Two of my platform values are urban mobility and the environment, and this week I attended two meetings that highlighted new connections to the Charles River. The first, on Tuesday, was a public meeting about a proposed new multi-use path along the former railroad line that runs from Concord Avenue along Fresh Pond, under Huron Avenue, behind Aberdeen Avenue, under Mt. Auburn Street and into Watertown to meet a recently completed path to the Arsenal area and the river. Phase II of the Watertown Cambridge Greenway is being jointly planned by DCR and the City. I’m very excited about this project, which the DCR’s Dan Driscoll described as the critical missing link to completing a regional bike/pedestrian path from the Minuteman Trail in Lexington all the way to the Charles River in Watertown. The design phase is underway, and there will be another public meeting in the early fall; construction is targeted to begin by next summer. One critical aspect to work through is increasing public access points along the path, especially those that would connect the path to adjacent retail like Star Market. Much of the railroad right-of-way is below grade, and ADA requirements for gently sloped ramps make creating access more costly and require more space. There are, however, a few points where the track is on grade or only slightly below grade, and where public access could and should be created. This pathway must serve to better connect the Strawberry Hill/Haggerty School neighborhood, even as it functions as a regional corridor for bike commuters.
There was a great deal more discussion about multi-use pathways at a panel entitled “The Renaissance on the Charles” held on Thursday night at the Public Library. Hats off to Cathie Zusy, leader of the Magazine Beach Committee, for coordinating the evening’s 2-hour presentation. Our view of how paths along the riverbank should function has evolved to embrace non-auto transportation along with recreational uses. The Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation, which contributed to funds to design of the Watertown Greenway Path, has been instrumental in other pathway projects along the Charles, notably improvements along Greenough Boulevard. The river itself should be a path and City Manager Rich Rossi voiced strong support for launching water taxi service on the Charles. Great idea! Unless you’re a recreational boater or a rower, the Charles mostly serves as a scenic backdrop; using it to supplement other modes of transit would give more people a personal connection to the river and a greater stake in improving and maintaining the public spaces along its banks.
I’d like to give a shout-out to the Community Art Center for its production of “The Way,” in which a very young cast tackled grown-up issues of how class and culture color opportunity through song, dance and dialogue. Following Friday’s show at the YMCA one (long) line has stuck with me: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, for all the people you can, at all the times you can, at all the places you can, as long as ever you can.” At the end the cast invited audience members to come to the stage to suggest a word that would representing a building block of community; our words become a tall stack of oversized Lego blocks. My word was “trust.” Conversations about our city’s changing demographics, creating more affordable housing and stemming gentrification are divisive, and we need to rebuild trust on both sides if we are to make any headway in preserving a strong, diverse community in Cambridge.
Finally, in last week’s post I observed that even in ultra-progressive Cambridge there is currently only one woman on the City Council. In the 2013 election just 5 of the 25 candidates were women. One female incumbent was reelected (Denise Simmons) and the other (Minka van Buezekom) was narrowly edged out. The other 3 female candidates together garnered about 6% of the total votes cast. The 6-member School Committee has gender parity, though having a male Mayor as chair tips the balance.
On Monday night both Minka and I attended an women’s political event in Boston hosted by Emerge Massachusetts, whose mission is to train and mentor female candidates. Emerge was honoring our newly elected State Treasurer Deb Goldberg with its “Woman of the Year” award. In her remarks Deb recalled how it was a development issue in her Brookline neighborhood that had first prompted her to run for Town Selectman. She confessed that initially she had initially, doubting her qualifications, and had had to be persuaded to run. Self-doubt was a recurring theme of the evening; we heard again and again that we are our own worst enemies when we hold ourselves back. Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley said it best: “A wise woman knows her limits – and that she doesn’t have any limits….I will no longer ask permission to be seen, to be heard, or to lead.” I was also delighted to meet a fellow Princeton alumna, Andrea Campbell (Class of 2004), an attorney who is running for Boston City Council. Keep your eye on Andrea – she’s a rising star, no doubt about it.
Cathie Zusy at the podium. Rep. jay Livingstone and Charles Sullivan at left.
No Comments