The mayor’s effort to revitalize Everett Square, or at least to get the process going after being mayor for almost 12 years, is a step in the right direction and a long overdue one at that.
The City Council voted to begin the long process of creating an Request for Proposal (RFP) to get the ball rolling last week.
The bottom line is this: without a major square that serves as the heart beat of the city, the city is without a central reason to exist.
As odd and as alien as it might be for most Everett residents of today to think about Everett Square as something other than what it is, it badly needs to be redone, entirely.
The square needs more and better residential apartment spaces, taller buildings, rede ned empty space and parking, more smaller businesses, restaurants, stores of all kinds.
It needs a master plan that is brilliant or the next decades changed square will become the city’s next slum.
Redesigning the square is easier said than done.
This must be kept in mind: the city’s proximity to Boston has never meant
more than it does today.
In ten years, the proximity to Boston will again redefine the city. The demographic is changing with great speed.
The old are dying out. The young need places to live. Homeowners with their kids grown and out of the house are downsizing.
Those who don’t wish to move away, need a reason to stay.
Newcomers discovering the city rejoice at how close it is to Boston New housing is what a changed Everett Square will be all about.
Increasing density, and the density of population causing the expansion of commercial activity of all kinds, this is what is going to happen.
In this instance, the mayor gets it, finally.
Now must come the city council’s understanding that an Everett with an Everett Square with thousands more residents pouring into it everyday, is the key to a brighter future here.
We look forward to seeing what becomes of this RFP now being worked on.
This RFP is essential to the future of the city and to its well-being.