To the Editor:
Transit-oriented development, or “TOD”, is nothing new. It’s how land use and development have been organized in Boston for well over a century. This is certainly true along the Red Line, which opened in 1912, a month before Fenway Park.
The historic pattern of clustering dense, walkable development around Red Line stations is being replicated and reinforced—not only at Ashmont, JFK/UMass, Andrew, and Broadway, but out at the ends of the line in Cambridge and Quincy.
A lifetime spent riding the MBTA (including during my Dorchester childhood) has led to my work as a national TOD consultant and advocate. I’ve been following with interest the plan to build 74 apartments—most of them deed-restricted affordable units—on Centre Street, right next to Shawmut Station.
To me, this seems like an example of why TOD is such a good deal. Seventy-four households get to live in a great neighborhood. They can walk out the door and have a one-seat ride to UMass, the financial district, downtown, Mass General, Kendall, and Harvard, and a two-seat ride to the airport, the Seaport, and practically everywhere else.
They can afford to live there if they don’t own cars, and some can choose to forego a car to save money and help save the planet. For those who need to drive, as some obviously will, the proposed 39 spaces—one for every two apartments—is typical for a project of this type in subway locations.
I know people worry about density, and about the beautiful Victorians that surround the station area. Those are treasures. But the proposed housing site is an automotive business and parking lot next door to the train—exactly where good planning would tell you to put the density.
I’ve also read some concerns about how TOD can even work when the T is having so much trouble. I get it—but that’s the short view. The Red Line has been here a long time, and when the new fleet is finally in place, today’s tribulations will fade. Boston’s daily mobility is still organized around transit. Our ability to grow sustainably and house our people depends on a time-tested Boston idea—decent housing and good jobs near the T.
Al Raine
Brookline
