Looking for your next way to get involved? Bring your questions, say hello, and discover opportunities to engage, volunteer, and learn more about what’s happening in Belmont. It’s a welcoming space to get to know the people and programs that strengthen our community. Please note that the location of the event has changed and will now take place at the Beech Street Center.
This year, Belmont continues the tradition of a town-wide food drive and will beautify outside spaces with invasive Japanese knotweed removal and cleaning up Pequossette park. Co-sponsored by Belmont Conservation Volunteers & Belmont Food Pantry.
Belmont Citizens Forum invites writers, researchers, photographers, and engaged neighbors from across Belmont to help shape the next generation of stories about our town. For more than two decades, our bimonthly newsletter has offered in‑depth, independent coverage of issues ranging from the Community Path and rail‑trail planning to Rock Meadow and Lone Tree Hill conservation, historic preservation, and the health of the Mystic Watershed. Now we are looking for new voices to explore what comes next. Do you care about how Town Meeting decisions affect neighborhoods, climate resilience, transportation, or housing? Are you curious about the people who keep Belmont [READ MORE]
Over the past two months, Belmont Citizens Forum received several letters from readers. These letters appeared in the September/October 2026 issue and are reproduced here for those who may have missed them. A letter from Larry Link In his article in the July / August Newsletter, Traffic Jam! TAC Raises Transportation Issues, Chip Gaysunas presented a good description of the Transportation Advisory Committee’s (TAC) work. I appreciate the many efforts of volunteers serving on boards and committees, and TAC is an important one for Belmont. I served on the TAC for almost 5 years and on the HS/MS Traffic Task Force, [READ MORE]
By Jeffrey North On a summer day at Stonefield Farm in South Acton, rows of lettuce, tomatoes, and callaloo are harvested not for a farmstand or supermarket but for food banks, pantries, and community kitchens. That distinction captures what makes Boston Area Gleaners unusual: it operates as both a working farm and a regional food–access organization, using Stonefield to grow food and move large volumes of fresh produce efficiently to communities facing hunger. For Belmont readers, the story is worth attention not only because it involves a nearby preserved farm, but also because it shows how food access depends as [READ MORE]
By Amalia Müller “I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service, and my Health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.” The 4-H Pledge 4-H is an organization I participate in, and it has brought me my closest friends and made me a better, more well-rounded person. 4-H is a nonprofit youth organization similar to the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Unlike Scouts, 4-H is mixed ages and genders. The 4-H age groups are: Cloverbuds (ages 5-7), Juniors (ages 8-13), and Seniors (ages 14-18). [READ MORE]
By Anne Marie Mahoney What should a bereavement support group and town government have in common? A deep respect for participants’ experience of loss. I do bereavement work, facilitating programs on coping with grief and loss in church settings and the Beech Street Center. Through Boston College, I teach other facilitators how to lead bereavement programs. How is this work relevant to Belmont politics? Reflecting on the divisive controversies over the naming of the new skating rink and the Belmont Center overlay zoning proposal, I realized that many speaking out on these issues were acting from a place of loss. [READ MORE]
By Omar Albarbari Every summer, harmful algal blooms (HABs) affect lakes and ponds across Massachusetts, sometimes leading to swimming advisories or closures. These blooms can produce toxins that threaten people, pets, and wildlife. Monitoring is expensive, and many of our local bodies of water are affected by these algal blooms. At the time of this writing, Hardy Pond in Waltham has an active bloom, resulting in warnings against swimming, fishing, and boating. HABs are rapid overgrowths of cyanobacteria or algae that have many negative consequences. They can block sunlight, exhaust dissolved oxygen and nutrients, and release cyanotoxins into the water. [READ MORE]
By Jeffrey North A share of a $200‑million‑per‑year corridor A recent analysis commissioned by the Norwottuck Network estimates that finishing the 104‑mile Mass Central Rail Trail from Northampton to Boston could generate over $200 million in new economic activity each year, driven chiefly by trail‑oriented tourism and associated spending. The study projects 4 to 5.5 million annual visitors if the corridor is completed, with the investment in remaining gaps paying for itself in under a year. Belmont’s Community Bike Path is one of those gaps; without it, the corridor remains discontinuous, and the full tourism and spending potential cannot be [READ MORE]
By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Cambridge Point is the biggest, but not the only Cambridge development that will impact Belmont’s plans for Brighton Street. Bordering the proposed HCOD on two sides was, until early August, a frumpy 1.5-story brick- and wood-shingled commercial building at 87-101 Blanchard Road in Cambridge. Built in 1970, it was the last building on Blanchard before the street name changes to Brighton as it continues north. The building used to house retail businesses including Able Rug, The Quilt Shop, The Knittin’ Kitten, Orient Sunshine Massage, Sewing & Vac Center, and a Pepperidge Farms outlet store, but has [READ MORE]
By Vincent Stanton, Jr. At Town Meeting this fall (or possibly next spring), the Belmont Planning Board, in collaboration with the Office of Planning and Building, will sponsor an article proposing a new zoning overlay for the Brighton Street General Business district, the Hill’s Crossing Overlay District (HCOD). The proposed zoning is analogous to the form-based code adopted by Town Meeting in March for Belmont Center (BCOD) and shares similar goals and methods: to revitalize an area that is not fulfilling its economic potential by increasing the scale and scope of what can be built “by right,” including new housing [READ MORE]
