Area Developments

PSNA member Catherine Brady invites you to join Groundwork at Uno’s in Porter Square for our first “Doughraiser.” Uno’s will donate 20% of the check of everyone who writes “Groundwork” on their check.

Groundwork Somerville works to improve the environment through community-based partnerships which empower people, businesses and organizations. Our staff and volunteers work with youth on programs intended to promote and teach about sustainable cities. Our programs include high school environmental jobs training, Spring Break Camp, Garden to School, and Garden Youth Crew.

Kick off your weekend with fun for a good cause! Come to the Party Under the Harvest Moon and help support Food for Free's Produce Rescue Program. Join local luminaries including Tom & Ray Magliozzi from NPR's Car Talk and Steve Curwood, Executive Producer and host of NPR's Living on Earth, to enjoy delicious refreshments, live and silent auctions, Delta Blues by Jeremy Lyons (www.deltabilly.com) and fabulous dance music by Booty Vortex (www.bootyvortex.com).

Location: MIT's Morss Hall, 142 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

JIM MANNING, LOCAL BALLOON ARTIST, BUILDING WORLD’S FIRST BALLOON MONSTER RESTAURANT AT “MONSTERIA” UNO’S IN PORTER SQUARE TO SUPPORT FUNDRAISER. To celebrate Halloween, local balloon professional Jim Manning of Cambridge will team up with 10 other balloon artists to help build a world-renowned, five-room, 2500-square-foot haunted restaurant made from thousands of balloons called Monsteria Uno’s. The build will take place at the Uno Chicago Grill restaurant in Porter Square in Cambridge, MA.

Linnaean Street Roadway Work
2nd Meeting to be held Thursday October 15, 2009
Linnaean Street between Raymond Street and Massachusetts Avenue is scheduled for roadway work in the summer of 2010.

Location: North Cambridge Senior Center, 2050 Massachusetts Avenue

Agenda

• TROMP
• PSNA Bylaws
• Letter to Planning Board
• Ears to the Ground

The Planning Board of the City of Cambridge will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. in the Second Floor Meeting Room at City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts on a Special Permit application (PB#241) by Oaktree Development, for a 46 unit residential development and redevelopment of the existing St James parish house with ground floor retail.

The official notice may be found here.

Linnaean Street Community Meeting
When: Wednesday September 30, 2009 6:30- 8:30 PM
Where: Graham And Parks School - Cafeteria
44 Linnaean Street, Cambridge
(Please enter on the Walker Street side)

Linnaean Street between Raymond Street and Massachusetts Avenue is scheduled for roadway work summer of 2010.

Location: North Cambridge Senior Center, 2050 Massachusetts Avenue

Beech Street Traffic Study Process - Susan Clippinger to speak

Beech Street traffic is one of the most controversial issues in the proposed St. James condominium development. The parking entrance is planned to be on Beech Street rather than Massachusetts Avenue. The traffic study required by the city as part of the project special permit process predicts that this will have only a very minor additional impact on what is a very congested street. Neighbors question the validity of the traffic study and have many specific concerns they feel it does not fully address.

Susan Clippinger, Director of Traffic, Parking, and Transportation, will describe the transportation impact study process and her department's role in it, and will answer questions about the process. She has asked us to remind you that the Planning Board, not TPT, is the actual decision-making body.

To prepare further for this discussion, look here.

PSNA position on St. James condo special permit application - internal discussion

Now that the developers have made their plans, presented them to the neighborhood, and submitted a special permit application, it is time for PSNA to develop a consensus opinion and communicate it to the Planning Board. This portion of the meeting will be an internal (PSNA only) discussion to see whether we can find a consensus and to outline a letter expressing it.

We encourage members to write their own letters as well, especially if they feel that the PSNA position does not address their concerns. The more letters the Planning Board receives from us, the better. You can send letters to the Cambridge Planning Board, c/o Liza Paden, 344 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139, or you can testify in person at the appropriate meeting. The Planning Board's agenda can be found at at http://www.cambridgema.gov/cdd/cp/zng/agenda/index.html

Ears to the ground (as time permits)

Share your own news about what's happening around Porter Square.

The Neighborhood 9 Action Alliance is calling a neighborhood meeting (friends from adjoining neighborhoods, such as the Agassiz and Harvard Square, are welcome) to discuss traffic issues and general safety in our neighborhood. The meeting will be an open forum to discuss these matters, and we will circulate a petition for signature by neighborhood residents. Our goal is to form a collective voice to ask the city and universities to work with us on these issues, seriously and globally, not just street by street.