Remember to vote on Tuesday!

Some may say that voting doesn’t matter. I for one have always had an apathetic response to most of our local pols. They seem nice enough, but what effect do they really have on my daily life other than occasional irritation over a lack on concrete action over Harvard’s actions or passing unenforceable city bylaws?

Regardless this is an opportunity to have your voice heard and to potentially change the status quo at City Hall. If only certain demographics vote only those people will be truly served.

Ballet preview:

http://www.cityofboston.gov/TridionImages/CoB%20Preliminary%20Election%209-22-09%20Ballot%20Order%20-%20Web%20Version_tcm1-4338.pdf

Support Positive Change in our Neighborhood!

Community Artwork

Art is always controverial, but its better than mindless graffiti and blight.

Miles suggested flowers. Walsh suggested a skyline or clouds. Instead, in the weeks to come, the mural will fade to a blank wall.

…a blank wall that will become quickly blighted.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/21/allston_x_men_theme_mural_soon_must_fade_to_blank/

http://allston02134.blogspot.com/2009/08/say-goodbye-to-lincoln-st-mural.html

This is where I break from some of the long time residents and where I try to be more pragmatic for the good of the community.  Whether you love it or hate it, its an improvement and its removal will not help our community.

Support the new Corner Cafe coffee shop

A new not for profit cafe has opened near the corner of Western and North Harvard St were Stadium Convenience and more recently a Boston Housing Police substation were located.  During a walk to Harvard Square I noticed the new shop.  Walking over to investigate I found that it had just closed.  The workers there were nice enough to open up and let us buy some ice cream.  They also showed one of my friends their refrigerator packed with pastries from Finale.  Would a chain store reopen after hours or be staffed by such courtious people?  I think not (no comments about some of the staff at Bruegger’s at Shaw’s)

Important Charlesview meeting this Monday

We need to come together as a community and hammer home what the new Charlesview has to look like:

1. Better integration with the community

2. More public green space

3. More small retail space

4. Less density

The latest proposal in July is much better than the one proposed last year, but it can still be better yet.  We deserve better.

Repost:

Press Release:

August 24th: “Integration, Not Segregation!”
Community Rally and March for a better Charlesview Plan
Tell the BRA and Harvard “Enough is enough!” Preserve our Diversity, No
Segregation Between Rich and Working People!

Rally at 5:30 in Barry’s Corner (N. Harvard and Western Ave) at 5:30, walk
together to the 6:30 meeting about the Charlesview Plan at the Career
Recourse Center across from Brighton Mills McDonalds on Western Ave. We
will also hold a picket during the meeting.

After months of conversations with the community, the BRA, Harvard and the
Charlesview board have decided to ignore the overwhelming opinion of our
neighborhood and Charlesview tenants that the new Charlesview should
reflect the rest of North Allston/Brighton. We want to preserve our
diversity with a mixed income complex!

The BRA/Harvard/Charlesview Board’s Plan is to build a complex that will
house affluent tenants in market rate, waterfront housing, while sticking
the lower-income residents in a separate area by the Brighton Mills
parking lot.

This plan flies in the face of their own studies:
(Charlesview developers:) “Our experience has shown that, where the market
is ready, public housing residents, working poor families, and market rate
renters and owners, of different races, will live side by side in a high
quality housing development, with first-rate program supports, culturally
sensitive staff, and broadly appealing community activities.” This is a
publication by The Community Builders, the Charlesview Development Group,
titled “Resident Success in Economically Integrated, Socially Diverse
Housing”
http://www.tcbinc.org/what_we_do/resident_success/Ford_MIMR_Resident_…

(Harvard:) This blog post cites several Harvard studies about the
importance of integration and the damaging effects of economic
segregation.
http://allston02134.blogspot.com/2008/09/abnnfs-motivation-regarding-…

Summer Community Meetings

Is this Lower Allston or Detroit?

Schools Out Forever from Vice Magazine BY JAMES GRIFFIOEN (external link)

Is this an empty Harvard property in Allston?  No.  Our diligence will prevent this from happening here.  It was left empty by a different set of problems with a different set of solutions, but led to the same outcome — or hopefully only a potential outcome in our case.

Remember to attend community meetings this Spring/Summer.  Its tough with the nice weather and competing interests, but its important.

