Thank you for your detailed coverage of the survey and workshops on Belmont Center’s needs (Jan. 31, 2025). The challenge is complex, and views vary on solving the puzzle of how to bring more foot traffic and vitality to the Center.
But your article left out a critical piece that was very much part of the discussion: housing. Attending the evening workshop, I noticed how many participants gave the “green light” to pictures of two- and three-story buildings lining a business street with apartments above the storefronts. People were very enthusiastic about adding housing to the stretch of Concord Avenue past the post office and opposite the new library. Several attendees suggested ways to build housing on the Claflin Street parking lot without permanent loss of spaces.
We all know about the housing shortage in town—the need for homes for new families, for seniors downsizing, and for employees of our businesses and town government. Adding housing in Belmont Center is a way to address these needs and also bring greater foot traffic and vitality. That’s what we need to do!
Judie Feins, Bay State Road