Rethinking Borderline. Should I continue this blog?

I feel bad about blogging. Lately it's been hard to come up with posts, and when I do, it seems that a lot of readers don't like what I have to say.

There're other problems, too. It takes a lot of time to blog. Borderline has written something like 200 or 300 posts since 2005, and some of them take many hours to write, research, or maintain, such as the ones listed on this page. I can't write this stuff during the day, it's always at night or on the weekend, or when I have a day off from work. I'm writing this post right now at 10:30 pm on a Saturday night. So blogging is taking away from my free time, which I could otherwise be spending with my family, or doing other more productive things around the house, or just relaxing.

And I don't make any money on this blog. Not one red cent. I know I could make some money using Google Adsense or the Boston Blogs advertising banner, but it just seems ... wrong. I really did start Borderline out of a labor of love, talking about all of the interesting things about Waltham and Newton, and to add commercials just takes away from the independent spirit that I want to have on Borderline. As regular Borderline readers know, I love tweaking the nose of the establishment and business community, which includes companies, connected people, and mainstream media titans. It would seem hypocritical to start taking money from this group, even if it was only indirectly through the automatic advertising banners that Google uses with Adsense.

So what should I do? Take a break? Sell it? Open it up to other writers? Give it up?

Waltham sends Northland packing, the Common is saved! (For now)

This news brings a smile to Borderline: The Northland Invesment Corporation was told by the City of Waltham that there's no way its ridiculous plan to build a hulking, snooty development at the northern end of Moody Street will be allowed to move forward in its current form. Northland was able to muster support from pro-development Councilor Gary Marchese, but everyone else on the council who took part in the vote rightly recognized that residents are fed up developers and the special benefits and zoning variances sent their way. From the News Tribune article:

"I have never in 18 years on the council, seen more opposition to a proposal," Councilor Robert G. Logan said. Indeed, before the meeting began, protesters lined the front of City Hall bearing signs that read "Save Our Common, Say NO to Northland."

You may also remember that Borderline wrote about Northland's development demands late last year, which actually drew criticism from a fan of the proposal, a reader named James. Good for James for putting forward an unpopular, contrarian view, but I have to ask, what made you think other residents of Waltham wanted this?

Thank you city councilors, for recognizing what a mistake this project would be, and not going along with the developers, as you have in past cases.

I would also like to give thanks to the News Tribune and the Boston Globe for attempting to cover both sides of this development-related issue. I've given the Globe a lot of crap lately, and have hammered both papers for sucking up to developers and big corporations (see " Boston Globe's news pages become free advertising for Verizon", Blackout, part II. Media misses the story at first, then gets it wrong", "Sloppy reporting on Waltham development", and "News-Tribune sucks up to the realtors ... again"). But this time reporters and editors at both papers showed some backbone, and made a point of covering the real grassroots anger over at out-of-control development in Waltham.

Now it's time to see if Northland comes back with something else. Larry G. and co., we're watching you, and we'll bite back again if you try to ram another monster development down our throats!

Whittemore meeting on Wednesday night

Finally, community action! Somebody dropped a flyer in my mailbox on Monday about a Whittemore meeting, that's scheduled to take place on Wednesday night at 7 at the South Middle School on Moody Street (aka, the temporary Whittemore). The flyer says the construction schedule is on the agenda, but I don't see how they can have that nailed down if the bidding process has resulted in no usable bids.

Where to see Good Xmas Light Displays in Newton and Waltham

For the past few nights, Borderline has been checking out some of the displays in and around our Borderline area. Here's a short list of houses and streets that are worth a drive-by, or walk-by, especially if you've got smallish kids.

Most ornate houses:

• Lexington Street, Newton, near the "back entrance" to the Burr School athletic fields. There's a very elaborate light show at one house there, and just down the street (in the direction of Waltham) there is a group of lit-up houses and yards, too.


