On Jan 8, city planners presented the results of the Somerville By Design process, envisioning future neighborhoods that will be getting new Green Line stops. The focus was Gilman Square, Lowell Street and Ball Square stations.
Somerville Journal: “Somerville planners outline walkable city vision”
The design strategy and process was outlined by DC resident and author of “Walkable City,” Jeff Speck, Principal at Speck & Associates and a consultant to the city helping to design new mixed-use, transit-oriented, walkable neighborhoods. Displaying photos from a chic walkway in Amsterdam to a blighted streetscape in Las Vegas, Speck said Somerville is already well on its way to becoming America’s most walkable city, as Mayor Joe Curtatone envisions.
Somerville Scout: “Somerville’s proposed Green Line makeover”
George Proakis, Somerville’s planning director, introduced Speck to more than 100 attendees at the Tuesday night gathering. “I’m incredibly impressed with the turnout,” Proakis says, adding that it’s extremely important for the community to shape the future of neighborhoods potentially affected by the proposed Green Line extension.
Somerville Patch: “Magoun Square Could Get ‘Naked’ … in a City Planning Kind of Way”
A “naked intersection” in Magoun Square, a tower in Gilman Square and a new bridge lined with storefronts in Ball Square: Those were some of the ideas presented Tuesday night for the future of those city squares.