There may be some confusion about how to comment to postings on this blog. First, everything goes into a moderation cue. After you hit the post button it may appear on your screen, but if you leave the site and come back, you’ll notice it’s not there yet. That’s because it’s either waiting for approval, or has been filtered out for one of several reasons. Read more »
How little they care for the social services.
Some of the folks on FinCom can be excused for this because they don’t know any better…
But for some others there is NO excuse.
If this prioritization against the elderly and those who serve them is what certain Selectmen think will be forgotten when they come up for reelection, they’re wrong. Those who’ve been cut in favor of stable budgets for a golf course, and other such favored amenities will be reminded.
It’s too bad some of those who do the least, and talk the most, are entrenched for another couple of years.
Whenever I drive past Fiske Pond on West Central St., I have to shake my head in disappointment at how inattentive to detail, our conservation-minded citizens can be. The weeds, or Milfoil, I think it’s called, have taken over and turned what should be a magnificent site, into nearly a swamp. Not only is there a skim across the top, but the weeds growing along the roadside have disfigured what used to be nice. Imagine what it should be. A jogging trail around the lake, for example, like the reservoir in Brookline. Why would anyone want to entrust an investment like the National Guard property, to a group who pays such little attention to what we already have?
Those Natick Planners, and Zoners who are eagerly awaiting the new standard in retail being set by “Nouvelle”, might be disappointed that the Burlington Mall already has announced construction of a Nordstrom, and an expansion of their mall to be completed in 2008. I’ve discovered that Burlington is much like Natick, nearly a twin sister city, so to speak. (Except for their Fire Station, Town Hall, and library, which are all decently modest.) Also unlike Natick, they welcomed a Cheesecake Factory, and it looks like a cross between the Luxor and the Venetian. Natick will probably get it’s little bit of Vegas too, because I’m sure the new restaurants will be elegant, so Natickites won’t have to feel inadequate.
The Nordstrom going up at the Mall right now is beginning to look like the Fashion Square Mall, with it’s underground parking and Sears-like front entrance, and the “twin towers” condos are high enough to impress commuters coming off the Mass Pike. My how chic and urban we are becoming!
Natick used to be a suburb, and then it wanted to be more. How proud the Planning Board was, when the Mall announced it’s expansion. “White tablecloth restaurants” and a Neiman Marcus that would set the standard for the rest of the world, in retail design,” at least one member of Natick’s Planning Board was quoted as saying after the dog and pony show was presented at a meeting last year. The banner on the chain link fence proudly proclaims “Natick Nordstrom, the Largest store in the world” or something like that. And the zoners and planners all said, it’s OK for the density, since it’s in a corner of town already crowded. In other words, it’s next to ….Framingham….. so it’s alright.
Not only does the community change slowly from suburb to sprawling tract of houses and mixed zoning, but the traffic is impacted the same way. Many roads now, are a never-ending stream of cars between 4 and 6 PM daily. And the “short cuts” of old are quickly being discovered. One may say “what’s a few more homes at the Paperboard site, or Speen Street, as they’ve left up a lot of the trees.” However, guess what? That’s another increase in the number of cars traveling to each of the already congested intersections nearby.
I don’t know how much is too much, but at some point, the traffic on some of our roads will become unacceptable. At that point, people may want to consider how to appropriate their tax dollars toward these things that are just as much a quality of life issue as a golf course.
Natick already falls only a few steps behind Stoughton and Brockton in zoning variances granted to developers . And it’s beginning to show.
Why the urgency?
My sense, from listening to a few who are interested in the future, the “long range” and “strategy” revolves around negotiating with the state for the town to buy or lease the National Guard Depot for “open space” and turning the sand pit on Oak St. into a park.
There’s a sense of urgency in their mission, as the state has expressed an interest in relocating the Natick Court building to the National Guard site, and certain parties don’t want that to happen. They’d rather the state put the court behind the Police station and build a garage for all to use. The time frames for these items are short, thus the sudden need to form a committee and involve the public.
The rush to distribute flyers, handouts, getting everyone involved, signals a concern about what the state may do. I guess I’d agree, a courthouse would bring more traffic to the Speen St 135 intersection, much more than a few thousand beachgoers would, like those at Cochituate State Park. So best of luck.
We all understand there’s no specific agenda for the 360 committee, but we also understand the behind the scenes priorities that will quickly surface.
I must add that the negative spin put on this comment by the posted response, shows me there must be something to be defensive about. What’s to feel guilty about specific objectives, related to the Speen St site, I wonder?
Or is it just Ostroff? Please remind me of these oddities, the next election.
Before there were “white tablecloth restaurants” there were the Hot Shoppes, and then there was York Steak House. The original Natick Mall was an answer to Shoppers World, not quite as grand, but more modern. Natickites felt a bit cheated in the fifties and answered with Sears, Filenes, and the Hot Shoppes. Later, York Steak House took the space to compete with Ken’s and the Roundup at Shoppers World. Downtown Natick was floudering with Sterns and Jones Rexall Drugs.