On a sidenote after getting quite a few seemingly automated spam comments  (no, our readers don’t need Viagra from Russia) registration is required for commenting.  Its an easy, automated process and will be used for no other purpose than to stop bots.  As an added bonus your comments will no longer be held for moderation (unless they contain too many links) so you should see them post immediately.

Conditional tax exemption, the other stick

Another stick that could be used to get action out of Harvard is to make the tax exempt status of their properties conditional, not automatic.  The city of Boston already has a similar regime in place to implement the resident discount (1)

For those unfamiliar with the resident discount it works like this - you buy a house in Boston;  You get your first tax bill and are blown away with how much it is;  You call the Assessing Dept and they tell you to apply for a residential discount first quarter next year;  Next year you apply stating you are a resident of Boston and get a 30% discount on your property tax bill.

Why shouldn’t Harvard and other tax exempt entities have to go through a similar application process?  In this application they should have to state that they are using the property for a use consistent with their non-profit goals and fulfilling a public good.

If a building is sitting vacant it would not qualify for tax exemption.

If a building is used as a normal apartment building it would not qualify for tax exemption.(2)

If a building is being used for the public good - classrooms, dorms, museums, etc.  - then it gets the exception.  The Assessing Department would have some wiggle room, so mixed use buildings like those discussed for Barry’s Corner could get an exemption even if some floor space were used for a more for-profit nature.

As citizens of this state we allow some entities to operate without paying any taxes in order to promote their growth for the good of everyone.  When they use this free pass to do nothing with previosuly taxed property or to make a profit, competing with similar for-profit businesses, do they really deserve the full exemption that we have granted them? 

(1) http://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/resexempt.asp

(2) http://www.universalhub.com/node/14645

Carrot or Stick - Which will Harvard Respond To Best?

So Matt and I went over to the Allston Brighton Neighborhood North forum (ABNNF) Meeting last Thursday, where City Councilor, and candidate for Mayor,  Sam Yoon came to address the group. To join the group, check out their google group page here. (1) The ABNNF has invited all three candidates for Mayor to our meetings, and I really appreciate the fact that Mr. Yoon took the time to attend. I certainly hope to see the other candidates there at our next meeting.

These meetings are really fantastic, and show the kind of power even a small number of residents can have when, despite our different jobs, backgrounds, and generations, we unite around a common cause. To hear the stories of those who have lived in the neighborhood for many generations, to those who have just moved in recently, was really heartening.  It was also striking that despite our differences, we all had pretty much the same list of complaints against Harvard.

While the development process was still of top concern to the residents, what also came up several times was the work stoppage of the Science Complex, and how to best handle Harvard. Of course, someone asked Mr. Yoon this question, how would his administration handle Harvard differently, if elected? His response was focused around building relationships and asking Harvard the question “What do they think they owe the neighborhood? I bet nobody ever asked them this question before.” While I do think Mr. Yoon had some very good, and technically correct points, I think he is failing to understand the situation fully.

I would contend that a future strategy focused around improving “relationships” with Harvard is not a complete strategy. Relationships can only truly work if both parties are on near equal footing. In other words, Harvard clearly has many weapons in their arsenal, the most potent of which I argue would be holding onto 1 Million+ square feet of vacant RE that they pay no taxes on, and which they can choose to not develop forever if they desired. Thats a big stick, and I am not aware of any way in which the city of Boston can force them to do anything about it.

Good or bad relationships aside, if Harvard decides they don’t want to spend a billion dollars, who is going to force them exactly? So back to the point, Boston also needs a stick, some weapon at their disposal, that while it doesn’t have to be used, could at least be an equal threat to Harvard to get them to take us more seriously. Just as the mutually assured destruction doctrine of the Cold War probably did more to keep both the US and the USSR safe than any other political move of either side, it was only because each side was near equal that they were forced to fight a war of words, ideas, and relationships. Because both parties had a big stick, and both really understood that the other side could use it if they desired, it FORCED them into talks, into a relationship, that while strained at many times, eventually led to a positive outcome. In game theory, this is also called a Nash Equilibrium (2), and essential it means that in any situation no player can do better by unilaterally changing their decision. We are clearly NOT in a Nash Equilibrium right now, but we need to find a way into one soon.

