Curtatone addresses young Somerville

By George P. Hassett

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone addressed over 100 young Somerville residents Tuesday night at the first annual State of the Young City address at the Somerville Theatre.

Curtatone said he wanted to reach out to people between 21 and 35 and get their ideas and feedback on how he is running the city.

“I want to sustain a conversation with you,” he told the crowd from the theatre’s stage. “We want a give and take with young people in this city to be on a continuum.”

Curtatone’s chief of staff, Michael Lambert organized the event in response to pattern of young people leaving the city as they get older and started families. In 2005, he said, Massachusetts was the only state in the country to lose population with most defectors between 25 and 35 years old.

“The cycle has been, young people live in a condo in Somerville, have a kid, but when the kid turns 5 they leave the city and maybe the state,” he said. “If we want a stable community we have to keep them happy and keep them here.”

Adding to the importance of keeping 21 to 35-year-olds in the city, he said, is the fact that they make up 40 percent of the city’s population, compared to just 20 percent statewide.

Curtatone said the large number of young adults in the city can be used as an asset. “You can be a great source of understanding to help us understand how we can make the city a better place to live,” he said to the crowd.

To do this, he convened an advisory group made up of 25 young city residents and they met to rank the concerns of their age group. Many of the concerns were consistent with city residents of any age group, Curtatone said, and they included: making sure the Commonwealth fulfills its commitment to build four Green Line stops in the city, increasing affordable housing opportunities, bicycle and pedestrian access, increasing open space and protecting the environment.

Curtatone said he looked forward to the question and answer part of the night most. “I want to hear from you. I want to hear what we’re missing, what we got right,” he said.

Audience members asked Curtatone about a missing plaque in Seven Hills Park, affordable housing in Union Square, the recent immigration raids in East Somerville by federal authorities and where to go for good child care in the city.

Khalid Shakir, 28, came to the advisory group after a neighbor in his condo building forwarded him an e-mail about it. He said his views of what the city needs are typical of people his age: he wants the Green Line extended and good public schools so he and his wife can stay in Somerville when they have school-age children. Some of his suggestions have already made their way into city policy, he said.

“We suggested some changes to the city Web site at one of the meetings and they incorporated a few of them,” he said.

Lambert said  residents Shakir’s age do not use the traditional channels when they have a suggestion or need help from city officials. “They may not call an alderman or the mayor’s office but we still want to reach out to them and address their concerns,” he said.

Curtatone told the young audience the meeting is just the beginning of a larger effort to incorporate the young adults of the city into the decision making process. “We can use your passion and your input. Who said you had to live here 20 or 30 years to want the best for your city? We want you to help us make the decisions that will make you want to stay here long-term," he said.

Comments

[Tired]

"The cycle has been, young people live in a condo in Somerville, have a kid, but when the kid turns 5 they leave the city and maybe the state,” he said. “If we want a stable community we have to keep them happy and keep them here.”"

So Joe, why didn't you invite parents of children under the age of 5 and ask them what their concerns are? Many of these parents just might be over 35. Or is your concern the 18 year old parent with three kids?
Again, folks in attendence were concerned about the "recent immigration raids."
Let's appease them and work to get them to stay before we appease the hard working tax payers of the city.

[young somerville]

Tired, don't be too insulted that you weren't invited. Even the people who were invited didn't belong there too. This meeting was nothing more than a sales pitch to yuppies. No issues that affect the native youth of Somerville that were addressed. Gentrification, drugs, suicide, jobs, none of these were addressed. It was only meant to get the yups to stay in the city longer than 4 years, which they won't do anyway.

[nobody]

Drugs, suicide, and jobs are not problems.

Drugs-don't do them, don't associate with people who do them, or if you do accept they may make a mess of their lives via their own personal choice, no problem. Problem only if people who do them commit crimes, in that case crackdown. Hopefully you are rational and that's what you mean.

Suicide-don't commit suicide, no problem, friend commits suicide, that's sad, but should the city really play a role in regulating people's serotonin?

Jobs-there are *tons* of jobs for people *who want to work* and want to get the free education that the the city provides through grade 12 and the highly subsidezed college education the state provides

Gentrification-young people can rent with roommates for 500-700, don't see how that's a huge expense, pretty easy to earn that much money, if you are mentally willing to work a job. If you want to buy a place, of course you need to be willing to work for a living, hopefully you don't thing that's an issue?

[somebody]

nobody,

I agree, except about your very last sentence. Most hard working people (even "yuppies") cannot afford to buy in most areas of Somerville.

[Andromeda]

Tired: uh, the city did invite that constituency to other events. They've set up a mailing list for parents -- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/somerville-parents/ -- and I got an invitation recently to some kind of city event reaching out to parents of young kids (I forget the details but you can probably find out if you join the list).

