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Another reason to love the marathon

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Another reason to love the marathon

Happy Boston Marathon weekend, one of the very best weekends to be in our wonderful communities.
 
Local hotels are full. Outdoor dining is back in many locations. Friends and neighbors, who in some cases haven’t seen each other in months, will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with visitors from around the world, cheering and tolerating all those cowbells.

And the forecast for Monday looks great for spectators, but not as much for runners.
 
If you're hosting runners or visitors from out of town, you’ll find many shopping, dining, and exploring suggestions on our Trip Up The Charles page, with dedicated pages for Newton, Needham, Watertown and Wellesley.

Here's another reason to love the marathon 

The Boston Marathon is also an important time for dozens of small and midsized nonprofits in Newton and Wellesley. 

Every year both municipalities receive invitational entries, also known as runner bibs, from the Boston Athletic Association for being among the eight communities to host the race.
 
Each municipality has a slightly different method for how it distributes its bibs, according to the Globe’s Billy Baker. Most go to small charities that enlist local runners willing to fund-raise. Others are set aside for first responders.

“It’s an incredible way for someone to accomplish a life goal while supporting a local organization for whom $5,000 is a lot of money, whether that be a food pantry or an arts group,” Hattie Kerwin Derrick, Newton’s director of community engagement and inclusion, tells Baker.

"A lot of these nonprofits don’t often have a chance to raise that much money, so it’s an incredible opportunity,” adds Stephanie Hawkinson, Wellesley's public information officer.
 
Newton receives 45 bibs each year. View profiles of the runners and their nonprofit beneficiaries here. 

Wellesley receives 25 bibs.  Here’s that list.

Two things you may not love so much about Marathon Monday

  • Roads in Wellesley close at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. Details.
  • Roads in Newton close even earlier, 8 a.m. Details.

Now appearing in your Needham water bill: stormwater fees

Many commercial and residential property owners in Needham will find a new line item on their water/sewer bills this month.

Properties with more than 200 square feet of impervious surface -- hard areas such as roofs, concrete, asphalt driveways and patios that do not allow water to soak into the ground easily – must now pay a stormwater utility assessment fee.

The revenue will be used to manage and upgrade the town’s public stormwater drainage system.  

BTW, would you be surprised to learn that Needham businesses will pay a higher stormwater rate than residents?

I didn’t think so.

The Newtonfication of Brookline? 

It’s a refrain heard more times over the years than David Schwimmer said "Juice" in that O.J. Simpson mini-series:

A development-skeptical Newton NIMBY stands up at a public hearing, or elsewhere, saying they oppose a proposed development, or density in general, because they didn’t want to see “Newton turn into Brookline.”

I never understood the argument. But that’s because I happen to think Brookline is pretty awesome.

However, right now Brookline is considering a plan that aims to make part of their town "more like Newton," writes Greg Ryan at the BBJ.

The town has formed a study group to focus on rezoning a half-mile area in Chestnut Hill between Route 9 and Heath Street, extending from Dunster Road to the Newton-Brookline border and possibly adjacent areas as well.

“The goal is to create significant new commercial development on the land, in order to pad the town’s tax coffers,” Ryan writes. “Right now, it’s mostly home to older commercial properties, including a few office buildings with high vacancy as well as low-slung retail sites that host bank branches and the like.

“But the Newton side of the same section of Route 9 shows a different way forward,” he adds.

A large part of the area is already in transition. City Realty has an agreement to purchase the old Chestnut Hill Office Park at 1280-1330 Boylston Street (three of the four buildings are already vacant) from the family trust that owns it.

Brookline's goal is to put a rezoning proposal before Town Meeting next spring, which means between now and then residents there will be weighing in on Brookline turning into Newton.

“I personally don't like having to go to Newton every time I want to buy something,” Janice Kahn, a member of the Chestnut Hill Village Alliance told Ryan. “It would be really nice to be able to spend my money in Brookline.”

Are you a Latinx/e founder or entrepreneur? 

