News & Announcements

Support Social Housing at the Statehouse

The state legislature is preparing a

Housing Bond Bill

, and Rep. Mike Connolly is among a group calling for it to include a pilot program to fund mixed-income social housing. Emulating successful programs from Vienna to Montgomery County, MD, the proposed program could avoid many of the pitfalls of public housing in the US. Rep. Connolly and his team are gathering signatures to co-sign their

open letter in support

. Somerville YIMBY will be endorsing it as a group, and we encourage everyone to

sign on to endorse it as well!

Update on Mayor's "FAB 2.0" Proposals

Mayor Ballantyne is developing some proposals to update the fabrication (FAB) district to emphasize arts and creative enterprises. Ward 2 Councilor JT Scott

hosted a meeting about them Tuesday night

, and members can review our notes and

join in the ongoing discussion on our messageboard

. If you're not yet a member, reply to this message for access to the messageboard and chat server.

  Broadway Planning Kickoff

Medford and Somerville planning teams are working on ways to coordinate development along Broadway, especially on parcels that are partially in Somerville and partially in Medford. They'll be hosting a

kickoff meeting on Monday, January 22

, from 6-8 pm at the Healey School. If you live, work, shop, eat, or play nearby, this is a great opportunity to make your voice heard!

Union Square Main Streets: Keeping Small Strong

Our friends at Union Square Main Streets — the group responsible for the Fluff Festival and the Union Square Farmers' Market as well as small business support services — are preparing for the next phase of Union Square's growth and development. They'll be hosting a

Keeping Small Strong

Neighborhood Open House (with pizza!) on Tuesday, January 23 from 4-7pm at Counter Culture, 374 Somerville Ave. They'll be sharing information about their recent work, gathering feedback, and discussing ways to continue and expand in the future.

RSVPs for this free event are encouraged

.

Gilman Square Community Meeting

The owners of 234-236 Street and Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan are hosting an in-person neighborhood meeting about a proposal to build apartments on that site. Join them on Tuesday, January 30, from 6:30 – 8:00 at the Park Street Park Apartments Common Room, 240 Pearl Street. For questions, please contact Councilor Jesse Clingan at [email protected].

Don't forget, you can find these and other events on our

full shareable Google calendar

!