Submitted by streetsblogmass t3_10pb2iy in massachusetts
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The whopper itself won't be aided by this. Even if they comply it's supposed to be within 1/2 mile of the commuter rail stop. The site for the whopper is further than that. If they do comply hopefully the zones will be near the commuter rail since that was a big component of the legislation.
THE WESTON WHOPPER’S BACK ON THE MENU!
Excellent username!
Never tell me the odds!
More NIMBY bullshit from Metrowest fat cats
To be fair, it sounds like they're complying with the mandate. What's the nimbyism here? That they don't want to?
Weston is notoriously NIMBY.
Ex: The Weston Whopper
But without Metrowest NIMBYs to lean on, how will Massholes brag that our state is so superior to other states? The NIMBYs have the best schools, the best test scores, the safest towns, access to the best healthcare, the healthiest populations, etc. Without them, we're... average.
Worcester, Lowell, Framingham, Fall River -- these are not exactly cities to brag about. We need the NIMBYs so we can continue shouting at everyone that, "MA is better than your state! Just look at the stats, baby!"
Funny how Boston is never included in that list of rough cities, even though the crime and schools are comparable.
Boston always gets a pass for being the economic & cultural hub for all of New England. Their crime & school rankings may not be #1 but the city makes up for it with literally everything else -- highly-regarded companies, great restaurants & bars, lots of entertainment, multiple pro sports teams, world-class museums, world-class universities, public transpo, etc.
Fall River? Worcester? Not so much.
Weston is near an MBTA station?
There are 3 train stations in Weston.
I assume that they are commuter rail then. I'll have to look them up.
Yep.
There's only one now, but that is enough to need to comply with the law.
You dont need direct mbta access. Towns adjacent are also effected
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https://www.mass.gov/info-details/multi-family-zoning-requirement-for-mbta-communities
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Scroll down a bit and youll see the map, its basically the eastern 3rd of the state.
I grew up in Waban and we still have a place there that's walkable to Woodlands and Waban stations and I tend to think of MBTA as the rapid transit stations. We're up in NH now and sometimes use the Lowell station to get into Boston. So I don't know the commuter rail system that well.
Waban....sigh.
Waban and woodlands are both part of the green line D . Green line splits into 4 different lines
Yeah, I know. I went to Boston College for undergrad and Boston University for grad school. My sister went to Northeastern and I had to take the Beacon St line from time to time. I just didn't recall any of those going out to Weston.
Just outside the zone, nice...
Auburndale station is close to parts of Weston
Oh, right. I've been at that station. Forgot all about that line.
>The average household income in Weston is $302,694 with a poverty rate of 7.70%. The median rental costs in recent years comes to - per month, and the median house value is -. The median age in Weston is 45.1 years, 44.6 years for males, and 45.5 years for females.
There's also 3 other train stations kinda close. City does not do sewers I believe. "meet the parents" altar delivery scene 😂
No sewers in Weston? That won't attract development.
would be great if we had apartments that we could afford near transportation to the work we need
Nope. Only if you want to gentrify some poor area
Weston 🍔!!!
My understanding of this law is that if cities/ towns choose to ignore this, they are only forfeiting grant money for certain projects. However, it seems that it would make it easier for a developer to build in cities/ towns if they met the guidelines despite community resistance for cities / towns on the defined map. Is that a correct reading of this?
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Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the proposed rents would be? Does this even help with housing? Last I read it was for 200 units 50 of which were to be affordable or 80% the median income for the area (Weston) Is this just building more high-end housing (which we have plenty of) or is the support for this just a F U to the people who have done financially better. (serious question)
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That’s a really opinionated survey you’ve got there … might want to look up what a leading question is.
The state legislature has no right to dictate the zoning ordinances of the individual city's and towns regardless of whether or not they're close by or accessible to mass transit.
If they had that authority, they would have enacted the legislation mandating straight out without having to resort to blackmail by withholding funds for non-compliance.
Failing in that, it should be placed on the 2024 ballot as a statewide referendum and let the voters decide if this what they want for their community.
People, home owners in the burbs moved to and live there for a reason, and one of them is to escape from and not have to deal with the congestion and associated headaches that comes with unwanted construction.
You have a right to your property, nobody else’s .
If you don’t want anything else ever getting built in your suburb, feel free to buy up all the property in your town.
We are amidst a massive housing crisis because entitled NIMBYs think they are entitled to live right next to a major city, and never have their precious little suburb ever change, despite population throughout the state continuing to grow.
NIMBYs can pound sand.
If you don’t want to live in close proximity to other people, don’t live next to a major city, and go move out into the sticks.
Your precious little suburb doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
But you have a right to other people's property so you can live near a transit sration?
Do you not understand how zoning works?
I swear you people think that upzoning means that someone comes by with a bulldozer and forces you to move out of your house so they can knock it down.
Upzoning doesn’t mean eminent domain.
Upzoning means that when someone else purchases the property, neither you, nor any other NIMBY can tell them what they can and cannot build on their property.
Again, if you don’t want anything ever getting built in your precious suburb, feel free to buy up all the property in your neighborhood.
Im not firm on the details, whether people are losing land or if this is just rezoning owned land, such that it makes sense to develop it. Dont really care, either works. It is cool how you have so much compassion and worry for landowners but want renters and homeless to continue to struggle and suffer with the very limited housing available. How are the homeowners going to survive with potentially less land???? Think about the property value!!!
People aren’t losing land. That’s not how rezoning works.
All it means is that the town has to allow higher density housing near transit stops if someone who owns the land wants to build it.
Nobody is getting forcibly removed from their homes so somebody can knock them down.
No need to be racist and classisist. I hope Weston becomes as dense as Back Bay.
Explain how you (or anyone else here), got "racist and classisist" from what I posted?
Maybe it was like that 30+ years go, but why do some people here still insist that any opposition has to be race or class related?
Have you (any of you), ever considered that some communities just simply do not want their way of life disrupted and are not comfortable with the developments that are not right or fit in with the community?
> I hope Weston becomes as dense as Back Bay.
And this is exactly the reason why I would and will support and contribute to any effort to repeal and eliminate the existing legislation
Life distrupted = Poor people are living next to our home, I think this is what you want to say.
“Neighborhood character” = none of those slightly less affluent or people or darker complexion living here
Individual cities get their power of self determination from the state. That’s how it works
Right? Where does this person think the local zoning power comes from?
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JoeCylon t1_j6klrth wrote
Better headline: The Weston Whopper is back on the menu