Take a drive from Union Square in Somerville (you know, where a proposed branch of the Green line extension is to go) and drive to Sullivan Square. Do it during morning rush hour. And time it. If you say it took you more than ten minutes you are lying. Also count how many busses you see.
Now do it when there is no traffic. Two minutes tops.
That’s what we are talking about here. Who are these people that need this Green line extension so bad? I said people. Not corporations that develop residential housing and get high-end prices from temporary residents called yuppies for being close to the new extension.
This is a boondoggle for a few.
It is a disgrace that $10 million cannot be found to keep the T running late a couple of nights a week. The T should be running all night 7 days a week. Much cheaper than a Green line extension and more beneficial to an exponential number of people.
Too bad poor working people don’t have the political clout of Somerville liberals.
SomervilleTom says
More drivel, again on the front page, again with ZERO content.
Here’s a news flash: People live in Somerville, near Union Square, who DON’T OWN CARS. They DON’T DRIVE, because they CAN’T AFFORD TO. Those are some of the people who need the GLX. Here is a street-view of one of the neighborhoods we’re talking about (we peons correctly lack the credentials needed to do the iframe imbed). Here is another. These are densely-packed residential neighborhoods filled with working-class people. They are NOT “yuppies” — and even if they were, so what?
The PEOPLE who need this Green Line extension LIVE here. Maybe if EB3 spent less time pounding out dishonest rubbish like this and actually WALKED ALONG the proposed GLX route, he or she might actually learn something worth repeating. Maybe not, though. These bogeymen that EB3 paints are tired scapegoats — “corporations that develop residential housing … temporary residents called yuppies”?
Instead of taking cheapshots unsupported by facts, perhaps EB3 might offer real substance, actual DATA that could be examined. That won’t happen, though, because in fact it HAS been done, the groundwork for the GLX is chock full of it, and such inconvenient facts don’t fit the hate-filled narrative that EB3 offers here.
Of course the T should run late at night, as far as I’m concerned it should run 24 x 7. That is NOT cheaper than the GLX. That requires, among other things, two tracks in each direction on at least the Red and Green lines, and probably also on the Blue and Orange lines as well.
You need that so that you can have trains run on one track (in one direction) while maintenance crews (remember when the MBTA did maintenance?) work on another.
I’ll tell you where that $10M can be found — we might start with the owners of the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and whatever. We might start with the list of the 100 wealthiest residents of Massachusetts. I’ll tell you right now that NONE of those 100 live in Somerville nor fall under the rubric of “Somerville liberals” that seems to be EB3’s current scapegoat.
Posts like this are pernicious, because they sound all folksy and working-class, and in fact they accomplish nothing but pit people on the bottom against each other.
mike_cote says
If I had said exactly the same thing, word for word, as you just did, I would have people lining up to attack me for taking out my hostility on poor little picked upon EB3. I hope this does not diminish your point through “guilt by association” by my agreeing with you.
Congrats!
JimC says
It’s the either/or ness that bugs me. Ernie’s point is taken, but so is Tom’s.
None of it is cheap, all of it is needed. I would quibble a bit with late night service — that might be needed, but if everything else continues to shut down early, maybe not.
Have to say though, Tom, “pit people on the bottom” is pretty funny. I grew up in Somerville, and now can’t afford to live there. Yes, there are still many poor people there too — but they are far more in other areas of the city that the T ignores.
ryepower12 says
aren’t the (often low-income) workers who have the night shift working at hospitals or stocking shelves and so on and so forth. There are a lot of people who work at nights in many capacities, and many of them aren’t well paying jobs. All night MBTA service would help these people immensely, and there are a lot more people in these situations than one would think.
I’m glad you’re with David — it shouldn’t be an either/or — so I’m not trying to harp on you or anything like that. This is more a comment for people in general. A lot of people think the MBTA should close early because ‘everything closes early.’ The restaurants, stores and jobs they go to close early, but a lot of things don’t, and the MBTA has to service those people, too.
jconway says
New York, Chicago, and DC. Not to mention major international metros. I’ve lived in all three and all have all night service. I believe BART does this now as well, and DC and SF are closer to Boston’s size in population and area. If want to insist we are playing in the big leagues with those peers, our transit system has to be brought out of the 19th century and into the 21st.
Christopher says
…DC does not have all night service. I had to hail a cab after 12 or 1.
jconway says
My mistake, still better than Boston’s. And not every line in Chicago is all night, but the two lines going to the airports (blue and orange) and the main north-south (red) are.
Christopher says
n/t
SomervilleTom says
Indeed, according to their site, the Metro hours are:
Sun: 7a – 12a
Mon: 5a – 12a
Tue: 5a – 12a
Wed: 5a – 12a
Thu: 5a – 12a
Fri: 5a – 3a
Sat: 7a – 3a
Not NYC, for sure. I’m not sure that DC makes my threshold as an “Alpha City” — I’m jaded, though, because I grew up there.
Christopher says
…it was until 3 on Fridays and Saturdays when I was there, but I’ve never been the party to all hours type so didn’t have much reason to know.
SamTracy says
All other points aside, Google Maps shows it’s 1.5 miles from Union to Sullivan, which is 7 minutes without traffic. If you’re doing it in “two minutes tops,” you’re going 45 mph with zero stops, clearly impossible unless you’re driving like a maniac.
