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Newsletter #17
May 1, 2022
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Contents:
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City Council to discuss Alewife Development Moratorium on 5/2
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CDD invites public to planning walks in area parks
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Jerry’s Pond Earth Day event draws many from neighborhood and beyond
City Council to discuss Alewife Development Moratorium on 5/2
On Monday, May 2, City Council will discuss the petition to change the rules for lab and office development in the Alewife area, to allow time them to be updated to match city planning. In the past year, life-sciences developer Healthpeak Properties spent $582 million on 25 properties in the Alewife Quadrangle, indicating large-scale development will be coming to one of the city’s six High Temperature Focus Areas, that is also in a flood zone, and have few reasonable transportation options. City plans for climate resilience (Alewife Preparedness Plan, 2017) and area planning (Alewife District Plan, 2019) still have not resulted in zoning changes.
The petition received favorable support from both the Planning Board and Ordinance Committee. The petition needs to be approved at two separate meetings of City Council and this will be there first.
Alewife Study Group supports this petition and encourages neighbors to give their opinions to City Councilors either by email to council@cambridgema.gov (you can request that your comments to be part of the public record by emailing to clerk@cambridgema.gov ) or by signing up to speak at the City Council meeting (start time 5:30pm) at: https://www.cambridgema.gov/
CDD invites public to planning walks in area parks
The Cambridge Community Development is beginning a public engagement process for two separate path design and construction projects. The two projects are the Linear Park redesign and reconstruction project, and the Danehy Connector-New Street Path design and construction project. This is your chance to learn about CDD’s plans, and provide feedback at this early stage. You can learn more about these projects at the City’s webpages for Linear Park Redesign and Danehy Park Connector.
Wednesday, May 4 (rain date Thursday May 5)
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Linear Park: 5-5:45 PM, details ar here
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Danehy Park: 6 PM, details are here
At this point, the Danehy Park proposal doesn’t connect with the Rindge Avenue side of the tracks. These walks are a great opportunity to push for an underpass that will provide easier and safer access from the Jerry’s Pond side of North Cambridge to Danehy Park and the Fresh Pond Mall. View presentation slides showing how a tunnel under the commuter rail tracks would greatly improve northwest Cambridge: Alewife Connectivity Presentation
Jerry’s Pond Earth Day event draws many from neighborhood and beyond
Over 100 visitors of all ages from throughout Cambridge stopped by Jerry’s Pond on April 25 to celebrate Earth Darth. The event was organized by Friends of Jerry’s Pond and included their annual clean-up of the area. The Alewife Study Group surveyed participants about pedestrian and bike paths at and near Russell Field, Jerry’s Pond, and the IQHQ site. IQHQ’s development plans seek to address path safety and accessibility.
The Earth Day evening included music, Bangladeshi Dance, arts and crafts, ice cream, juice samples, small gifts for children, and pizza – all free! Members of IQHQ design team were onsite to display their development plans, answer questions, and meet more members of our community.. The event was cosponsored by IQHQ, Mayor Siddiqui, Alewife Study Group (ASG), Mass Audubon, Green Cambridge, Just-a-Start, and Devine Native Plantings.
ASG Newsletter
ASG will send email updates about once a month during this busy time in the development of the IQHQ site.
Anyone can sign up (or unsubscribe) for this newsletter by completing the Contact Form at the bottom of the ASG home page: alewife.org We also welcome your questions, comments, ideas, and offers of help!