• Near the intersection of Crafts and Watertown Street in Newton. This is just one block north of the fire station at that intersection. Someone did a pretty good job getting lights all over the frame of this house, plus some displays in the yard.


• The Blue House, Cherry Street where it meets the Waltham line. This house likes blue lights. You can't miss it!

Neighborhoods and streets with high concentrations of lights:

• Newtonville/The Lake, on the side streets off California and Nevada Streets


• Parmenter Street, on both sides of the Newton/Waltham line. It seems like every other house has lights. Get there by going to High Street in Waltham, or Derby Street in Newton. Also, on adjoining Myrtle Street (Waltham) there is a cluster of big displays.


• Waltham Common - There's something very comforting about the light show on the trees there. It's big, colorful, and strangely quiet ... not many people walk through at night.

Feel free to add your own favorite light shows in Newton or Waltham by commenting below. Leave the street name and city, and a brief description.

Newton developers demand special zoning giveaway from Waltham

In the News-Tribune this morning, a story about how a Newton-based developer is getting ready to put a 7-story monstrosity at the intersection of Charles and Moody Street. It's going to block out light, dominate the small businesses and residences nearby, and make for more traffic. But hey, it will give the top floor tenants river views! Now the developer is asking for special treatment from the city. The article says:

Northland has asked the City Council to create a new zoning district, called Business D, to allow for the project. The proposed zone change is set for a City Council public hearing Monday.

The change would allow bigger buildings than those outlined in the developer’s informal proposal. Northland said it will build six stories on Main Street, and seven stories on Charles, where the ground slopes down toward the river, but the new zone would allow 90-foot-high buildings seven stories tall, across the block.

An artist’s rendering of the project, presented to the council this week, shows a building that appears smaller than the actual structure would stand at 77-plus feet. The new building appears to be just slightly larger than a building across the street that, at three stories, would be half the new building’s height.

A developer playing games, by trying to downplay the size of the building? Is anyone surprised?

Northland's chairman and CEO is Lawrence R. Gottesdiener. City councillors, please send Larry G a resounding message: NO WAY!

You can read the rest of the article at Building plan irks residents

Update

The Globe West has more information about the proposed project:

The plan calls for 350 luxury apartment units above 35,000 square feet of first-floor retail space on a 4 1/2-acre site at the corner of Main and Moody streets, opposite the common. ...

An underground parking garage. Plans call for 570 spaces.

Fast-food restaurants.

There's a public hearing at City Council tomorrow night (Monday, 8pm) to debate this project. Don't let it go forward!

Whittemore school rebuilding situation goes from bad to worse

Borderline has warned that problems with the Whittemore reconstruction process might lead to delays, and was greeted by resounding silence. No comments, no reaction -- perhaps because readers thought I was exaggerating the issue.

But now it looks like the South Side kids in this part of Waltham are being set up for an extra year in an inferior temporary facility, and more pain when they finally get their new school. The News Tribune reports that there was only one bid for the Whittemore reconstruction, and it came in at $5 million over budget. It's been rejected by the city. Now David King, chairman of the School Building Committee, realizes that there's a "problem of what to do next."

I'll say. Moreover, King's proposed solution to the problem is in itself a problem: Cut corners! I quote from the text of the News-Tribune article:

King described this as a process where costs could be cut without damaging the design of the building.

"The thought was that we could try to get some savings through value engineering without cheapening the building itself," King said.

"We agreed to not make Whittemore inferior and the goal is to make it comparable to other new schools," McCarthy said.

For example, King said mechanical rooftop units could be built with aluminum instead of steel. "We’re not sure if that’s appropriate, and some people probably feel it isn’t, but there could be substantial savings," he said.

Excuse me? The pols "agreed to not make Whittemore inferior" yet you're talking about cutting millions of dollars worth of corners? We got a little logic problem here, buddy. Or you're just blowing smoke.

