Groups from all over Somerville will be testifying on May 25^th at a City Council public hearing about their negative experiences with the city planning process for real estate development in their neighborhoods.  Residents claim that they are encouraged to participate with the promise that they can determine the future of their community.  Instead, their contributions are ignored or altered by the city’s planners in order to cater to the proposals of real estate developers. 

As Somerville goes through the largest commercial real estate boom in its history, long-term residents, artists, and small businesses are being displaced.  Residents claim that their neighborhoods are under assault; that displacement is disintegrating tight-knit community networks. They claim that institutions that kept neighborhoods safe and thriving disappear because community leaders leave for less expensive places to live and do business.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. While our residents consistently advocate for more thoughtful development, we do so in a vacuum. All we ask is a place at the table in helping to shape the future of our neighborhood.” says Randal Thurston, a trustee of Brickbottom Artist Building, one of the co-sponsors of the public hearing.  Residents claim that collaboration is possible if developers and the city’s planners involve, listen to, and compromise with the stakeholders who created the value that has made Somerville so attractive. “There are some recent examples of how this can be done. And they are right here in the city of Somerville”, says Michele Hansen of the Union Square Neighborhood Council, another co-sponsor. “We have signed Community Benefits Agreements with three developers after years of organizing and negotiations. And, we are in the process of negotiating several others.  But, the city administration has not cooperated with grassroots efforts like these and is threatening to thwart future efforts.”

At the hearing, residents and businesses will propose how to move forward to accomplish planning that is collaborative and development that minimizes displacement.

Thursday, May 25, 2023 – 7:00 PM – Somerville City Hall – 93 Highland Avenue, Somerville

                                              6:45 PM – Stand Out on the City Hall Steps

-Union Square Neighborhood Council,Brickbottom Neitghborhood Residents, Community Action Agency of Somerville,Gilman Square Neighborhood Association, Green and Open Somerville,Mystic View Task Force, Somerville Stands Together