Around Natick

Someone has echoed my comments regarding development in Natick, with a letter published in today’s Boston Globe. The statements deserve a wider readership, so here’s a link. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/05/17/time_to_rethink_development_along_route_9/

People who commute on Route 9 in either direction regularly, may have noticed the sandwich effect. You know, the almost scenic and still suburban Southborough and Wellesley, sandwiching the car dealerships, strip malls and cluttered landscape that calls itself proudly, the “Golden Triangle”. Stop and think about planning the town’s development as you’re stuck in traffic for what seems like hours. Maybe those who make the planning and zoning decisions don’t travel out of town to work. The trip from Oak Street along Bacon to town hall isn’t so bad. Maybe they think Route 27, and Speen St. and Route 135 are fine too. Maybe they only use those roads on the weekend. Why is there a lack of interest in regional planning and controlled growth? Could they be offering a clue here? The vision for the future isn’t called Regional360, it’s called “Natick360″. The insiders have formed a “circle”. We have to wonder how Wellesley and Southborough have managed to survive all these years without the “mitigation” money and the “grants”.

Read the letter in the link above, then click on a few of my previous articles under blogroll to the left. Giant corporate headquarters and a Nieman Marcus don’t make a place special. Being able to say “no” to those temptations does.

I think most would stand behind the neighborhood that is fighting back.  When the next election occurs, remember today’s  members of the Board of Selectmen, because they welcomed this expansion, helped to plan it, and defend it.