The Whittemore community has a lot of other things to deal with besides the rebuilding issue, including lagging MCAS scores. The way things are shaping up, the school rebuilding project is going to be a lose-lose situation for the kids. The failure of the bidding process means the planned Sept. 2008 reopening of Whittemore is almost certainly going to be pushed into the future. How far remains to be seen. And, while the kids may be coming back to a new school, it will be inferior to what kids elsewhere in Waltham have received under the city-wide elementary school rebuilding plan.

One other thing that Borderline would like to say about this News Tribune article: The reporter really let residents down by not interviewing a single Whittemore parent. It's all about the spin put out by city officials. I expect this from the Globe (see Sloppy Reporting on Waltham Development), and am really disappointed to see this trend creeping into the News-Tribune. Don't forget your readers, Trib! For every minute you spend talking with or quoting the pols, you should spend at least one minute talking with the people impacted by their schemes.

Other Borderline rants about the Whittemore school:

What's up with Whittemore?

Whittemore budget problems, and a warning for Newton

Another reason to be worried about Whittemore

Newton High/NNHS Alumni Directory

The fat Newton High School/Newton North High School Alumni Directory arrived in the mail this week. It's comprehensive, and in many ways better than class-based activities like reunion updates and class websites in that you can see what's happening to people from other classes ... if they responded.

So, when I got the book, I immediately did what every other recipient did: Looked up old flames and crushes. Then, friends whom I haven't heard from in years, like some guys I knew on the soccer team. Then acquaintances. Then bullies and class clowns. Then anyone else whose name I remembered.

The entries could include name, married name, current address and phone number, email, occupation, spouse's first name, and kids' names. Some alumni left out pieces of information. A lot of people responded -- I'd say a third to half of the people in my class had a diamond next to the entry, indicating that they had responded to the survey last winter. Other people were listed as well, but it looked like old information -- occupations included student and home addresses were still in Newton. Still others didn't have any listing at all, I think because they asked not to be included, or their status was "unknown."

The back of the book was interesting. They had complete class lists for some years as far back as 1925. But other years had only a few dozen entries, like 1926. Then there were the giant classes from the 1960s and 1970s, with more than a thousand names in each class -- these were the baby boomers, and part of the reason why Newton High was split into Newton South and Newton North.

Another interesting section: Alumni by town of residence. They broke it up by country, state, and city. About 400 alumni who responded listed Waltham as their city of residence. And that's just the people who responded. The number is probably over 500, and this comes to no surprise to Borderline -- about half the people on my street in Waltham grew up in Newton, mostly in northern areas such as The Lake, West Newton, and Auburndale. We knew Waltham growing up -- and hung out on Moody Street and Wal-lex as kids -- and when we couldn't afford housing in in our hometown (or didn't want to put up with the taxes in Newton) we settled to Waltham. By comparison, less than 200 alums listed Watertown as their place of residence.

Another reason to be worried about Whittemore

Update on the Whittemore situation. The silent schoolyard and lack of any official news on Whittemore progress aren't the only things that worry Borderline about the Whittemore reconstruction project. This news article in Globe West about shoddy construction and lawsuit-related delays on other local school projects in Newton, Weston, and Waltham really makes me wonder if the Waltham City Government is setting Whittemore reconstruction up for more pain, by announcing that they are low on money and want to cut back on extras.

The Whittemore kids are stuck in an inferior temporary building right now for two years. It's very old. There's no playground. The gym is tiny. It's next to one of Waltham's busiest streets. It would be very, very bad if the system failed them for yet another year for delays and construction-related problems.

Don't let it happen!

Plans for the Waltham Watch Factory: Worse than condos

Developers in Waltham. They just won't give up! From the Boston Globe:

Developers have applied for a special permit from the Waltham City Council that would allow them to create a 30-unit "apartment-hotel" at the site of the Waltham Watch factory complex on Crescent Street.