[Ron Newman]

The meeting was intended for an age group, not an economic group. However, I don't think it was publicized well enough, or far enough in advance. Changing the time at the last minute (from 7 pm to 6 pm, because of the Red Sox) added to the confusion.

The city has set up a mailing list for 21-35 year olds:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/young-somerville

[larry]

To Young Somerville:

I think your an absolute moron. I assume your a local Somerville guy with the every bit of local arrogance that you were raised with. You have no basis for your comment. The mayor did not invite only, educated, young people that want to make something of their life (aka, what you call a yuppie).Everyone was invited and your absolutely a local politcal hack with no sense of reality!!

[joe]

To Larry:

Great comment, your right about comment posted by Young Somerville. He's just a jealous person with no drive in life.

[SomersTime]

Drugs and suicide are not problems?

Oh, OK.

Is the High School going to be on your lecture circuit?

[Morons]

Changing the meeting time at the last minute because of a freaking GAME just shows how pathetic things have become. Wahhhhhh!!!! I need my game fix or I may remember how pathetic my empty life is!!!!!!...

[nobody]

Let me rephrase, drugs and suicide are not problems that the *mayor* or government should be focused on. They are not high priority items. If you're seeing your friends self destruct I'm sorry, but that's a personal issue, not an issue for the mayor to work for.

Regarding real estate prices, you can get a single family for 400k in West Somerville, a teacher right out of college makes 50k, so if two teachers marry each other, they'll make over 100k combined, 1/4th of the price of the home. That sounds doable to me. Not to mention you could buy a condo for cheaper, or live in East Somerville, which is still very affordable.

[larry the cable guy]

Larry,

I hate to be the one to correct grammar, but since you called me a moron, I feel ok in pointing out that it is "you're" when YOU'RE calling someone an absolute moron. The same goes for you Joe, YOU'RE both absolute morons. Even I know that, and I graduated from SHS!

Second, I didn't say we weren't invited. I said that the information at the meeting didn't address the concerns of all of young Somerville. If you were there you would know what I mean. The meeting was obviously directed towards a specific demographic of "young" Somerville. The event was advertised as a forum for the mayor to find out how young Somerville feels, but it was just a sales pitch to keep those who have no sense of community and will jump ship to another city the first chance they get.

[Yuppie's are skum]

Drugs and suicide may not be personal problems to "nobody" yet, but they may well double his taxes. There's some solid reason to associate withheld special education and other city mandated services with the clinical depression that led to many of those suicides and almost all the OD's. And that is a whopping liability bill. Sorry "nobody" but when large numbers of dead folk accumulate, that's not just a "personal issue" and that is PRECISELY why Mayor Joe is covering his ass. You don't think he's courting a non-voting demographic for nothing do you?

[SomervilleReader]

Morons,

Changing the time of a meeting because of a game sounds very customer friendly to me. If you're trying to reach out to a group you should make it convienent for them. Props to city hall for thinking about when they would get a good response vs just stumbling forward blindly.

--Somerville Reader

[JK]

I don't understand the hatred for Yuppies(whatever that term really means). So I like living in Somerville, but don't want to raise children here. I still pay taxes (more than the lower income brackets) and support the community while I'm here. Just because I can afford to move out the the burbs for better school systems and less polution shouldn't make me "scum". Heck, if someone wanted to sell me my condo for 1/2 the price I'd take it. Fact is that Yuppie buyers don't really control the real estate market. Sellers do. Middle to upper middle class people get blamed for everything. It's unfair and discriminatory to say that certain classes shouldn't be allowed to live here. Now if you could tell me one this negative that I, personally, do for this community then you have a right to tell me I shouldn't live here. But shouldn't everyone have equal opportunities? If you want to improve the staying power then improve the schools, improve the pollution and traffic issues, and improve the safety and security. This must be a community effort. When all of these things are improved then you'll get more people sticking around and the percentage of "locals" will continually increase. Take some responsibility rather than just hating on people for no reason. Thanks.

[somebody]

JK,

I think your comment itself shows some of the reasons why people don't like yuppies. You talk about taking responsibility, but it sounds like you need to do that. Yes, you pay your taxes, but what kind of issues do you care about?

You said: "If you want to improve the staying power then improve the schools, improve the pollution and traffic issues, and improve the safety and security." But who is "you"? That "you" should have been a "we" to include YOU. You are putting the burden on others to improve schools, etc.. or else people like you will move to the suburbs to raise kids. But would you at this moment vote for increasing taxes for improving the school system? Honestly, would you? Well, one complaint that people have with yuppies is that they care only about frivolous issues (such as somerville arts) and don't try to make the city a family friendly city.