Amplify LatinX is looking Latine startups to pitch their ventures in front of a panel of experts and potentially secure funding from at its upcoming Latinx/e Startup Hub Tour 2024 Pitch Competition 

The competition is part of the ALX Business Summit, May 21 at WBUR’s CitySpace.

Friday grab bag 

  • On Tuesday Needham voters returned incumbent Kevin Keane to the select board and Josh Levy narrowly edged out Tina Burgos in the three-person contest, filling the seat vacated by outgoing member Marcus Nelson. Next week the board will elect its chair and vice chair.   

  • Wondering what to do with leftover eclipse glasses? Bring them to Fulfilled Goods in Newtonville. They’re collecting for a nonprofit in South Africa which will donate to kids for the Oct 2024 eclipse. Details.

  • Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association (CHAPA) is honoring former Newton City Councilor Deb Crossley at its annual Fair Housing Month Symposium, April 25 1-3 p.m. via Zoom

  • The New Philharmonia Orchestra will present "Feelings and Expression," on May 4 and 5, at Grace Church in Newton Corner. Tickets are as little as $5 under New Phil’s new pay as you like pricing.

  • Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, editor, and author Jonathan Kaufman is the featured speaker at a benefit for The Newton Beacon, May 9 at 6 p.m. Details.
 
  • Veronica Robles Mariachi embodies the heart, soul, and music of Mexico! See her Saturday, April 27, 8 p.m. at Needham Town Hall. Part of the Needham Bank Great Hall Concert Series. Tickets.

  • The New England-Canada Business Council will host the 2024 U.S.-Canada Economic Forum on April 24, 11:15 a.m. at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The program, “Finance, Investment, AI & You” includes networking, panel and roundtable discussions. RSVP.


  • The annual Newton-Wellesley Hospital Gala on May 3 at InterContinental Hotel Boston will raise funds for the hospital and its Community Collaborative, benefiting local health initiatives. Dr. Michael Jellinek will be honored. Tickets.

MBTA Communities support varies between haves and have-nots 

The results of a new CommonWealth Beacon/GBH News poll exploring resident’s views of the MBTA Communities Law are discouraging but not surprising. 

Those most impacted by the housing crisis -- including renters, non-white residents, and young people -- are more inclined to support the law, than those who already own homes.

Only 47 percent of White residents thought MBTA Communities was a good policy, while 59 percent of non-white residents supported the law.

And young residents – the demographic that’s been leaving Massachusetts at an alarming rate -- also support the law at a much higher rate than older people who are more likely to own their own homes.

Full results here.






Nevertheless, they’re persisting

Despite resistance in some corners (and among some demographics) and media coverage focused on opposition, the overwhelming majority of cities and towns are moving forward with plans to comply with the housing law, according to a Mass Housing Partnership report.
 
162 of the 177 cities and towns (92 percent) required to unlock new housing opportunities under MBTA Communities have received technical assistance from the state or other consultants to create their plans, as of April 2.
 
Of those 67 communities have been formally engaged with the state around specific district plans to reach compliance. That includes at least 35 communities (and growing) that have passed multifamily zoning districts or already had a district in place. And state has not rejected any compliance determination applications to date.
 
To date, only two communities are currently out of compliance with the law: Milton and Holden. 

Great expectations in Watertown 

Finally today, here's how Amy Dain with Boston Indicators begins her analysis of efforts to reimagine Watertown Square that incorporates MBTA Communities compliance:

“Greater Boston has hundreds of wonderful little downtowns and village centers. Watertown Square should be the envy of them all, but it isn’t."

“For urbanists across the country, it will be an important case study of land use planning,” she adds later.

Here’s the video and handouts from last week’s presentation on the plan. And one last reminder that the deadline to provide input into Watertown’s approach is tomorrow. Here's the survey 


That’s what you need to know today – National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day -- unless you need a ranking of all 12 drive thru coffee chains in Massachusetts from worst to best.
 
Shop, dine and cheer locally this marathon weekend.


No newsletter on Tuesday. Be back later in the week.

Greg Reibman (he, him)
President & CEO
617.244.1688

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