Keeping a Close Eye On The Harvard Allston Expansion
With the announcement of the construction slowdown of the science complex in Allston, some of us Allston residents realized that there may very well be a large hole in the ground for many more years to come.
Suddenly, we looked around and saw that there were many issues with the Harvard 50 year plan for Allston that the neighborhood needs to keep an eye on. For those that live in Allston / Brighton, or in Cambridge, or in Boston, we need to be more vigilant to prevent our town from becoming nothing more than empty buildings for the next 50 years.
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Is this Lower Allston or Detroit?
Posted on May 5th, 2009 No comments
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.
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Oldies, but goodies - Allston resists Harvard
Posted on April 17th, 2009 No commentsThe below images may be old news to some, but in mid Feburary community members from ABNA (1) put home made banners on some of Harvard’s vacant buildings near Barry’s Corner to highlight the blight that Harvard is giving us. Too bad I had class that night or I would have participated.Remember to support local businesses tomorrow and every day.
Former Charlesbank Cleaners:
Former Citgo
(1) http://groups.google.com/group/ABNNF/browse_thread/thread/38462be4dfe8e7bc
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Dirty and empty at 168 Western Ave
Posted on April 4th, 2009 1 comment
- Rear of former VW dealership
- Former VW dealership
Late last year Harvard asked Boston Volkswagen to move out of their location near Barry’s Corner at 168 Western Ave(1). Their lot was soon mostly engulfed by the Science Center build site. Now less than a year later this “land grab” as become irrevelant as Harvard delays construction at the site.
What could have been a generator of foot traffic in a renewed Barry’s corner is now empty and dirty. An old hydraulic manfold sits behind the building leaking fluid into the unused lot.
Above the front door the VW “Start” sign is still in place.
When will the rebuilding of Allston really start? In my mind that day will come when a majority of Harvard’s properties are occupied — whether those occupants are Harvard entities or paying tenants.
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The Lights Are On But Nobody’s Home
Posted on March 26th, 2009 No comments
3/24/2009 8:13 PM Open side door at Kmart
On Tuesday night, while walking by the abandoned Kmart (1) on Litchfield street I came upon an open door. Some of the lights were on inside, but there were no sounds of movement or people. With my girlfriend yelling “Oh my God, this how horror movies start!” I snapped a picture and we continued home with our cornopia from Big Daddy’s.
So Harvard can help the neighborhood… by supplying a huge location for squatters displaced by the housing crisis! Maybe they’ll start a fire and the current blight will be replaced by a new uglier blight. We can only hope that if this were to happen no lives would be lost like in Worcester.
(1) http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.361549,-71.139269&spn=0.002442,0.005665&t=h&z=18