on. This would be an immediate signal to people not fluent in multiple languages, so they would know where they could feel comfortable when patronizing a shop for the first time. It can feel intimidating and unwelcoming to people if, for example, they walk into a food store and don't know what any of the foods are, and the staff behind the counter doesn't speak their language.

I know that a Brazilian bakery or cafe may not hire counter staff who speak four languages (or even two). But it's certainly possible to print up flyers in each language explaining what the popular pastries are, with pictures and a guide to pronouncing them, so people who don't speak Portuguese and aren't familiar with the products can feel welcome and comfortable walking in for the first time. Same for restaurants and other businesses that logically could expand their customer base beyond a single ethnic group. How hard would that be?

We could even design a walking-tour map of ethnic downtown, giving people a guide to experiencing various restaurants and other shops they'd be likely to enjoy. Maybe there could be a guided walking tour of Brazilian Framingham sometime (perhaps when Carnival in Rio is in the news?). The special Italian flavor brings people to Boston's North End; the Asian flavor attracts outsiders to visit Chinatown. Why not capitalize on something downtown Framingham has that you can't find in every strip mall in America?

$11M Project Will Make Scottish City More Pedestrian Friendly

The Inverness city council has OK'd a two-year, £6 million ($11 million) project designed to make the Highland capital more pedestrian friendly, the Scotsman reports. "The plan includes measures to improve traffic flows and transport, upgrade pavements, introduce new civic areas, improve street furniture and lighting, and install new artworks," the Scotsman says.

Reader comments on the Scotsman Web site called for things like good transit links and more accommodations for bicycles.