Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition

Stephenson Aman

No answer

JT Scott

Obviously these are interconnected, but one aspect many people miss is that only 15% of Somerville's residents have jobs within Somerville. This makes transportation to employment a critical path problem which exacerbates our congestion, safety, and environmental/climate problems. We must improve public transit in the short term and build employment opportunities within Somerville to address this, both of which are essential parts of a strategy to mitigate climate change effects.

Stephenson Aman

No answer

JT Scott

I've already done this on Washington Street, demonstrating leadership by hosting local neighborhood meetings to understand the multimodal and hyperlocal use patterns on the street and developing - with community advocates - a pilot pattern proposal. That proposal was later taken up by the city's Mobility Dept in collaboration with the MBTA to create a pilot project, creating bus slip lanes, bike lanes, and proposing crosswalk protections and shortenings, which will inform the full-width redesign of Washington St in 2023.

Similarly, on Laurel St I am working with the mobility department and local residents to create new curb extensions and traffic lane diversions to shorten pedestrian crossings and structurally reduce vehicular speeds on this problematic north-south connecting street, which will eliminate some parking spaces for the net benefit of all users of the street.

With a new mayoral administration, I see no reason to stop now. I look forward to working with Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets and other advocates to continue to improve equitable and safe access and mobility for all users of our public realm - including our streets and sidewalks.

Stephenson Aman

No answer

JT Scott

As I've shown, I'm eager to put in the work above and beyond the city's customary public engagement process to enlist advocates and solicit input from residents who are not commonly present for those discussions. By creating those smaller engagement processes, we not only see increased engagement but also a greater willingness to engage openly and earnestly with the shared challenges and demands of businesses, residents, and all users of our street network.

With that kind of engagement, we can find a path to the common goal that most of us have in common: a safer, shared public realm.

I also think it's critical that we begin to approach these projects with a more local-hire focus as well, instead of outsourcing the work to contract firms, including out-of-state firms. We need to recognize that our infrastructure work will take decades and that maintenance is eternal - and that money and jobs should remain in our community for the betterment of all and the rebuilding of a robust working class who can afford to live in Somerville.

Stephenson Aman

I have been disabled for 15 years and first got around in a wheelchair and now I walk extremely slowly with a cane. So this issue is personal for me. Sidewalks must be repaired in a timely manner and snow removal must include wheelchair sidewalk cuts.

JT Scott

In the 2021 budget I proposed specific positions for people with ADA expertise in the engineering and inspectional services departments to directly address our need to have in-house capacity for redesign work on existing infrastructure for disability access improvements. Those were disappointingly not filled, but going forward we should at least meet those minimum standards and continue to work with our Disabilities Commission and community advocates to create a more robust partnership that puts accessibility first in our pedestrian network design.

Stephenson Aman

As Co-chair of Somervision 2040 I worked on this issue and will work to bring the most resistant to change communities on board.

JT Scott

As said before, short-term I have worked with stakeholders in my ward (and will continue in the future) to inform the design process and advocate for Complete Streets elements which understand the context of existing street usage and push towards safer and more accessible streets for all users. In the medium-term we need to improve public transit access and safe bicycle infrastructure to make those modalities more suitable to serving more users' transportation needs.

Long term, the goal of massively reducing VMT can only be achieved by building local employment opportunities for our residents here and improving access to essential neighborhood services (like food access and other residential amenities). By creating a truly local network of services and employment, rebuilding our working and middle class' ability to live and work in a neighborhood without reliance on personal automobiles, we can transform the experience of our streets.

Stephenson Aman

I was a featured speaker at the Safe Streets rally with Ayanna Pressley and have been pushing for actions on these issues.First as president of the Mystic Tenants Association, I became aware of the dangers but once we had more political capital, change happened quickly. I will reach out to those in high office to fight for these issues. In addition I work for recognition of those who were killed at those intersections.

JT Scott

The recent example set forth by Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets shows how it will take a coalition of local, state, and federal elected officials working in tight alignment with community advocates to push these agencies to make essential changes. I was glad to support that effort, and will do everything I can to work with leaders like Rep Pressley, Rep Uyterhoeven, and Rep Connolly to apply pressure and get these changes made.

Stephenson Aman

I need to learn more about the options

JT Scott

I've already done this, in the Washington St pilot project detailed above, which added bus slip lanes and bicycle lanes to an important stretch of the route. That project in particular is improving trip speeds and reliability on the 86 bus, the most heavily used bus line in Somerville. I look forward to doing more of this to improve the 87, 91, and CT2 - 3 other critical lines that serve Somerville and the surrounding area.

Stephenson Aman

As a disabled black man, I rely on the bus network to get to work everyday. I am all to aware of how people like me are not considered in thinking about these issues. I can guarantee everyone who needs bus service will be represented.

JT Scott

I look forward to participating in the public comment processes coming out of the Better Bus Project to ensure that we have expanded frequency and modified routes, particularly improving north-south access in Somerville. While Ward 2 is blessed with better MBTA service than many areas in Somerville, there is absolutely room for improvement.

Stephenson Aman

Again, from living in the Mystic Apartments, I am all to aware of this issue. The promised barriers have not been delivered and I will fight for those. I will also fight for thousands of more trees to help with the air.

JT Scott

Taking our cues from the residents in these areas and knowledgeable community advocates, we absolutely need barriers to mitigate particulate dispersal on those nearby I-93 in Somerville to improve health outcomes inside and outside homes. Beyond that, I've supported local legislation to require improved air filtration on new construction projects in the area within a quarter mile of I-93, a critical dispersal zone.

In addition, we need to reckon with the damage already done to the health of those in these communities, improving support and health care in recognition of the struggles faced by young and old residents alike in these areas impacted by the reckless infrastructure choices of the past.

