Brighton Main Streets Community Plan Meeting Presentation School Foundation Community Room Thursday April, 10th 2015 Meeting convened at 6:30pm A class from MIT’s Master’s program in Urban Planning conducted a study on the Brighton Main Streets district. This class (not these particular students but past classes) have conducted similar studies on main street districts in other Boston neighborhoods and throughout the country. The project began in January with fieldwork, interviews, and analysis that is being presented here tonight. Students focused on the commercial area down Washington between St. Elizabeth’s and Oak Square. ●
Some insight from interviews: ○
Brighton is like an island within Boston
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It can be a destination location
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Brighton has never looked better
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Brighton is a very unique area
Physical Analysis- Looking at the physical features of Brighton ●
Historical character, a lot of historic buildings and heritage
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Duality- a lot of dual identities in Brighton, part of the city but it’s own place, students/young professionals and families/older residents
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Anchor institutions- St. Elizabeth’s, WGBH, YMCA, BC, New Balance
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Streetscape- Keep in mind we experienced during the snow ○
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What makes a street pleasant to walk along? ■
Open facades
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Street trees
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wide sidewalks
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Clean storefronts
What makes it unpleasant? ■
Blank walls
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landscaping issues
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narrower sidewalks
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Transportation ○
Almost 100 off street public spaces in the Brighton Ct. area
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1200 public spaces all together
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Parking issues usually due to cars being left in spots for long periods of time, not lack of spaces
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Excellent bus connections 65, 64, 57, 86- the headway of the buses is not as convenient though
Economic Analysis ●
There is a gap between Oak Square and Brighton Center area
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Establishing the trade area- who primarily shops here? ○
Primary- Brighton residents
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Secondary- stretches out to Allston, Brookline, Newton areas
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Concerns about families leaving and “student ghettos”
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The majority of the population is between 18 and 34
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Overall there was a 6% decrease in population
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Small increase in population of young children (+1%) and adults over 55 (+4%)
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Decrease in families
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Decline in household income-possibly due to increase of students
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Brighton v. Boston overall: ○
Brighton is 60% younger
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Median income on par with city
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Race- Brighton is mostly white but has a large Asian population
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Some concerns- vacant spaces, number of take-out restaurants
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There are 179 business in the Brighton Main Streets area
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11% are vacant- this is 23% of the square footage
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Need to look at the spending capacity of the area and the business demand ○
Demand for more retail services
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Some potential for food and beverage growth, possibly a grocery store?
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Compared to competing districts Brighton is lacking retail and has a lot of vacant spaces
4 Concepts to focus on ●
Health and Wellness
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Arts and Culture
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Dual Identities
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Preserve and Amplify What’s Good
Strategies ●
Business recruitment and marketing
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Pedestrian Experience
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Programming
Following the presentation everyone broke up into groups based on the 4 concepts, discussed, and then reported out.
Arts and Culture ●
Use the space in the commons by the library/senior center ○
fashion, music, theatre
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Collaborate- have different shops, businesses collaborate on art/dance/music projects
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Summer Street Fair- street art, outdoor shopping
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History walks
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Botanical Garden or arboretum
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More businesses, co-working space ○
Possible location? Not sure
Health and Wellness ●
Utilize what’s here
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Biking
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Hubway stations
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Bike lanes
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Use what’s here to unite the community, bring together families and young people/students
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Create awareness about existing events and programs
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Utilize open spaces for health and wellness (outdoor tai-chi class etc)
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Utilize local news and blogs to get information out, better utilize the TAB
Preserving What Works ●
Have to identify the things that we don’t want to lose
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It is nice to have a varied business district/one stop shopping (banking, deli, shopping, etc)
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We need to figure out how to make Brighton unique without losing hurting businesses and residents
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Want to maintain the suburban/urban balance- want to manage, not stop, growth
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Farmers’ Market?
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Walking Tours?
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Debate over chain retail stores (do we want to keep chains out of Brighton?)
Dual Identities ●
Coordinate existing resources and publicize better
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Students/young professionals and families/elderly residents, trying to find balance ○
Bars/restaurants/dining- families can utilize in the early evening then can cater to young professionals later at night
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Rock climbing- there is a wall at the YMCA
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Possibly expanding businesses that have been successful in other neighborhoods