The sense I get is that Somerville used to be made up of tight knit communities, but the newcomers (mostly yuppies) don't care to keep it that way. I can understand the frustration with that. My complaint is not yuppies vs immigrants vs long time locals... my issue is with people voting for things that only benefit themselves, and not the community as a whole.

Actually yuppie buyers do have a lot of control over the real estate market. Why do you think the market is so pricy? Lots of people with money WILLING to pay those prices. Supply and demand always drives the price. If yuppies weren't willing to pay so much to live in certain areas, those areas wouldn't be so pricey. Easy as that.

Upper middle class "get blamed for everything", because some people in that category act like they deserve everything.

FYI: I am part of the group that would be classified as a yuppie, but I actually care what happens to Somerville and hope to raise my kids here someday.

[somebody]

nobody,

Where in West Somerville can you get a single family for $400k??? 2 bedroom condos are more than that. But let's assume it's possible to find this price...

Yes, you've done your math right. A couple making a combined income of $100k+ should be able to afford a home of $400k. But what if they have kids? Or what if the person is single? Or what if the household income is less. The median household income in Somerville is about $50k.

[Election]

You can find single families at that price, I've seen some, but only near the tracks or near major arteries. Here are just a couple I've seen in the last week or so...

16 JAMES STREET Somerville, 02145 $399.900
5 RICHARDSON ST Somerville, 02145 $339,900

[nobody]

Do a search on MLS, 20 single families for sale under 400k as of 10/24. And those are the asking prices, most sold in 2007 will sell for less.

If the household income is 50k, yeah your going to have a tough time, but really, 50k income for 2 people. Each person makes 25k a year? If a teacher, who everyone says is underpaid, can make 50k a year right out of college, than I don't see how 100k household income is that hard to achieve. Carpenters make more often @ 20-65/hour, with no college education required. There has to be some personal responsibility to work hard, not have kids before you can afford it, etc. If people choose not to work hard, or to have kids that they can't afford, then I don't judge them, but I don't feel any sense of responsibility to subsidize their housing via my taxes. They will have to economize, move to a cheaper area if they want to buy. Or buy a condo or fixer upper. People have choices.

[somerville old timer]

I don't think new teachers make $50K. Can someone who knows help out with this information? What is starting salary for a Somerville teacher? Firefighter? Cop?

[Jay]

Starting salary for a public school teacher is between 32K and 35K per year...after a few years they'll make about 38K to 40K.

[somebody]

Ok, I didn't realize there were single families at that price. My mistake.

Yes, MANY MANY people make less than 25k a year. Many people in Somerville fall into this range. Even if a carpenter makes what you say (which I don't know), I'm sure most carpenters do not get health care through their employer. So that's going to take a big piece of their income. Working hard doesn't always equate to more money. It depends on your skill set, intelligence, luck (for opportunities), etc etc.

I never said that our taxes should subsidize housing. I'm just pointing out that "affordable housing" is a relative term. Affordable to who?

[Observer]

Khalid Shakir - just by this guy's name I already know I don't want him sticking around and raising kids.

[Ron Newman]

What a stupid thing to say.

[nobody]

I guess its just Boston teachers making 50k+ then-but they do. Seems hard to believe that other teachers in nearby cities are much less, I suspect the average given is skewed by teachers in far flung suburbs. Bottom line though, there are choices. Not every choice leads to a 2500 sq ft home in Davis Square.

[Imux]

If it were up to me, there would not be any Khalids in this city. Mere preventive measure, don't get me wrong.

[Imux]

If it were up to me, there would not be any Khalids in this city. Mere preventive measure, don't get me wrong.

Posted by: Imux | October 24, 2007 at 06:20 PM

The idiot above was not me. Some goof posting as me. What a clod.

[Imux]

What I meant is that my dick wrote the above message, not my inexistent brain.

[The Real Imux]

Pal, if you want to have Mr. Shakir near where you live, I have nothing against it. As long as you don't live near my place, that is.

[Imux]

What I meant is that my dick wrote the above message, not my inexistent brain.

Posted by: Imux | October 24, 2007 at 06:28 PM

Pal, if you want to have Mr. Shakir near where you live, I have nothing against it. As long as you don't live near my place, that is.

Posted by: The Real Imux | October 24, 2007 at 06:29 PM

ahhh.... first ad hominem attacks and now pretending to be me. You're a bright one, huh?

[Election]

Oh my... I thought Imux was not racist... It turns out Imux is simply schizophrenic... That would explain the chronic unemployment problem and assorted delusions... Oh well, nobody is perfect.

[Imux]

Oh my... I thought Imux was not racist... It turns out Imux is simply schizophrenic... That would explain the chronic unemployment problem and assorted delusions... Oh well, nobody is perfect.

