Good morning, friends,

“It’s hard to develop here. It should be,”

That’s what Boston planning chief Kairos Shen said at an MIT real estate forum last week, according to Banker & Tradesman.

“You guys want us to lower our standards,” he told developers. “Part of my job is to hold those standards and try to still make them work.”

Somebody should send Shen Globe reporter Emma Platoff’s story on young workers fleeing Greater Boston for Austin.

Then introduce him to local employers who can’t find or keep young workers and might also be mulling their own exit to another state.

The difference?

Austin has built housing faster than any other large city over the past decade, Pew researcher Alex Horowitz tells Platoff.  

Boston requires developers to set aside a share of new units as affordable. Austin rewards developers who choose to.

They’ve scrapped parking minimums. Eased accessory dwelling rules. Allowed multiunit housing on most single-family lots.

The result?

Landlords there compete for tenants. Not the other way around.

And as it added housing, Austin added jobs: up 44% since January 2016. Boston? 8%. Their new jobs are blue- and white-collar. Most are in industries everyone wants: tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.

Carrot beat sticks, Horowitz says.

The “standards” Massachusetts should refuse to “lower” should include respect for women, protections for immigrant workers, outstanding health care, quality education, easy voting, clean drinking water.

Not rules that make it hard to enjoy what we have here.

Wellesley Square ponders a facelift

The Town of Wellesley kicked off public engagement last week on possible improvements to Wellesley Square.

Town Engineer Dave Hickey opened the meeting by acknowledging the square could use a facelift. It’s gone years without significant improvements. But he stressed this is just the beginning.

The heart of the effort: fixing the square’s notoriously complicated and often unsafe intersections, especially Washington and Grove streets.

The town has hired consulting firm Toole Design to help rethink these intersections and guide the broader redesign. Final designs could to go to Town Meeting sometime in 2027 or 2028.

One thing we know businesses will be watching closely: parking.

The consultants surveyed more than 20 Wellesley Square businesses. Of those, 63% named parking as their top concern, a message that’s been heard many times before.

And we’d still like to see some sort of return of a parklet, similar to the set up that was very popular during and after the pandemic.

State invests $33.5M in Needham and Watertown

The Healey-Driscoll administration is awarding $33.5 million to transform aging public housing in Needham and Watertown.

The grants will replace 100 existing apartments and create 114 additional homes, the administration formally announced last week.

That’s 214 modern, affordable rental homes in all.

The Watertown Housing Authority gets $21 million for Willow Park. The 60-apartment development will become a community of 138 affordable rental homes by replacing all 60 apartments and adding 78 more.

The Needham Housing Authority gets $12.5 million to redevelop its Linden Street property.  Out go 40 severely distressed, non-accessible studio apartments in 10 one-story buildings. In comes a new three-story building with 76 one-bedroom apartments.

That’s 36 additional affordable homes.

Both projects incorporate Passive House designs and have zoning approvals and advanced architectural plans. Construction can start once financing and other approvals are final.

Do you have ballot questions questions?

• Watch state Rep. Amy Sangiolo’s in person forums on ballot  Questions 4, 6, 7 and 9  and Questions 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8.
  
  
• Here’s guides from CommonWealth Beacon, The Tufts' Center for State Policy, WBUR and Boston Globe.
  
  
• The chamber’s Max Woolf explains why we support voting YES on Question 7 (starter homes) in a Fig City News’ op-ed.
  
  
• And voters in Needham, also have Question 10 regarding a debt exclusion override. Here’s the Needham Observer’s Pollard Middle School explainer. (more in grab bag)

Tuesday grab bag

• Last Sunday was a gorgeous day in West Newton for the 25th annual Paddy’s Road Race, as more than 2,500 participants ran the youth races, 1K and 3-mile course while businesses and neighbors gathered on Elm Street for the post-race celebrations. Proceeds support Newton Athletes Unlimited and its year-round recreation programs for over 300 kids and adults with disabilities.
  
  
• Last night Needham Town Meeting approved appropriating close to $323 million for the construction of a new Pollard Middle School, 207 to 21.  Now voters will be asked to do the same on Election Day.  (Needham Observer)
  
  
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren  is warning against a merger between Sysco and Restaurant Depot:  “Watch out: going out to eat at your favorite restaurant could become even more expensive,” she wrote on X. (The Hill) “
  
  
• Northeastern University police report instances of “people trying to impersonate ICE agents and scamming our students.” (Huntington News)
  
  
• It’s was nice to see this lengthy profile of the Closet Exchange consignment shop in Needham.
  
  
• Watertown biotech EyePoint Inc. is cutting half of its 214-person workforce and shifting its focus  after two late-stage studies both missed their main goals. (BBJ)
  
  
• The Laredo administration is hosting a community meeting, Oct. 28 at 6p.m. at the Cooper Center, to collect input on the Newton road diet project know as the Washington Street Pilot.
  
  
• Then on Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. there will be meeting 1294 Centre Street (and via Zoom) to gather feedback on the future of the Newton Centre parklet, including options for making it permanent while potentially restoring some parking. Newton’s Traffic Council will consider extending the current parklet pilot at its meeting this Thursday.
  
  
• Join Live Well Watertown and the Watertown Business Coalition for a Walk & Talk through the beautiful and historic Mount Auburn Cemetery, Oct 22 at 1 p.m. Arrive via the Mount Auburn Street Entrance.
  
  
• Don’t forget the Authors and Innovators Business Ideas Festival returns this Thurs. (Oct. 22) at the Charles River Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton.

Golden Temple’s closed. The fighting goes on.

After 66 years in business, Golden Temple in Brookline’s Washington Square closed in June.

But the restaurant’s closure hasn't ended a legal battle among its four sibling owners, according to Sam Mintz at Brookline.news.

One family member says two groups have expressed interest in leasing the space as a restaurant and buying its equipment, furniture and liquor license.

And the dispute extends beyond 1651 Beacon Street. It also involves five other properties the family owns in Brookline, Mintz reports.

What happens in Springfield won’t stay in Springfield

West-East Rail just landed a $130 million federal grant, Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced last week,

The money will upgrade tracks and signals in Springfield to ease bottlenecks and make room for future passenger service.

Healey called it a “major win for Western Massachusetts and a big step forward for West-East Rail.”

But it’s a win for us too.

The line would travel between Boston and Western Massachusetts along the Worcester Line, right through Wellesley and Newton.

Breakfast is cheaper if you order by Wednesday

Planning to attend our annual Fall Business Breakfast on Nov. 13? If you’re part of our region’s business community, you should be. It’s the year’s biggest event.

Register by tomorrow (Weds) and members save $25. Not a member? Join and attend for free.

That’s what you need to know for today — Community Media Day — unless you need to know why Van Gogh really cut off his ear.

Let us know how we can help your business thrive.

Max Woolf will be here on Friday.

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

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Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.