But it has a long history as a vibrant economic center. What I will share with you in this series is only information that comes from documentary evidence, or the testimony of those willing to be quoted for attribution, or from at least two independent sources who are unwilling to be quoted.Ĭity residents under the age of forty mostly know Assembly Square as a vast tract of underused land. But much that I do know has never been made public. There is much about the history of the Assembly Square conflict that I don’t know or understand. George Santayana, who once lived not far from here, famously said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Choices made at similar crossroads in the past were informed more by rhetoric, personal relationships, and calculations of political advantage than by solid evidence and careful analysis. Developed foolishly, Assembly Square could gridlock Route 28, worsen Somerville’s highest-in-the-Commonwealth rate of excess heart-attack and lung-cancer deaths, and be a permanent drain on city finances.Ī recent Massachusetts Land Court decision creates another opportunity for the city to choose which course to pursue. One reason is that the stakes are so high.ĭeveloped to its full potential, Assembly Square could double Somerville’s tax base, more than double its jobs base, and provide us with thirty acres of waterfront parkland. Over the last seven years, no other issue in our city has been as enduring and acrimonious as that of Assembly Square redevelopment policy. “Assembly Square, the Back Story” was a series of columns by William Shelton that appeared in the Somerville News between Apand August 15, 2006.
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