The problem we are now faced with is that Harvard has an enormous stick, and the residents and the city of Boston can really only pound our proverbial chest and complain about it. We really can’t force Harvard to do much of anything (if I’m wrong here, and I hope I am, please let me know). Through the BRA we can regulate what they CAN build. But we cannot force them to start building anything. In my opinion, and based on historical observations, I do not think this is a problem solved solely by building better relationships or by asking Harvard what they think they owe the neighborhood. There is just too much at stake for both sides. This is a time for Boston to develop a stick of their own.

Luckily, there are many possibilities. Why settle with the status quo? There are various laws and regulations that Harvard now takes for granted, and that as residents (and really as registered voters) that we could modify to positively affect our community. I really want to start by questioning everything we currently take for granted. Such as:

Why is one of the largest land owners in Boston (and Cambridge) Tax Exempt, forever?

And

Being tax exempt, why is Harvard’s endowment not subject to minimum spending requirements like tax exempt foundations, which must spend 5% of their endowment annually (3)?

I’m sure these special regulations were originally put in place to benefit the communities around them, because encouraging education and higher learning were a benefit to everyone. However, there is no reason that these laws should not be reconsidered in light of current situations. In fact, several state senators were considering this, and its time we should too (4).  When Harvard is more of an adversary to the community, and decides it doesn’t have to really take the community’s best interests to heart, then its time we remind them that they are receiving special treatment from the community, and that we can take it away. Once the residents and Boston are on equal footing with Harvard, and they can both really affect each other, only THEN we can focus on building relationships. Without near equal footing at the bargaining table, Harvard has little reason to take us seriously.

(1) ABNNF Home Page

(2) Nash Equilibrium

(3) NY Times article explaining complicated Foundation Tax Law

(4) Boston Globe Article discussing Potential Tax on College Endowments

The Boston Bulletin and What We Can Do Now

All April fooling aside, lets get back to business. We were recently interviewed by Scott Wachtler of the Boston Bulletin Weekly (1), where he wrote a a story about how this website got started. I recommend you read it. In the article he also asked for Harvard’s response, which was still the same old “85% are leased” line….

During the interview Scott asked us a really good question which didn’t end up making the cut, so I would like to discuss it here. I have to say that at the time, we didn’t have a great answer either, until we thought about it some more.

The question was “What can Harvard do, starting tomorrow, to improve Allston”.

Clearly, what we have been asking for all along, i.e. a plan to rent out the empty buildings soon, doesn’t mean its going to happen overnight. Especially in this economy, we expect that this is going to take some time, but the point is it has to get started soon.

In the meantime, with the clear goal of renting these spaces soon, there has to be some creative things we can do with the space that would both improve our neighborhood and add some economic activity.

We really liked the farmer’s market that took place at Barry’s Corner every Wednesday  evening during the summer. The only thing that would have made it better would have been more vendors, and a weekend timeslot . While Wed night from 6-9 isn’t bad, turnout might have been better had it taken place during the weekend.

Expanding on that idea, why not have a  ”Farmers / Flea Market” where we still have the dedicated and professional farmers in one section, but we expand it so that anyone can rent a table for $10 and sell whatever they like? We could invite more vendors to not only sell vegetables, but other items as well. If this took place on the weekends, perhaps in the Brighton Mills Parking lot or even using the old KMart building for part of the event, I’m sure it would draw a big crowd, and bring some activity to the neighborhood.

Running with this idea even a bit further (and now into the unlikely, I’m aware), I am a big fan of the farmer’s market because of locally grown, healthy food, and the fact that we are supporting local farmers and their business. I propose we setup temporary greenhouses in some of the empty parking lots or on the vacant building’s large, flat roofline, as many people are doing in NYC and elsewhere (2) to grow local, sustainable vegetables that could be sold at the said Farmer’s market. Part of the proceeds could pay back the loan that Harvard would underwrite to start the business, while the rest would go to pay for the part-time, local Allston gardeners who tend to those vegetables. Running this business as a non-profit, all money would stay inside the community. There you have it, wasted space turned into a business that supports the community, local residents, and provides healthy fruits and vegetables for many, many more.

Would something like this be a permanent fix? No, of course not. But it would bring activity to a part of the neighborhood that otherwise will continue to sit unused all summer long (and probably much longer than that)

(1) Boston Bulletin Article

(2) Manhattan Roof-top Greenhouse