"It's kind of a new concept," said Andrew Albers, project manager for Colomba Brothers Development Corp. "It's for stays longer than in a hotel but shorter than a year's lease on an apartment."

Actually, Andrew, it's kind of an old concept, that Waltham has lots of experience with. Excecutive hotels, welfare hotels, long-term hotels, dormitories ... the type of facility aimed at people who have no intention of putting down roots here. Even condos would be better than this.

Borderline hopes our elected leaders don't suck up to the Waltham Watch Factory developers, like many of them did earlier this year to support development near Rte. 128.

It's all about the Ws: The Herald confuses Waltham and Watertown

More sloppy reporting, this time in the Boston Herald. The news article is about a corporate whistleblower named Paul Carpilio, who used to work for a big mutual fund company named Putnam Investments. Carpilio apparently uncovered a scheme to overstaff a Putnam customer service center, which allegedly resulted in big bonuses for greedy Putnam executives.

Corporate bigwigs feathering their own nests through trickery and mismanagement? No surprise there. But the Herald made a slip as to the origins of Mr. Carpilio, which makes me wonder about the accuracy of the other "facts" listed in the article. Check this:

The Waltham native just traded his black double-breasted suits for chinos and a brown leather bomber jacket. This month he opened the deli in a Plymouth industrial park to keep the money flowing when he isn’t consulting for other companies - or shuttling his three kids to hockey or soccer practice.

Then, at the bottom of the article:

As for Carpilio, money, he says, is not what he’s after.

“Where I come from, it’s about respect,” the Watertown native says. “I give respect, and I expect to be respected back.”

Well, Mr. Carpilio, you just got disrespected big time. The Herald can't even get your hometown right!

Waltham Halloween: Where'd all the kids go?

What a perfect Halloween night. Warm, dry, partly cloudy, a half moon ...

... But very few trick or treaters. It really was a big change from last year. Borderline remembers running out of candy in 2004 or 2005, and borrowing from our neighbors, but not this year. We got about a dozen groups of trick or treaters, and the flow stopped at about 7 pm. That compares with about 20 groups last year, including a few older kids coming until 7:30 or 8.

I'm not sure why that is. Part of it may be some of the houses nearby, who turn off the lights for various reasons. Some trick or treaters think, why bother with that side of the street?

I hope it's not like this next year ... we like Halloween!

Borderline thoughts from last year's Halloween:

Halloween dying in Newton?

Fading fall colors at the Riverwalk footbridge, one week apart

Two views of the Mary Early footbridge and old railway bridge over the Charles, seen from the south side of the Bleachery waterfall. They were taken almost exactly eight days apart: The first on Oct. 14 (Saturday) at 11:10 am, and the second this morning at 10:40 am. There are not many sugar maples in this spot, so the transition goes from late summer dry green to faded yellows and tans. In one week's time there will be more yellow, and probably a few bare trees as well.

Just what Waltham doesn't need -- A Big Box Lowe's On River Street

I can't believe this is even being considered. A big-box Lowe's Home Improvement store in a place that already has major traffic problems -- The River Street/ex-Raytheon area, right on the Watertown line. The News Tribune has the details, including furious neighborhood reaction.

"That's not going to work in our neighborhood," homeowner Chris Hayes said to applause from his neighbors. "The traffic is already brutal."

Several residents mentioned traffic and loud trucks brought in by a recently built Shaw's supermarket on River Street. They said major retail on River Street is too damaging to the nearby Warrendale and Rangeley Acres neighborhoods, and some said office buildings would be preferable.

They are absolutely right. There already is too much traffic there, and the streets around that site, many of them one lane in each direction, are not meant to handle thousands of extra cars and trucks every day. People with families live there. I cross River Street all the time at that intersection to go to Dunkin's with my kids.

There's another thing that the News Tribune failed to mention: Just down the road, across the Watertown line on Pleasant Street (aka, across from Russos) someone is building a big-box condo development. Guess how many extra cars that monstrosity is going to bring to the area once it opens? There's only two easy ways to get there, Pleasant Street and River Street in Waltham.

