Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways

 January 2021, Newsletter  Comments Off on Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways
Jan 052021
 
Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways

The Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways group is a volunteer coalition of gardeners and native plant enthusiasts that has come together to promote and create more pollinator habitats in our region in response to the significant declines in native pollinator species such as bees, butterflies, wasps, and moths. The group is mapping private and public pollinator gardens in the Mystic and Metrowest Charles River watershed communities to show existing resources and identify where more are needed (see the map. The group currently includes sites in Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Lexington, Medford, Newton, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, and Woburn, and welcomes new participants. [READ MORE]

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Thank you, Mary Bradley

 January 2021, Newsletter  Comments Off on Thank you, Mary Bradley
Dec 312020
 
Thank you, Mary Bradley

The Belmont Citizens Forum is sad to announce the departure of Mary Bradley from her post as managing editor. Mary joined the BCF Newsletter crew in January 2018, and quickly impressed everyone with her good cheer and indefatiguable energy for recruiting writers, photographers, and artists to contribute to the newsletter. Mary’s tenacity, patience, and persistence in pursuing people and stories has strengthened the newsletter, leading the BCF to new ideas and new people. After nearly two years of keeping track and tracking down, Mary has decided to take a break. We are grateful for her contributions, and wish her well [READ MORE]

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Belmont Roots January 2021

 January 2021, Newsletter  Comments Off on Belmont Roots January 2021
Dec 312020
 
Belmont Roots January 2021

Welcome to another year. We are still limited to mostly solitary entertainments—long walks and webinars—but there are still more places and topics to explore. Are you sure you’ve actually walked everywhere you can? Several local communities have maps of cross-town walking trails that include parks, greenways, art installations, historical markers, and other sites. You can find town-wide walking maps for Arlington: bit.ly/BCFArlWalk Belmont: bit.ly/BCFBelmontWalks West Cambridge: bit.ly/BCFWestCWalks Waltham: walthamlandtrust.org/trail-guides Watertown: bit.ly/BCFWatertownWalks And have you looked at everything? Yes, it’s cold, but most things that live outside around here don’t migrate for the winter. Trees can’t fly, and frogs can’t hop [READ MORE]

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Historic Reischauer House Demolished

 Historic Preservation, January 2021, Newsletter  Comments Off on Historic Reischauer House Demolished
Dec 312020
 
Historic Reischauer House Demolished

By Gary Wolf, FAIA Belatedly learning of the demolition of the Edwin O. Reischauer Memorial House in Belmont was disappointing on two counts. First, because the residence/cultural center was under my radar. I had not known about it, even though my architectural practice was based in Belmont for four years, and I have worked on such nearby local landmarks as the Belmont Woman’s Club’s William Flagg Homer House. And second, because not only have I been active in historic preservation, but, even more specifically, I’ve been an advocate for preserving “the recent past”—buildings like the Reischauer House that date from [READ MORE]

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Rock Meadow Design Wins International Award

 Environment, January 2021, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking  Comments Off on Rock Meadow Design Wins International Award
Dec 312020
 
Rock Meadow Design Wins International Award

By Jeffrey North The Town of Belmont and the Belmont Conservation Commission congratulates Northeastern University Civil and Environmental Engineering graduates Samantha Kinnaly, Kate Engler, Annie Lamonte, and Emma Totsubo on the recent awards for their design of the main entrance and green infrastructure stormwater management at Belmont’s Rock Meadow conservation area. The project was developed during the spring 2020 capstone course under the supervision of Professor Annalis Onnis-Hayden of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department in partnership with the Belmont Conservation Commission. (See “New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, May/June 2020.) Their project won first place [READ MORE]

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Committee Battles Invasives at Lone Tree Hill

 January 2021, McLean, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants  Comments Off on Committee Battles Invasives at Lone Tree Hill
Dec 302020
 
Committee Battles Invasives at Lone Tree Hill

By Jeffrey North On November 3, field technicians engaged by the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC) and the Judy Record Conservation Fund began a multi-year campaign to restore select parcels of the Lone Tree Hill conservation land. This initial project focused on invasive plant removal at Area A1, where horticulturalists from Parterre Ecological Services began restoration of the shrub layer by hand-cutting the bittersweet vines that were smothering the largest trees and employing a forestry mower to cut down the buckthorn and multiflora rose. Lone Tree Hill—like public, private, and protected lands elsewhere—is gradually being overrun by [READ MORE]

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Belmont Traffic Committee Chair Tells All

 Air Quality, January 2021, Newsletter, Parking, Traffic  Comments Off on Belmont Traffic Committee Chair Tells All
Dec 302020
 
Belmont Traffic Committee Chair Tells All

By Sumner Brown Dana Miller chairs Belmont’s Transportation Advisory Committee. She has been a member of the Traffic Advisory Committee, the predecessor to the Transportation Advisory Committe (TAC), since 2009. I talked with Miller in November 2020. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. BCF The name of your committee changed from Traffic Advisory Committee to Transportation Advisory Committee. Why? Miller The Select Board changed the committee name in 2019 to make clear that the committee’s responsibilities encompass safety for pedestrians and those on bicycles, as well as those traveling in vehicles. BCF Who are the members of [READ MORE]

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Bikeway Building Booms Beyond Belmont

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, January 2021, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on Bikeway Building Booms Beyond Belmont
Dec 302020
 
Bikeway Building Booms Beyond Belmont

By John Dieckmann. Photos by John Dieckmann In January, biking might not be on too many people’s minds, but with spring only a couple of months away, this seems like a good time to take stock of the regional rail trail network. The Belmont Community Path is a short but essential link in the long distance Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT), which connects to several other rail trails in its 104 miles from Northpoint Park in Cambridge, near the Science Museum, westward all the way to Northampton. This update covers the roughly 30 miles of the MCRT and connecting trails [READ MORE]

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Building Booms on Belmont’s Border

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Construction and Housing, January 2021, Newsletter, Open Space, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on Building Booms on Belmont’s Border
Dec 302020
 
Building Booms on Belmont's Border

By Meg Muckenhoupt Since aggressively upzoning the Alewife area a decade ago, Cambridge has permitted hundreds of thousands of square feet of new development in the Quadrangle neighborhood adjacent to Belmont, and bordered by Fresh Pond Parkway, Fitchburg line railroad tracks—and Concord Avenue. Now, even more development could solve some long-standing transportation issues, or it could make getting out of Belmont or traveling around the entire Fresh Pond area even more difficult. Why build in the Quadrangle now? Unlike the rest of Cambridge, the Quadrangle has a history of sparse development. Originally one of the lowest-lying areas of the Mystic [READ MORE]

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