Tag Archives: Dennis Carlone

“We tried to break up, but they wouldn’t accept that it was over.”

Dear Abby:

This is very painful to talk about, but I need some guidance. Last Tuesday a group of fellow Cambridge residents and myself tried to break off our relationship with our Planning Board, but they just wouldn’t listen. All evening we kept telling them they no longer held a place in our hearts, and that we felt betrayed by their falling in love with the developers they were supposed to protect us damaged heartfrom. But, alas, nothing we said seemed to penetrate the unfathomable depths of their minds. Our words were like cannonballs that turned into feathers on impact.

We told them we were sorry we had to break up; that we had loved them once and they had done a great job helping us recover from hard times. But hard times were over, speaker after speaker told them bluntly, and now we needed guard dogs to protect us from developers rather than lap dogs to lick their fingers.

Abby, we did our best to be sensitive to their feelings. We told them we still liked them and, rather than take away all their power to cram ugly, dense buildings into our neighborhoods, we were only going to take away projects 50,000 square feet or larger, which would then be subject to City Council approval. It was like saying we would still go out on dates with them, but they could no longer assume they’d be staying the night when the evening was done.

But apparently we were speaking to people who couldn’t understand our language. We would say, “You’ve done everything but roll over and play dead for developers, approving 49 out of 49 projects and never rejecting a single one.” To which they’d reply, “But nobody on the city council is qualified to make these decisions. We have a combined total of over 75 years Planning Board experience.” To which we would answer, “Yes, but you’re using that experience to undermine our quality of life, jam up our roads, and totally change the character and makeup of Cambridge’s uniquely diversified population.” To which they responded, “Yes, and the city council is just not qualified to take on those responsibilities.”

Abby, I wish I could have taken their little heads in my hands and shouted “Listen, folks, it’s over! We don’t love you anymore. We don’t even like you. It’s time we went our separate ways. And, please, take the Community Development Department, the Traffic Department and the City Solicitor with you!”

But it was all to naught, Abby. Not surprisingly they acted as though they would never let us go, voting against the Carlone petition and ignoring our pleas to be freed from this excruciatingly painful relationship.

Please, Abby, tell us what we can do to rescue ourselves and Cambridge from the grip of an overly possessive Planning Board while there’s still a Cambridge worth rescuing?

(signed)

Growing More Desperate Daily

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In case it’s not obvious from the essay, Cambridge is going through a period of runaway development aided and abetted (some of us believe) by a Planning Board seemingly dedicated to protecting the rights of developers, often against the wishes, rights and best interests of Cambridge’s current property owners. The Carlone Petition, initiated by City Councilor Dennis Carlone, seeks to strengthen the city’s vigilance against the approval of egregious large projects at a time when the city is undergoing a process to develop a Master Plan.

Ironically, this was the first petition in recent history the Planning Board firmly rejected. The score is now 49 to 1 and, in case you haven’t noticed, Cambridge is losing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cambridge Residents Alliance Endorses Dennis Carlone for Cambridge City Council

The following notice was sent out by the Cambridge Residents Alliance:
DENNIS CARLONE FOR CITY COUNCIL!

Dear Friends,

The Cambridge Residents Alliance has endorsed Dennis Carlone for City Council and we are writing to ask that you give him your #1 vote on Tuesday Nov. 5. Among a crowded field that includes other worthy candidates, we believe that Dennis stands out as the truly exceptional choice. His presence in this race comes at a crucial time for our city.Dennis

Cambridge is at a tipping point. The city faces more than 18 million square feet of recent and possible new development. More development has been approved in the past two years than was built in the previous twenty. If all plans come to pass, they will bring tens of thousands of additional car trips per day and transit trips per day into our city—with no significant improvements on the horizon for our already congested streets, intersections, subway cars and buses.

Dennis is an urban planner and architect who has worked with the city for more than 30 years. He was responsible for the East Cambridge Waterfront / Lechmere Canal redevelopment, a billion-dollar project that reclaimed 40 acres of polluted, formerly industrial land. In that project as in all others, he worked closely with the neighborhood, incorporating its needs and goals into the plans.

In fact, listening to and respecting the neighborhoods is at the very heart of Dennis’s approach to city planning. He believes current development in Cambridge is unbalanced, with too much emphasis on commercial building and not enough on residential. He is concerned about noise and light pollution, about proposals for huge glass towers that would be environmentally unsound and inappropriately placed in lower-lying residential neighborhoods. He is disturbed that people with less means are being pushed out of our neighborhoods by rapidly rising rents. He believes MIT should house its graduate students and post-docs. Dennis has declined to accept contributions from real estate interests.

While there are other able candidates running for City Council, we feel that it is essential to have Dennis’s expertise on the Council. Decisions made in the next few years will determine whether we retain the kind of economic and racial and age diversity that made Cambridge the city we love, or whether it becomes solely a high-tech, wealthy mecca. Dennis Carlone will help us chart a course that’s true to our values.

Please forward this message to family and friends, with your own personal note. And if you can, volunteer for the Carlone campaign! See contact information below. Dennis is not as well known as some of the incumbents. Every volunteer in these last few days can make a difference! Thank you!

—The Cambridge Residents Alliance

To contact the Dennis Carlone Campaign, call 617-682-0657 or email: DennisCarloneforCityCouncil@gmail.com. Be sure to leave all your contact information and the volunteer coordinator, Sue Kennedy, will get back to you. Or visit campaign headquarters at 426 Broadway across from the Cambridge Public Library.

Cambridge Residents Alliance
http://www.cambridgeresidentsalliance.org/