statler
Cyburbian
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(Michele- I hope this is the type of thread you were looking for here.)
History
As I mentioned in the other thread I am in the process of moving from my home town (Roslindale-a neighborhood in Boston) to Malden (a street car suburb just north of Boston). I'm moving so that my fiancee can be closer to her family and work after we get married. (Also, the house stock is a bit cheaper). I'm not thrilled about the move, but I've decided to make the best it and try to make Malden my new home.
About Malden
Malden is an old manufacturing city, turned suburb and is about a 10-20 minute drive from downtown Boston. Also accessible via MBTA (T) Orange line. Population ~56,000 It has a decent downtown center with some old industrial era buildings mixed in with some horrible 60's-70's era urban renewal.
Good Points
Malden does have some wonderful neighborhoods with some fantastic Victorian houses. Most of them are in good shape or a being restored. A lot of this is thanks to a very active Victorian Society in the city. Malden is also home to two beautiful H.H. Richardson buildings (though, I think I might have been done by his firm after his death) There is also a rather busy downtown with a large T station nearby. The downtown shops are mostly occupied by mom & pop type stores with only a few chains (DD's Mc'D's)
Bad Points
Like most cities Malden went through it's urban renewal phase in which a large chunk of it's downtown was destroyed and replaced with some second-rate brutalism (tinged with red brick for contextualism I guess) So the dense downtown core is broken up by large swathes of open & useless plazas. Some of the remaining older buildings have been retrofitted to appear more modern. There are some empty storefronts as well and most of the mom & pops don't maintain their fronts all that well (or their landlords don't at least).
Overall, the bones are there for a wonderful little city, but there seems to be a small town vibe hanging over the place. There seems like there isn't a push to clean it up for fear of gentrification (a legitimate fear I suppose)
While I really believe there are things that can make Malden a much nicer place I'm not sure that I really want to 'get involved'. My biggest problem is that my fiancee's family has lived there for a few generations and are very active socially and politically. I'm afraid first that I'll be known as the kid who married into the _______ family and secondly, if I make waves I'll get backlash from her family. So I'm not sure what to do. I'm sure there are groups and orgs that I could join and get my urban development jones, but I don't know how to do it without stepping on toes.
Any thoughts?
History
As I mentioned in the other thread I am in the process of moving from my home town (Roslindale-a neighborhood in Boston) to Malden (a street car suburb just north of Boston). I'm moving so that my fiancee can be closer to her family and work after we get married. (Also, the house stock is a bit cheaper). I'm not thrilled about the move, but I've decided to make the best it and try to make Malden my new home.
About Malden
Malden is an old manufacturing city, turned suburb and is about a 10-20 minute drive from downtown Boston. Also accessible via MBTA (T) Orange line. Population ~56,000 It has a decent downtown center with some old industrial era buildings mixed in with some horrible 60's-70's era urban renewal.
Good Points
Malden does have some wonderful neighborhoods with some fantastic Victorian houses. Most of them are in good shape or a being restored. A lot of this is thanks to a very active Victorian Society in the city. Malden is also home to two beautiful H.H. Richardson buildings (though, I think I might have been done by his firm after his death) There is also a rather busy downtown with a large T station nearby. The downtown shops are mostly occupied by mom & pop type stores with only a few chains (DD's Mc'D's)
Bad Points
Like most cities Malden went through it's urban renewal phase in which a large chunk of it's downtown was destroyed and replaced with some second-rate brutalism (tinged with red brick for contextualism I guess) So the dense downtown core is broken up by large swathes of open & useless plazas. Some of the remaining older buildings have been retrofitted to appear more modern. There are some empty storefronts as well and most of the mom & pops don't maintain their fronts all that well (or their landlords don't at least).
Overall, the bones are there for a wonderful little city, but there seems to be a small town vibe hanging over the place. There seems like there isn't a push to clean it up for fear of gentrification (a legitimate fear I suppose)
While I really believe there are things that can make Malden a much nicer place I'm not sure that I really want to 'get involved'. My biggest problem is that my fiancee's family has lived there for a few generations and are very active socially and politically. I'm afraid first that I'll be known as the kid who married into the _______ family and secondly, if I make waves I'll get backlash from her family. So I'm not sure what to do. I'm sure there are groups and orgs that I could join and get my urban development jones, but I don't know how to do it without stepping on toes.
Any thoughts?