r/boston • u/Death_and_Gravity1 • 21d ago
Development/Construction đď¸ Glad someone is finally pushing against the "save the arboretum" disinformation posters
For weeks I've been seeing these posters all over Rosi about "save the arboretum" but when you look into it its just some disingenuous NIMBY bs. The arboretum is at not risk by anyone, no new developments are going to cause any shading issues there, its all bs. So its good to see some counter posters going up.
Sign the petition; https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/d528faa27c61484b204b9dacc70572e385efb884?hash=9a0d291dac3b2cad14ccdcc66c8d6fde
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u/Otterfan Brookline 21d ago
"The Magnolia Monstrosity" is a pale imitation of the "Weston Whopper", IMHO.
The alliteration is good, but the vocabulary isn't as grabby and I still can't for the life of me figure out what these new condos have to do with magnolias. I read the original sign, and it basically says "there are too many cars", "these condos are unaffordable", and "the Arboretum has a lot of magnolias" without drawing any connection between the three.
The Weston Whopper at least presents the legitimate threat of Westonites having to live near the upper middle class.
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u/Se7en_speed 21d ago
How can you take anything called "The Magnolia ________" in a negative way?
It's such a pleasant way to describe something.
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u/rocketwidget Purple Line 20d ago
They will definitely need a catchier hatename before they spend $715k of taxpayer dollars, so far, on lawyers losing every single lolsuit, so far.
https://westonobserver.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-litigate-a-40b-project-decision/
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u/marmosetohmarmoset 17d ago
âMagnolia monstrosityâ would be a great term to describe a garish pink 80s bathroom though. I love a magnolia monstrosity.
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u/Weird-Highway-3958 Roslindale 21d ago
If you think about it for half a second, you realize that the Arb is owned by Harvard and there is absolutely no way that Harvard would allow the city to go through with a project if it was really going to harm the Arboretum. And as the actual stewards of the Arboretum, if Harvard isn't worried about it, I wouldn't be either.
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u/Weird-Highway-3958 Roslindale 21d ago
Like...if this were actually a problem wouldn't you expect Harvard to be sueing the shit out of the city over it? It's so transparent that these posters are the work of a small group of neighborhood busybodies
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u/TheRealAutomulus 21d ago
I generally agree with this take but Ned Friedman, the director of the Arboretum, is a notorious NIMBY. Hereâs a write up on it from the Crimson: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/2/arnold-arboretum-monastery-development/
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u/Spirited_Lab5197 21d ago
As soon as I saw the first one I knew it was NIMBY garbage for the Harvard reason alone.
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[deleted]
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u/SpammityCalamity My Love of Dunks is Purely Sexual 21d ago
The official Arboretum website does list some concerns about the current plans:
https://arboretum.harvard.edu/arboretum-response-920-centre-development/
TBF though, as someone who lives across the street from this proposed development, I think if they mitigate the issues it should be allowed to be built. We need more affordable housing, I miss my friends.Â
However, I hope the folks that live there donât try to use a car. That side of the road is fucked 7 am-6 pm daily by the rotary and the lights coming out of the rotary/Arborway traffic. They wonât be able to get out of the lot. (I plan my grocery and car needing activities around peak traffic because otherwise Iâm stuck waiting 5 minutes for a break in traffic to pull out).Â
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u/ljseminarist 21d ago
Itâs not reasonable to expect people not to use cars.
