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(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)
Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte
They plan on putting this eyesore in Davis Square. Here are the thoughts from some when asked about it on Facebook.
“I remember reading sometime before Covid that they wanted to build up all existing structures in the square to four stories and make a pedestrian mall with retail and dormitory space. This looks like a jump off of that. Money, money, money, no real concern for living space, pollution, trash or quality of life”
“And they will just do it. Money makes the world go around. The younger folks see nothing wrong with this. Housing shortage build upward and onward. Clarendon Hill Apt. Looked out of place years ago. I delivered for Burke’s News’ there for years.”
“Sadly, this is what some call progress. The need for housing will just keep growing. I was born in Somerville and by the late 80s I was priced out. I’ve seen the price of apartments in the area and I don’t know how people can afford them.”
“They want 15-minute cities dependent on the T, bicycles and walking.”
“Clarendon Hill is not a Sq. Highland Ave. at McGrath is not a Sq. For nearly 100 years Davis Sq. has been prized as a college community hub. Movies, bowling, dining, shopping. This monstrosity does not belong anywhere near Davis Sq, it’s too big, blocks the sun and delineates the whole point of the Sq. between Harvard and Tufts university.”
I hope it doesn’t happen. Davis Square will be just a memory.
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I think it’s a beautiful thing to live in a world where freedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr. Del Ponte’s fascinating OpEd has so inspired me today that I believe I shall exercise my own.
I should like to have so few problems in my life that the construction of high-density housing a block away is an earth-shattering catastrophe. I should like to live in such a frictionless bubble that my life is demarcated only be heated car trips to the Wegmans and to bingo, increasingly sparse visits with the grandkids or the book club, and to own my own home from which to pen inane nothingburger opinion pieces titled “MONSTROSITY” in all caps (it must be fairly trivial a task, considering one is evidently allowed to have one’s Facebook friends do most of the work).
Instead, I live in the world. I take the train to work and to the store, and I take the bus to Davis Square; and there I spend my money. I spend it at the CVS and the Somerville Flea and the theatre, the JP Licks and the H-Mart and the dispensary. And when I see other people living in the area, enjoying these same establishments and spaces and stimulating the same economy, I am pleased to see them there rather than resenting their presence. When a new housing development begins work, I feel an ordinary amount of annoyance at the sounds of construction which quickly dissipates, and I hope the rent will be low, so that the people who move in may live there with minimal stress. Then I think no more on it, like any normal person.
That Mr. Del Ponte has lived long enough in Somerville for his hair to grow white and his taste in sunglasses to stagnate and not learned this lesson is a wonder to me. I hope he and all his Facebook friends go outside tomorrow and enjoy their precious view while they have it. I hope they spend time with their loved ones, I hope they enjoy the ease of access they have to the businesses they enjoy, and by the time the development is built, I hope they will have learned to think more charitably on their fellow man.
Lol !! Low rent in Davis Square? 😆 Oh Madeleine, that’s rich. I almost ran my bicycle into one of those cheap roadside PVC poles while reading that. How long have you lived here? (I suspect not very long)