Here's my suggestion to Waltham citizens: Let your councilmen know what you think about the Lowe's juggernaut destroying this neighborhood, and let them know that they need to put up a fight, instead of sucking up to developers.

Calling all Newton and Waltham blogs ...

Borderline added a few new blogs to the blogroll last night, including Paula's House of Toast (Waltham) -- quite possibly one of the best local blogs I've seen to date (check out the fall photographs from the Sept. 30 post).

I am hoping to add some more, too. So if you live in Newton or Waltham, and sometimes post about goings-on or life in the Garden and Watch cities, shoot me an email.

T.V. O.D.

Anyone notice all of the television sets lying on curbs all over Newton and Waltham? And not just 30-year-old sets, either. Lots of big 25" sets that are just a few years old, tossed out and left to sit there, often for weeks -- lots of people don't know that TVs and computer monitors contain harmful materials that require special disposal or recycling, and you have to call up BFI (Newton) or Capitol (Waltham) to arrange for special pick-up.

Anyway, Borderline noticed that the number of derelict TVs started increasing in the spring, and really picked up in late summer. What's behind this trend? Borderline believes it's all about HDTV, which started picking up steam as programming has increased and prices have dropped, and XBox 360, the newfangled videogame console which supposedly looks better in HDTV. The tax holiday in the late summer prompted lots of people to make the switch (LCD and Plasma HDTV sets can cost thousands, I hear) and say goodbye to their old-fashioned cathode ray tube TV sets.

Expect to see another rush post-Christmas ...

Waltham Public Library Sale

The Patrick Hynes/New Media Strategics blog manipulation story will continue to be updated at this link, but in the meantime Borderline needs to get back to the main focus of this blog: Waltham and Newton.

The Waltham Library Sale is going on right now, and if you've never been, it's very worth your while to check it out. The books are cheap -- I got about 10 and all were $1 or $2, including the hardcovers and recent bestsellers. There are some "premium" books which can be more expensive, but of the thousands of normal books there's a huge selection and there are great deals. It just started yesterday for Friends of the Waltham Public Library, which organizes the sale, and today it opened up to the public, and will be ongoing until Oct. 14. Visit the Waltham Public Library website for more information.

One interesting note about the sale: The FWPL guy at the cashbox said that on the opening night, restricted to members, there are a hardcore set of bookbuyers who rush in with boxes, grab certain books, run out to their cars, and run back in again for more. It's a zoo, he said. I suspect they are Internet book sellers grabbing textbooks and such which can sell for high prices online.

While I am on the topic of libraries, the Waltham Public Library is a really, really nice library. Better than the bigger and newer Newton Free Library, in Borderline's opinion. The Waltham library has nicer reading room, better garden, better kids space, and a video and music section where it's actually possible to find decent stuff to take out. Newton, however, has bigger fiction and nonfiction selections, and more periodicals. Newton also has local branches, whereas the Waltham library only has the Main Street building.

Street life comes to Watertown - the Waltham connections

H2Otown has a post about the problems plaguing a certain neighborhood in Watertown, not too far from the Belmont and Waltham borders. The problems allegedly include drug dealing, and a recent drive-byish shooting.

There are two Waltham connections with this story. The alleged perps were caught by Waltham police after a Waltham officer heard the APB go out over Watertown police radio, and pulled over the vehicle in Waltham.

The other Waltham connection is one of the perps is a Waltham resident by the name of Herbert Bonds of 1000 Lexington St. in Waltham. Bonds has at least one other arrest, judging by this January 25 report from the Boston Police blog:

At 2:52am this morning officers from District 1 responded to Warrenton Place for a person hit by car. The victim, a 48-year-old male working as a parking lot attendant, told the officers that he was attempting to break up a fight when a white Cadillac SUV struck him. The suspect vehicle fled the scene and was stopped on Kneeland Street by a Detail Officer. The driver, 34-year-old Herbert Bonds of Waltham, and passenger, 28-year-old Alexis Martinez of Lowell, were arrested for Leaving the Scene of a Personal Injury Accident and Reckless Operation. The Cadillac SUV was seized as evidence and towed. Arraignment is today in Boston Municipal Court.