Posted by: Election | October 24, 2007 at 06:33 PM

I'm African American. That's how dumb you are, Election/Observer.

[Election]

Then you are a racist African American, buddy.

[Imux]

Then you are a racist African American, buddy.

Posted by: Election | October 24, 2007 at 06:40 PM

Election, I hope you're not too fond of the name "Election". Some of the posts that you'll be seeing under that name now will be shocking enough to straighten my hair out. Bank on it, bitch.

[Imux]

Just because I'm unemployed, dumb as shit and a patriot, does not make me a racist, Election.

[Election]

But you do sound racist and out of control, given your posts. And not just from today's posts. You wanna spoof the "Election" name as you've done in the past? Go ahead, glad you announced it, now we know who's behind them, Imux.

[Election]

Ooops, meants to say just because I'm unemployed, dumb as shit and not a patriot, does indeed make me a racist.

Signed,

Election/Observer

[Imux]

You wanna spoof the "Election" name as you've done in the past? Go ahead, glad you announced it, now we know who's behind them, Imux.

Posted by: Election | October 24, 2007 at 06:56 PM

I didn't start this you goof. I only ever posted as Imux. Until you decided to be a bigger imbecile than normal and post as me.

[Election]

I'm not posting as you, imbecile. Obviously, there is somebody else spoofing both of us.

[Imux]

"I'm not posting as you, imbecile. Obviously, there is somebody else spoofing both of us.

Posted by: Election | October 24, 2007 at 07:09 PM"

Well, Election, if it's not you spoofing me then my apologies. Though it would be too bad as I was just crafting a great post with you and small farm animals.

hmmmm.... then it's probably that anklegrabber, Ron Newman. He's been known to pull this before.

[Election]

I have not been spoofing you. I have been spoofed myself a few times today. Somebody else is having fun in the background, obviously. I really doubt Ron would do this, but you never know.

[Imux]

I'm off to enjoy the Sox game.

The funny thing is that I wasn't even on this thread until some zipperhead (Ron?) decided to post some racist rant as me. Ahhh.... whatever.

[Election]

Have fun at the Sox game! I've got to work on a stupid paper.

[Ron Newman]

I rarely post as anyone other than myself, and never under the name of another participant.

[Troi Boy]

I can see where the native born Somervillians are coming from. I can't really pick sides since I am not a native of here either. However, I grew up in a city very similar to Somerville called Troy NY. It was a very close knit community where all of the locals had imense pride in where they came from. When I moved to Somerville about 8 years ago, I was shocked at what I saw. Its not like the homes in Somerville are really worth what people pay for them. I kind of feel like its more a status symbol living here for most people. Lets be honest here, since Boston became trendy, people from all over the country move here.

I can see why their is animosity though between natives and newcomers. People move to Somerville from the suburbs, or cultural wastelands like the midwest. They see Somerville as if it were theirs for the taking. You have to blame the politicians for allowing that to happen. People like Curtone are the new breed of politicians who act more like CEOs of a company then they do public servants. They are out to boost their ego by turning cities into trendy places where the young, rich and beutiful come to live and play for a while. The real estate people get rich, the politician gets his name all over the paper, and the newcomers feel entitled to be there. Look at this meeting, it was obviously geared towards the suburbanites who moved to Somerville living the fake bohemian life they dreamed of since they day they saw rent. Its sad really because these people will leave, they just don't have the same pride as working class urban dwellers do. I mean if Poughkipsee becomes trendy tommorrow, these same people will be there and will act like they own the community.

So with that in mind, I have nothing but respect to the people fighting to save the character and culture of their city from yuppies. Yuppies have no sense of hometown pride or culture since they like to take bits and pieces of others and claim it as their own. They are here for themselves, be it the status of living next to Boston or being able to wine and dine at Davis Square. They could care about the people who have been pushed out. Its not like they have a sense of emotional attachment to a city. To them, a city is like an Ipod, get it while and pay a bundle for it because you can, when its not trendy, go find something else.

The same goes for yuppies in politics. They have no real understanding of the issues facing kids who grew up here. This is why you see them more concerned with the welfare of illegal aliens then the kids who turn into junkies. Its all about being trendy and illegal aliens are the new gay marriage. Keep up the fight Somerville, keep the pride, I join you but its not my battle to fight.

[SomersTime]

For too long we've been treated to such PR-BS as Davis Sq. being the "Paris of the 90s," when it became the chic hangout for studio-hip weekend bohemians.

And meanwhile, gentrification chomped through Somerville like termites in the foundation, turning parts of the city into a pricey suburb...

Is that what's called PROGRESS?