Ok, fine, I can’t resist hitting one other point: “temporary residents called yuppies” are people too.
jconway says
Ernie has half a point that many of those Somerville yuppies and hipsters will move to Newton, Belmont and Arlington when their kids get old enough to go to school. I’ve already seen it myself in some people I know who lived there and have since moved to those communities. That said, when they move to those towns they will now be mass transit constituents and will continue to vote as such because of the GLX. It will help turn those Tufts students, who are relatively isolated from mass transit options, into mass transit constituents when they move on to their professional lives wherever they lived.
More mass transit will breed more mass transit. The blue line extension to Chelsea and Lynn he is talking about won’t happen if GLX dies on the docket. You simply can’t get those projects then if you kill this project now.
jconway says
It took me nearly 35 minutes to get from Union Sq to the 93 on ramp during the middle of the afternoon last week. Way too many cars on narrowly confined roads in Somerville that won’t be there after GLX is built. East Somerville is largely cut off from the major bus routes by the McGrath highway, and it’s a real hike to get from Sullivan Square to other points of interest.
centralmassdad says
Did I just fail to keep up with the news?
jconway says
I was just visiting last week for the holidays, but I managed to squeeze in a job interview that went really well, so hopefully I’ll be making a permanent move back relatively soon. And if that doesn’t work and the Kennedy School will have me, you’ll see me in the Fall.
centralmassdad says
đŸ™‚
thebaker says
if you are in Chicago this time next year. You in?
jconway says
Since I don’t want to make you pay for one đŸ˜‰
petr says
… when did a huge differential in travel times for private transportation (i.e. ‘congestion”) become a reason *NOT* to enhance public transportation? ?
Time to adjust your meds Ernie… them voices in your head have commenced disagreeing amongst themselves again…
centralmassdad says
Ouch, ernie
eb3-fka-ernie-boch-iii says
Somerville is served exteemely well by the T when compared to other neasr by poorer communities.
Charley on the MTA says
Firstly, Somerville is the densest-populated city in Massachusetts. If that’s not where you should put transit, I don’t know where. Secondly, plenty of Somerville is nothing like the yuppie paradise described — between Ball Square and Lechmere are blue-collar and immigrant neighborhoods, as was Union Square until not long ago. Thirdly, it’s incredibly congested during rush hours, as noted.
But most ironically, Somerville’s yuppie-dom was practically *created* by mass transit! Davis was a dump until the Red Line came in. The Green Line Extension has already caused *some* gentrification.
And most pointlessly, this case would have to have been made years ago, with 20/20 foresight.
JimC says
Gentrification? This is the goal?
Way to prove Ernie’s point, Charley.
If anyone needs me I’ll be at Scott’s Garage, buying some meat at McKinnons, or getting a (rumored) six pack to go on Sunday night at the Rosebud.
jconway says
You can now buy tote bags emblazoned with the name. Hopefully this notoriety among the foodie set doesn’t raise the prices. I went out of my way to get tips from there for my last meal before I left. If the Sligo goes gluten free, you’ll know it’s over.
SomervilleTom says
The Family Dollar is still next door to McKinnons. McKinnon’s is hardly haute cousine — those want upscale meats still go to Savenor’s in Cambridge.
Those who want a six-pack to go have multiple opportunities. The Sligo remains unchanged, as does Mikes. The McDonald’s is gone (good riddance).
The Rosebud was bought and refurbished by the owners of the Painted Burro (next door). The renovation was tasteful, the establishment is much improved, and the prices are still moderate.
Those who want shi-shi in Davis Square end up at Dave’s Fresh Pasta, The Spoke, The Foundry (or The Speakeasy, downstairs) and a few others.
JimC says
I’m pretty sure you can’t buy a sixpack to go on Sunday night at any of these places.
Then again, the Burren did defy the smoking ban for a while, so who knows?
SomervilleTom says
If it absolutely MUST be Davis Square on a Sunday night, a six-pack to go is easily acquired at Downtown Wine & Spirits (pretty much next door to the Rosebod) up to 11p.
I’m not denying that Davis Square has been gentrifying, real estate prices near there have sky-rocketed. I’m just saying that much of old-school Somerville is still very much alive and kicking.
Charley on the MTA says
From McKinnon’s …
“Dump” is not a nice thing to say, you’re right – I shouldn’t say it. But the train came before the yuppies, not the other way around.
No, the “goal” is not gentrification – where do you get that from? That’s what tends to happen — not always, see Malden Center — because trains are a nice amenity and *there aren’t enough of them.*
jconway says
Instead of quibbling over whether Somerville deserves the project more than another community, perhaps we can agree in acknowledging that yes, many other communities require similar transit projects of their own. Maybe even they require it more. But the question is, will killing GLX make it more or less likely for those projects to happen?
And maybe, the Somerville delegation of officials can become leaders (and Curtatone to his credit already is) in ensuring that this project be done under budget, on time, and can be used to spur similar projects in more needed areas down the line. Maybe they can endorse projects for Lynn and other communities, and maybe we can start looking beyond our own neighborhoods and towns and really start some regional planning to address this regional need.