Which brings us to today. Natick needs to find an excuse for it’s merchants. It’s not the Mall, after all. Can’t blame the quality of stores. Must be a lack of parking.
A group of business leaders downtown want to revitalize the downtown business district with a parking garage being their vision of the key to success. Thursday night at the town meeting, the members voted to allow the town to petition the state for permission to lease the current garage location to a developer to build a garage with residential component on top. A good idea, with one person standing up and asking why the town didn’t accept the Mall’s offer to donate concrete panels from the torn down Mall garage.
Please sir, but doesn’t everyone know that concrete blocks are the least expensive part of building a garage? The cost of transporting materials, the reworking of the engineering, the crane, and trying to reassemble such a structure would be ridiculous. His other suggestion, to attach the cost of the garage project to a new senior center, is another incredible bit of ignorant thinking, almost as bad as the approval to build a golf course on top of a dump a few short years ago. How about we wait until 2010 and attach the garage project to the building of a new High School? I’m wondering if that fellow was a member of the golf course supporters club.
Nothing surprises more than some things one sees at town meeting. Someone said to me last week, that I go there, as if it were a spectator sport. I know he’s right, and I’m surprised more people haven’t discovered the entertainment value. At least I sit quietly, as I don’t want to be the object of entertainment, as one Selectman was hoping for last spring. I find him entertaining, but that’s a topic for another column.
Speaking of a garage, aren’t we putting the cart before the horse? We need something to attract shoppers to the downtown first. Enough of the peripherals, balloon stores, nail salons, print shops, and various other attempts that would be better suited to a cart at a Mall. We need a department store, a few clothing shops, a hobby shop, and pool hall, a bowling alley, and a theatre. It’s time people woke up to the fact that you need the downtown to become a destination. They won’t come to see a parking lot…unless someone comes up with something daffy like “artistic banners” flapping from the parking decks masquerading as “art”. (oops, someone already thought of that. never mind)
Speaking of the original Mall and the Hot Shoppes, here’s a picture. 
If you’re interested in the Natick version of the arts, go to the Natick Arts link for more. And thanks for reading.
Traveling south on Speen St as one approaches the Pond and Mill St. intersection can be a depressing experience, with all the traffic trying to get home to quiet and scenic places like Medfield, Sherborn, or Millis. Here’s a view of the intersection when there are barely any cars in front of me. 
Actually, I wish it were this serene, but the busy skies above make the hectic commute worse than it should be, because it really looks like this. 
People like to talk about the impressive “gateways” to parts of Natick. For example, someone once said the Golf Course was an impressive gateway from the south. And the Mall would be a feather in the cap as a gateway from the west. This view shows the gateway into Wethersfield.
Some towns don’t accept such abandoned newsboxes, and they are removed. In Natick, I wonder if they just shrug and think it’s someone else’s responsibility. Or more likely, nobody notices. There’s a new bylaw coming up at town meeting to regulate news boxes like these. I wish it weren’t necessary to legislate roadside blight.
My parents, and probably those of most of the readers here, retired on social security, and probably a small pension. Same with many seniors today. Just because we put away enough money in a 401K to retire comfortably doesn’t mean most people in our town have.
Agreed, some people we know may find downsizing to Tennessee would make things a little more comfortable. Isn’t the quest for affordable housing designed to try to help those who would rather stay in Natick? Most think so, I’m sure. For those who aren’t sure, I’ll mention Natick’s Cedar Gardens, the town owned elderly complex. If your parents couldn’t afford to keep their Natick home, would you like to see them live there?
Especially when you observe a $million dollars a year devoted to supporting the golf course. (Operational and loan paybacks).
Is an override to pay for a new High School, more important than where our citizens may have to live out the rest of their lives?
Many are thinking about the residential project now being planned for the site of the old Paperboard Factory. The strangely silent Director of Community Development, the Planning Board, and the Selectmen, have steered clear of mentioning elderly housing in any plans. Why? Could it be unprofitable for anyone to want to build such housing? Affordable is a good word when it suits the purpose. Housing for blue collar and first time home buyers. But when it comes to our Seniors, the “dirty little secret” called Cedar Gardens, seems to remain behind the curtain.
Responding to the words below, “false choice”, doesn’t make much sense as there isn’t enough money to do everything one would like. Choosing to build or spend millions to renovate a school before taking care of seniors has already happened. And from all the talk about a new High School, will continue to happen. Cedar Gardens is of the Wilson School era, cheaply built. It’s a little neighborhood kept quiet by those who want to project Natick to the world as a special upscale place. The Selectmen and officials who read this 2 months ago haven’t done anything about it. That shows the real truth.