Stephenson Aman

I would build a coalition of like minded groups to advocate for city issues.

JT Scott

As we've seen with the existing interface points for the MBTA, the existing avenues for public engagement are frequently inadequate. It's incumbent on those of us in public office to help gain access for community advocates to shape those decision making processes regardless of the existing formal methods for providing feedback, and continuing to develop relationships with state-level elected and appointed officials who shape policy at the MBTA (and future FMCB) will be an important role for every elected official in Somerville.

Stephenson Aman

Housing for working families and for those who do not make enough for ""affordable housing."" The definition is a misnomer.

JT Scott

I believe that we must leverage those ARPA funds to kickstart massive public works construction, using a local workforce, to improve our surface and subsurface infrastructure and build a stronger working class in Somerville. Part of this, specifically, must be the creation of new municipally-owned public housing, bypassing the restrictions of the Faircloth Amendment, and enabling the high-density construction of truly affordable housing for Somerville residents across the entire income spectrum, and taking a serious step towards guaranteeing housing as a human right.

I’m already working with partners in organized labor who have proven success in building mixed-income, multi-generational, family-oriented public housing projects in the region. I’m exploring strategies for securing both the land and the funding to make this dream of stable, affordable housing a reality for more of our residents. The ARPA funds can and must be part of a sophisticated combination of federal assistance, local tax revenues, bonding strategies, and lending through private vehicles such as investments from organized labor pension funds to maximize the impact of this infusion. Improving Somerville's access to other funds, such as via the FRB's Municipal Lending Facility, could also be a powerful piece of this package.

Stephenson Aman

I would love a trust fund for first time homebuyers who are coming out of public housing.

JT Scott

See above - these windfalls are best not simply spent on one-time subsidies, but leveraged with other revenue sources to create long-term structural changes which support affordable housing, transit access, and working class housing and income stabilization through changing the way we approach infrastructure and public works projects here in Somerville.

Stephenson Aman

Building more housing near public transport and increasing the density by T stations

JT Scott

This is a massive question with many parts to the answer. We must build municipal public housing to address affordability needs and create mixed-income, multi-generational, family-oriented public housing owned by the City of Somerville that is dense and located close to the GLX. In addition, we must change the way we approach the construction of these projects to include training and employment opportunities for local residents in EJ communities.

Finally, perhaps most subtly, we must work to address the cultural displacement factors which compound the gentrification effects already at work by continuing to improve zoning and economic development incentives for the creation of local businesses which serve as employment anchors and community touchstones, the backbone of a strong and diverse middle class. Focusing those efforts on enabling minority owned businesses is a critical and often overlooked aspect of mitigating cultural displacement.

Stephenson Aman

I would bring groups together to see how both sides benefit if building is done without parking.

JT Scott

I've already done this on multiple projects in Ward 2 - perhaps most visibly in a project on Somerville Ave which transformed from a 4-story project with surface parking to a taller 6-story project with more units, zero vehicular parking, and created a nearly 10k sqft public park on a third of the lot area on the most residential lot facing. Our legislative amendments restricting residential parking permit access in proximal transit areas has been a powerful tool to overcoming community concerns regarding street parking utilization, and the result of intensive community process at the hyperlocal level have been projects that include more green space, more units, and less parking.

Stephenson Aman

I would want both.

JT Scott

This question demands a bit more nuance than a simple mathematical analysis. As frustrating an answer as it can be, ""it depends"" is appropriate here. How close is this development to transit? What is the state of the existing bicycle and pedestrian transit network nearby, and how could it be improved in the scope of the project? Are there important displacement knock-on effects from the impact of this particular project? Four years of conducting hyperlocal neighborhood meetings about development and transportation projects has taught me that the demands and support capacity of these networks can vary dramatically even in the space of a few blocks, and we need to be conscious of these variations as we consider the shape of any individual project.

In the broad aggregate, I support increased density for projects with more affordable housing, and my track record supporting zoning ordinance and map changes as well as support for our Affordable Housing Overlay demonstrate that. In the individual analysis, the Lake St/Somerville Ave project mentioned above shows how that can translate to increased density, unit counts, and green space.

Stephenson Aman

As the co chair of Somervision I am aware of the pushback and recognize we need to change the zoning to meet the goals

JT Scott

Important to note that the City Council has not yet voted to endorse the conclusions of the Somervision 2040 proposal. With that said, opening all 2-fams up to raw market rate expansion WITHOUT first putting into place extensive tenant protections is declaring ""Open Season"" on speculative real estate development to increase acquisition costs, gentrify rapidly, and displace current residents in a tsunami of capital seeking investment returns. Our current zoning is holding the line in the neighborhoods and reducing displacement pressures while still allowing for increased density near transit nodes as we plan for future development without displacement.

Cultural displacement is a real factor: fundamentally, people look around and say ""this isn't my neighborhood anymore."" The feeling that this city isn't a welcoming place for you any more, that you aren't cared for and supported, is one of the visceral experiences of gentrification. ""Development without displacement"" also means preserving a sense that the people who live here now still belong here in the future, and having neighborhood processes that shape development to include tangible benefits to the existing residents.

Stephenson Aman

The eviction moratorium.

JT Scott

As stated above, we can do more with economic development policies and incentives to encourage locally- and minority-owned small businesses embedded in our residential neighborhoods to mitigate cultural displacement factors. We must continue to balance protecting existing residents from the impacts of construction and development while continuing to encourage density near transit nodes by including local activists in the planning processes and leaving space for Neighborhood Councils to negotiate Community Benefits Agreements with major projects. We can, and must, also build locally-controlled public housing. None of the above measures will require HRP approval, and all of them should be citywide priorities in the coming year.