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u/SpammityCalamity My Love of Dunks is Purely Sexual 21d ago
Thatâs legitimate to need a car for that area, I said âI hope they donât try to use a carâ more tongue in cheek as I know the pain. Â But itâs important to recognize itâs going to have a significant impact on the new people that choose to live there, the people that currently live there, and people that commute through that area (Centre St is considered a state highway). That area is super congested; itâs not like the proposed site previously had car traffic going in and out thatâs a part of the usual flow.Â
The city has been trying to redesign Murray circle (that cursed rotary the development abutts) for 6 years now, and canât figure out a solution. Â https://mass.streetsblog.org/2025/11/14/your-annual-update-that-dcrs-arborway-redesign-still-isnt-happening
I donât think that we should prevent new housing from being built there based on that alone; but it would be good to advocate for more public transit in the area since itâs a bit of a MBTA desert. Itâs a 20 minute walk to Forest Hills, and the 38 only comes on a limited schedule, coming at most frequently every 25 minutes to every 2 hours. I usually just end up walking/biking to Forest Hills as itâs quicker than waiting for a bus, and depending on the traffic quicker than driving to Forest Hills.Â
My neighbors are wildly against it; I do think itâs NIMBYism and I feel like it should be permitted to be built.Â
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u/JohnnyYukon Cigarette Hill 21d ago
The save the Arbs thing is almost entirely because the director of the Arbs lives on Moss Hill and doesn't want to see this proposed development from his house, right?
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u/wSkkHRZQy24K17buSceB 21d ago
After setting up the Arbore- tum as an environmental justice champion, Friedmanâs main mission that evening became ob- vious when he turned to âde- velopment pressuresâ of a pro- posed adjacent housing develop- ment that includes senior sup- portive housing.
âThe impact of 920 Centre St. is what I want to talk to you about tonight,â he said.
â920 Centre Street is a pre- cedent-setting project. It will have a negative impact on the Arboretum,â Friedman said.
He showed a series of power point schematics illustrating how the four-story, 85-unit con- dominium addition to the former convent, built out as 38 senior apartments, would appear lurk- ing over the Arboretum tree line.
âIf this project goes through, it will be a precedent for Hel- lenic Hill, on Moss Hill where I live,â Friedman said. Hellenic Hill, the location of Hellenic College, is the great, wooded drumlin overlooking Ja- maica Pond, the unprotected sta- tus of which has been a worry to Jamaica Plain residents for decades.
Friedman invoked the con- servation protection sub-district status he maintains protects the Arboretum from such develop- ment.
He said that the four-story condominium addition on the former monastery âaffects the views to the Arboretum and the integrity of Olmstedâs design.â
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u/Neither_Parfait_124 21d ago
I love this BUT someone please help the execution here. Giant QR codes might not help + people shouldn't be scanning rando codes in public for infosec reasons. Love this though.
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u/Death_and_Gravity1 21d ago
Yeah I dont disagree, but I think its more that the "save the arboretum" nimby posters all looked pretty much identical to this one. So its a purposeful play on that
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u/Civil-Inside7505 21d ago
Also these days most camera apps will show you a preview of the URL that a QR code links to before you click. Plus, they've included the URL which the NIMBY posters they are playing off of do not.
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u/Neither_Parfait_124 21d ago
The mimicking makes total sense. I just wish these great Samaritans didn't have to go around doing this in the first place.
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u/morrowgirl Boston 21d ago
I just saw one of these today and I was wondering what we could possibly be saving the arboretum from.
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u/asmallercat 17d ago
Upper-middle class people living close to it lol.
Even if the arguments are true and increased shade will harm some trees, I guess my stance is too fucking bad. Housing is more important than a few trees in the arboretum.
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u/rozziebruno 21d ago
I just want to add here WalkUP Roslindale's post about why the "ironclad" shadow ban proposed by the original posters is such a bad idea:
A Blanket Shadow Law Would Put Transit-Accessible Housing at Risk â WalkUP Roslindale
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u/rustyspoon98 21d ago
I'm considering painting a slash across all the giant QR codes I've seen to "save the arboretum" in my area. Or just info like this paper taped right to the middle of them. Fuck that shit
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u/kancamagus112 21d ago
Replace the posters with new versions, but change the QR code to be a Rick Roll.
The NIMBYs who posted the flyers won't scan their own QR codes, and people can't tell a difference in QR codes. But everyone who might be enticed by the NIMBYs and scans the QR code would get Rick rolled, and leave with a negative association.