On a completely unrelated note to Mr. Bonds, H2Otown, in the course of talking about bad tenants contributing to crime in Watertown, also trashes a great Michael Keaton movie called Pacific Heights.

Pacific Heights is about the special terrors of being a landlord. It features a tenant who rips off every piece of molding and sells it, starts fires, deliberately releases cockroaches, and violently intimidates the landlord, all in a bid to drive them out of the house and get it cheap. Every time I've signed a lease, I've had a brief flash, a moment of wishing that I were on the other side of the lease again, a tenant whose housing mistakes are easily reversible by logging on to Craigslist and finding some new digs. As a landlord I've been exceptionally lucky, but like all landlords, I have that moment of doubt when a stranger becomes a tenant.

Pacific Heights is a bad movie; and it's as believable as any featuring Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith, and power tools is likely to be. But there isn't a landlord on the planet who can watch it without getting the chills.

What do you mean, "bad movie"? Borderline loved the cockroach scene!

A love letter to Waltham

Lisa over at H2Otown has pointed Borderline to a convert to the Cult of Waltham, who writes a moving ode to our fair city.

"Waltham City Boy" is a Las Vegas transplant who first came a few years ago but got a couple of bad first impressions. He had to sleep on someone's floor. He had never dealt with rotaries before. After a while, he moved to Boston, thinking it would be better, but now he's back, and he's come around:

I cannot remember what it exactly was I hated about Waltham when I left. But I can tell you what I love about it now that I am back, one year later. Waltham, how I love thee.

I love the fact that at any time of afternoon, at the intersection of High St and Moody St, you can find a handful of locals hanging out on the benches near the fire station. Those same individuals are usually still there the next morning.

I love the fact that Moody Street is ripe with small, individually owned restaurants like the Hungry Coyote (which is listed on www.burritophile.com but unrated because you have to login to give it a review and apparently nobody wants to do that!)

Where else but Waltham will you walk down High St and come across a toilet put out on the sidewalk for the garbage men to pick up. Not just the toilet seat, the bowl, the tank and the floor boards it was attached to, too!

Waltham has a Costco! I mean, come on.

Waltham has its own stretch of the Charles River that is actually picturesque throughout the seasons.

Welcome home, City Boy. Welcome home.

What's up with Whittemore?

Whittemore Elementary is supposed to under renovation right now. It's part of the big plan hashed out with the neighborhood, the mayor, city councilors, city workers, architects, parents, teachers, and most important of all, the students.

But since the last day of school in June, nothing has happened at the school. No signs have gone up, warning of impending construction. I don't see trucks unloading equipment, or carting away debris. The 70s-era gym is still standing, but I thought it was supposed to be torn down and replaced. The ventilation system is still on -- I can hear it when I stand outside the bridge between the school and the gym. Why isn't it turned off, and how much is that costing the city every month?

And why isn't anything going on?

I ask because the construction schedule directly impacts my neighborhood, and my family. The last thing I want is this to drag out for longer than possible. Not only would costs go up, but the kids would have to be at the temporary Whittemore -- South Middle School -- for longer than the planned two years.

Anyone have an idea what's going on with Whittemore? Is it a delay, or is this part of the plan, for budget reasons, or something else?

Related blog entries:

Updated school designs presented at stealth meeting

Whittemore planning meeting

Waltham Latin Festival, 2006

We watched the parade and browsed some of the stalls this afternoon. I'd say more than a thousand people were there, representing a dozen or so countries and Puerto Rico -- lots of people brought flags or T-shirts to represent ...