4 ms·
Yes, there's an overarching plan. But I can't tell what they're going to build across the street. I'm in Cambridge, and the time between the neighborhood hearin
by shados 5y ago
Yes, there's an overarching plan. But I can't tell what they're going to build across the street. I'm in Cambridge, and the time between the neighborhood hearing and the jackhammers starting was a couple of weeks last time it happened here. Since everything in Cambridge is done with special permits, you can't even look at the zoning map to be able to tell.
That's not a "plan". That's a strategy at best.
- helen___keller 5y ago> Since everything in Cambridge is done with special permits, you can't even look at the zoning map to be able to tell. That's less of a planning issue and more of a natural result of game theory. Updating the zoning map is much more difficult (supermajority vote) than issuing zoning variances, and the process of zoning variance appeals offers the city a chance to wring favorable concessions from developers. (of course, as it happens these concessions and the appeals process come at cost to the developer, which over the long term translates to less construction and higher per-unit prices. I'd like to see the state find a way to change the way this works, but I'm not holding my breath!) All of this to say that planning exists, but it might not be available to the public easily or at all.