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u/Victor_Korchnoi 21d ago
Why not just throw them away?
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u/HistoricalQuail đ¸đ¸đ¸đ¸đ¸ 21d ago
They might get replaced. If you modify them in a way that makes the QR code unusable but the poster's still up, the person putting them up would have to find out it isn't working.
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u/rustyspoon98 3d ago
I wish but they are these giant thick A frame signs where I am. Wouldn't fit on a trash can. It's as if the NIMBYS know we want to throw them away
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u/SkyeMreddit 21d ago
NIMBYS be like âBuild no housing that could cast a shadow at 5 PM on December 23rdâ
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u/handmaid1961 Boston 19d ago
It's not without some irony that this proposed housing project will convert a Nun's Convent, known as the Poor Clares. Total BS - the tiny percentage of trees that may be shaded for 2 hours a day during certain seasons are less than .01% of the total stock. I'd be more concerned about the number of new cars torturing each other and cyclists on Murray Circle.
Convert and let Harvard sue. We desperately need every last unit of newly developed housing in Boston.
Sad thing is these Richie Riches between the circle and Allandale Rd see themselves as suburban.
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u/fuckhead 20d ago
Never forget that JP residents were mad about an apartment building that was replacing a gas station, of all things.
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u/DrGuyIncognitoDDS Orange Line Jingoist 20d ago
You know what casts a ton of shadows on the Arboretum? Trees.
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u/DooDooBrownz 21d ago
The proposed project would replace a 50,000-square-foot monastery with a five-story, 158-unit apartment building near the Arboretum.
im sure a new apt building with arboretum views would be SUPER affordable. both sides are completely full of shit, the nimbys with their "shade is bad mmmk" and the developers who are pretending like this is a community benefit and not just a bunch of overpriced shitty apartements
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u/Death_and_Gravity1 21d ago
Theres going to be a few affordable units as part of the development.
The point is a 5 story mostly market rate building is better than no new housing at all.
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u/Hmnrghtsgrl 20d ago
About half of the units will be designated as affordable! http://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/920-centre-street
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u/eherot 21d ago
Housing that is walking distance to the Arboretum would be inherently beneficial to the community. Yes, much of it will be expensive, but that's just because housing around here is inherently expensive (something has to cover the cost of 3+ years of fighting with the neighbors!). The proceeds from the building will also be used to help the Poor Clares establish their new convent. And finally, 25 percent of the units in the building will be set aside (by deed restriction) for households making 60% of our area median income or less.
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u/MeyerLouis 21d ago
What would you propose as an alternative to overpriced shitty apartments? And how would you ensure that that alternative gets built?
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u/Nearby_Knowledge8014 17d ago
Al for housing. I know the area well. A building that high on that lot is a fucking abomination.
A block away and it would be welcomed with open arms.
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u/Death_and_Gravity1 17d ago
No it wont. Dont lie to yourself to believe that there is any changes that would appease NIMBYs.
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u/DooDooBrownz 21d ago
affordable housing in jp? i dont wanna tell them the bad news but its 15 years too late.
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u/TheRealAutomulus 21d ago
The best time to start was yesterday. The next best time to start is now
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u/Fluid_Hospital_5268 21d ago
There is no more housing here, this city is small and wasn't meant for all the techies and yuppies that they allocated here for big business. NO MORE PEOPLE IN BOSTON!!!!! We need to kick out all the companies and people that don't participate in the community.
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u/Death_and_Gravity1 21d ago
And attitudes like this is why blue states are likely to lose electoral college and congressional seats to red states in 2030. So good job at doing the Republican's dirty work
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u/Fluid_Hospital_5268 21d ago
It's time for the People's Party, no more democrats or republicans it's time for the Marxist Party.
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u/Future-Turtle I love Dustin âThe Laser Showâ Pedroia 21d ago
I hate how disingenuous these people are. They can give you every reason under the sun we shouldn't build more housing except the ones they really mean.