Davis Square Neighborhood Council
We are in the process of forming a neighborhood council to represent residents and local business owners in Davis Square, Somerville. If you live in the Davis Square neighborhood (or visit Davis frequently and want to stay in the loop), join our mailing list!
What is the goal? What is a neighborhood council?
A “neighborhood council” is a type of group the Somerville government would formally recognize that could give Davis Square residents, business owners, and workers a seat at the table with private developers who want to reshape Davis Square. We would like the DSNC to empower the people of Davis Square in other ways as well (e.g., infrastructure and zoning) and are still investigating to what extent that is possible. Absolutely anyone who lives or works in Davis can have a voice in the DSNC.
Where are things right now?
We have a number of things we need to do before the DSNC can be formally established, including:
Get more residents involved with the DSNC
Coordinate further with the Gilman and Union Square Neighborhood Councils to learn more about neighborhood council processes
Coordinate further with the City Council to learn more about neighborhood council processes
Finish drafting our bylaws
Formally define the boundaries of Davis Square for the purposes of the DSNC
Want to help move things forward? Join our mailing list, and let us know how you want to be involved!
Want to get straight into the weeds? We have a shared Google Drive folder with all our relevant work-in-progress documents. Hop into this thread in the Google Group, and let us know what you want to contribute to!
Some questions we are investigating:
As we learn more about the neighborhood council formation process, some questions rasied by interested folks that we are looking into include:
This will enable residents to have more of a say in discussions with private developers; will it also enable residents to have more of a say in city infrastructure or zoning decisions?
Answer: It sounds like a neighborhood council won't have any more direct ability to affect zoning, but because we will be a coordinated group of residents and in communication with developers, we will be in a prime position to pressure the City Council to make changes.
Are there any smaller changes a DSNC could implement ourselves (with approval from the city) rather than waiting for the city to do it?
Answer: It depends on the change. While being a neighborhood council won't give us greater authority than any other coordinated group of residents, we can still connect with other local groups, artists, etc. for certain activites/performances/events/installations. On the other hand, it sounds like certain street fixes (e.g., repainting a faded crosswalk) may only be done by city contractors.
Could a DSNC organize an event with residents and businesses and coordinate with the city and MBTA to close Elm St. for the day (as with events like HONK Fest), or would such an event need to be planned entirely by the city?
Answer: Yes! While being a neighborhood council won't give us greater authority than any other coordinated group of residents, we can still, as a coordinated group, coordinate with all those groups to plan such events!
We are also keeping note of other questions Davis residents, workers, and customers have raised that we want to investigate when possible, including:
It was mentioned at the Davis Commercial Area Plan meeting that Somerville has a vacancy ordinance that is limited in its effectiveness by state law. What, precisely, needs to change at the state level to make that ordinance effective?
What can we do to improve bus service through Davis? What is happening with bus signal priority or bus lane enforcement in Davis?
Where do buses get diverted when Elm St. closes for events (such as HONK Fest)? Can data from those diversions inform the Elmway project?
Why aren't developers building with current zoning?
How can Elm St. pedestrianization efforts stay compatible with local businesses' operations?
Have answers or want to help us find them? Join our mailing list, and let us know how you want to be involved!