Correction: July Updates from Somerville YIMBY

Somernova and more

Author

Aaron Weber
July 02, 2024

Correction - the book club is not in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, it’s Sunday the 13th. An updated version of this afternoon’s newsletter is below:

We’ve got quite a few big meetings coming up in the next couple weeks, and we hope to see you there:

Land Use Committee & Planning Board Joint Meeting: There are several key items on the agenda for this one, including Somernova and two significant upzoning proposals from different builders. Tuesday, July 9, online via Zoom.

Somerville YIMBY Monthly Meeting: We’ll be discussing the prior night’s meetings, SomerNova, and upcoming elections at our monthly meeting for business. Wednesday, July 10, 6-7 pm, online via Zoom.

POSTPONED: Somerville YIMBY Monthly Social: We’ll delay a week because of Independence Day. Join us for a beverage and/or snack at Remnant Brewing in Bow Market on Friday, July 12, 6-8 pm.

Somerville YIMBY Book Club: Join us to talk about A Paradise of Small Houses on Sunday, July 13, from 3-4 pm at Portico Brewing in Boynton Yards. You can also pop into the book club thread on our messageboard, regardless of whether you can join in-person or not. If getting a copy would be a hardship for you, reply to this message and we’ll hook you up.

Volunteer Opportunities at MAMAS

Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) is a community group that provides direct assistance to community members who need it. That can come in the form of groceries, transportation, direct cash transfers, and more. Learn more about MAMAS here.

Key areas they’re recruiting volunteers for include air conditioner reallocation, gardening, and helping neighbors buy groceries. They have a dormant housing justice working group as well, if you have the time to get really involved. If you’re interested, drop a line to [email protected]. Of course, you can also make a financial gift and be confident knowing it will go directly to a neighbor in need.

The always-excellent Jerusalem Demsas has a great piece in the Atlantic this month (free gift article) explaining the latest Supreme Court decision on homelessness, and the origins of our current crisis:

Not since the Great Depression, when unemployment hit nearly 25 percent, have so many people sought makeshift shelter in outdoor camps... It’s not because drugs were invented in the past several decades, nor is it because mental illness was invented by Millennials.

Rather, it’s because local governments have sought to rid their housing markets of low-income people by getting rid of low-income-housing options, while ensuring that the rest of the market would become prohibitively expensive. Localities simply displaced the most vulnerable residents to the outdoors, hoping that life would be so uncomfortable that these people would migrate to some other community.