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State budgets, city budgets

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 2:00 pm on March 20, 2009

Senator Jehlen's state budget forums have been terrific in the past.  On a local level, the Progressive Democrats are apparently planning a community forum on budget issues in May.  I haven't heard a specific date yet, or in fact anything beyond what was published in a recent Somerville Journal op-edRead More..>>

Posted in Economy & Poverty | No Comments »

Tree Preservation Ordinance meeting

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 1:13 pm on February 17, 2009

This was just sent to me by a Garden Club member: A Tree Preservation Ordinance has been proposed in the Board of Aldermen to protect healthy street trees throughout Somerville. The Tree Preservation Ordinance will be taken up before the Board of Aldermen's Legislative Matters Committee on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at… Read More..>>

Posted in Environment and Open Space, Events | No Comments »

Progress on Street Tree Policy

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 11:53 am on February 12, 2009

Last night at a meeting of the Somerville Garden Club, an audience of about forty club members got a progress report from Brad Arndt, the Coordinator for the Somerville Urban Forest Initiative. Following up on the Mayor's pledge in his last inaugural address to increase the number of trees in Somerville by twenty percent over four… Read More..>>

Posted in Environment and Open Space, Neighborhoods and Squares | 2 Comments »

Inauguration Day party at Sabur

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 10:34 am on January 19, 2009

A couple weeks shy of a year since I first heard it, I checked in to Dipdive.com to listen to will i. am’s “Yes We Can Song,” and must report with mild embarrassment that it still chokes me up.  Will tomorrow’s inauguration speech be more than a reworking of the stump speeches we’ve all… Read More..>>

Posted in Events | No Comments »

Artist Alert

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 2:18 pm on December 16, 2008

Registration has opened for the 2009 Somerville Open Studios.  This year the event will be on May 2 and 3 from noon to 6:00pm.  Registration for participating artists is only open until January 30. You can register here: http://2009.somervilleopenstudios.org/membership/Read More..>>

Posted in Arts and Culture | No Comments »

NStar program supports wind power

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 12:12 pm on December 7, 2008

If you buy your electrical power from NStar and can afford an additional 1.389 cents per kilowatt hour, you can sign up for the "NStar Green" program,  which promotes the development of wind energy as an alternative power source.… Read More..>>

Posted in Environment and Open Space | 5 Comments »

An attack on condo conversion control

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 1:03 pm on October 31, 2008

I just got a robo-call from the "Small Property Owners Association" telling me that I should email my alderman and demand that all condo conversion controls be eliminated. It also urged me to attend the BOA meeting on November 18. We've had some discussion on this site about gentrification. Well, I can't think of a better way to promote gentrification than to wipe out large numbers of rental units via condo conversion.Read More..>>

Posted in Development and Zoning, Housing | 6 Comments »

It’s Carl, big time.

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 12:26 am on September 17, 2008

At 7:30 this evening I was out knocking on doors in Medford, although at that point I had to stop under street lights to read the list of Sciortino supporters that I was supposed to be encouraging to get to the polls.  At one of my last doors, I was grateful to hear a woman… Read More..>>

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »

Governor Patrick supports Carl Sciortino in September 16 primary

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 10:45 pm on July 22, 2008

At a fundraiser for his reelection campaign at Sabur Restaurant this evening, Representative Carl Sciortino got some strongly worded support from Governor Deval Patrick, and announced that an upcoming environmental bond bill would include two million dollars for improvements to Somerville’s largest open space, Foss Park.…Read More..>>

Posted in Environment and Open Space, Neighborhoods and Squares, Politics, Transportation | 1 Comment »

Somerville Open Gardens

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 5:16 pm on June 20, 2008

Just a heads up: the Somerville Garden Club is presenting a self guided garden tour  "Urban Gardens  Revealed," TOMORROW June 21, from noon to five.  Be aware that tickets ($12) have been selling out, indicating more interest than the Garden Club may have anticipated.  As I write this they are still available at Pemberton and…Read More..>>

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A Breakthrough in Home Energy Conservation

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 10:52 am on May 15, 2008

You can’t walk down the street nowadays without someone measuring your carbon footprint. But Somerville residents (who don’t drive much anyway) may be thinking that there isn’t much they’ll be able to do about it, assuming they’ve already screwed in all those compact fluorescents.…Read More..>>

Posted in Environment and Open Space | 3 Comments »

Gentrification: another look

Posted by Jonathan Rich at 1:18 pm on April 4, 2008

I’m frequently seeing the word “gentrification” employed to describe the demographic change taking place in Somerville since the late 1990s. We’re certainly seeing changes, but I question how much of it is gentrification.

When the term came into general use it described a revival of old and run-down neighborhoods by well-to-do…

Read More..>>

Posted in Housing | 6 Comments »