Read the July/August 2026 BCF Newsletter Meet Belmont’s Natural Resources Manager: Will McPhee William “Will” McPhee brings a background in forestry, horticulture, and municipal land stewardship to his new role as Belmont’s new natural resources manager and conservation agent. In this interview with Jeffrey North, McPhee discusses Belmont’s urban tree canopy, invasive species, climate resilience, open-space stewardship, and the role residents can play in caring for the town’s natural resources. The Library Garden’s New Look Goes With The Flow of Wellington Brook By Fred Bouchard. Landscape architect Glen Valentine of Stimson, principal on the garden redesign in collaboration [READ MORE]
By Jeffrey North The long–planned “Zone 3” housing on McLean land is finally moving forward with construction of a 150‑unit, all‑electric housing complex poised to become one of the town’s most significant new sources of both market‑rate and affordable homes. Construction is visible from the Coal Road as it winds up Belmont Hill from Pleasant Street. Brief History of Zone 3 In 1999 Belmont and McLean Hospital consummated an agreement that rezoned 238 acres of McLean land. In exchange for upzoning some of the undeveloped land surrounding the McLean campus to permit commercial development Belmont received 119 acres of conservation [READ MORE]
By John Beaty This story is the second article about the William Flagg Homer House in Belmont. The first, “Who Built the Homer House?” (BCF Newsletter, September/October 2025 issue), focused on how the house was financed, designed, and built. Here, we will describe the extraordinary effort local women made to purchase the grand old house for their Belmont Woman’s Club (BWC). This purchase was made in the context of the suffragists’ campaign for women’s rights across the country. Women’s clubs were established to free women from the home and to provide them refuge, empowerment, enjoyment, and opportunities to serve their communities. [READ MORE]
By Elissa Ely Most of us work in one profession; maybe two, if there’s a second chapter. A rare number find themselves in three. But vanishingly few have led so many lives that it’s hard to keep count (and for that matter, hard to limit the words on their profile). If someone introduced you to Cabell Eames today, it would be as founder of Castling Strategies, a woman-owned policy consulting and advocacy firm. The public interest initiatives she shepherds include climate change, social justice, and immigration reform. Her position requires a polymath: someone with scientific comprehension, political and interpersonal sophistication, [READ MORE]
By Chip Gaysunas Due to Belmont’s central location in the greater Boston area, its streets experience significant cut-through traffic and congestion daily. Many of Belmont’s streets date to the 1800s and were not designed to handle the speed, weight, and volume of vehicles currently using them. Unfortunately, motorists cutting through Belmont rarely consider the impact their speed and distracted driving can have on pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists. Streets leading to and through Belmont Center, Waverley Square, and Cushing Square typically see the highest daily traffic volume. However, streets serving schools, parks, and other town amenities also experience significant daily [READ MORE]
A Summary of OSRP Virtual Public Meeting, Thursday, May 28, at 6:30 PM By Jeffrey North Belmont’s Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) is nearing completion after eight months of technical analysis and public engagement. At the final public meeting on May 28 residents called for a balance between recreational uses and the protection of natural resources. The 10–year plan will now be refined and submitted to the state’s Division of Conservation Services (DCS), within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Upon DCS approval Belmont will become eligible for important open space and recreation grants. Belmont’s last OSRP [READ MORE]
By Fred Bouchard “I saw the Wellington Brook as the most important ‘book’ in the library’s collection.” – Glen Valentine Whenever you visit the new Belmont Public Library, take time to visit the garden. Time out a bit from words and pages. Sit on a bench or rock wall. Amble about the paths. Read a poem aloud. Breathe in the trees’ oxygen. Quiz a robin. Play a wooden flute. Admire the bright azaleas. Look up at the seductive magnolias. Worship the majestic Dawn Redwood. Declaim from the amphitheater. But, above all, be sure to watch (and listen to) the Wellington Brook [READ MORE]
William “Will” McPhee brings a background in forestry, horticulture, and municipal land stewardship to his new role as Belmont’s new natural resources manager. A graduate of Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School’s horticulture program, McPhee went on to study parks, recreation, and tourism at the University of Maine, where he later earned a master’s degree in forestry. McPhee worked with the City of Bangor, Maine, on its emerald ash borer response program, helping the city plan for a pest that has damaged ash trees across much of the country. In Belmont, he first took on the role of tree warden [READ MORE]
By Radha Iyengar On a sunny and cool Saturday, April 25, the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its 12th annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. The volunteers included Girl Scout Troop 84205, Cityside Subaru employees, volunteers from Habitat, and citizens from Belmont and the surrounding communities. Many hands made light work. This year we had three different work locations. At the Meadow Edge Trail, volunteers planted 60 white pine saplings and five eastern red cedar saplings. These trees will eventually create shade as another way to make it harder for the buckthorn [READ MORE]