You'll need a big bottle of eyedrops to make it through all of Karen Klinger's Cambridge eyesores featured on the latest monthly installment of NeighborMedia.

Plus, learn all about plans for the extension of the Green Line at Lechmere, as Ilan Levy explores some of the possibilities in depth.

Check out the show here on blip.tv

By Karen Klinger

In Porter Square, it's the building people love to hate.

Some find it an odious structure that not only clashes in its stark modernism with the Victorian buildings in the surrounding neighorhood, but towers over--and obscures--the landmark St. James's Church across the street. To others, it is more of a metaphorical insult, a daily reminder that the city poked an entire neighborhood in the eye by allowing its construction over the strenuous objections of residents.

"It is universally loathed, and rightly so," says Porter Square Neighbors Association President Susan Hunziker.

But the 15-unit condominium complex at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Beech Street, still known as "Long's" for the funeral home previously located on the site, is more than that. As a housing development it has been an abject failure. read more...

As one of Porter Square's monuments to fast food, the former Taco Bell/KFC at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Walden Street was never much to look at and the fare wasn't great, but at least when it was open, it was, well, open and operating.

But it closed well over a year ago, a victim of the state's long-term project to replace the bridge on Walden Street that spans the Fitchburg commuter line tracks. The construction drastically reduced the number of cars using Walden, and with that the flow of customers into the restaurant.

Now the building is boarded up, sitting forlornly with a "For Lease" sign on it, surrounded by an empty parking lot. Most residents always regarded the circa 1950 building as something less than an architectural gem, but in its current state, it easily ranks as an eyesore.

A while back, the building caught the eye of one of Cambridge's graffiti taggers, so now it sports spray-painted ... Art? A Message? read more...

Patrons used to rave about the shellfish and other fare the mongers at Fresh Pond Seafood sold. Julia Child was a regular customer. But even when it was open, the store's building seemed in imminent danger of collapse.

The seafood store closed in December, 2006, but the sagging, shingled shack remained at 355 Fresh Pond Parkway, a familiar sight to motorists as they drove around the nearby rotary.

But this is one Cambridge eyesore that will soon disappear from the landscape. This spring, the building is slated to be torn down to make way for a two-story, $3.3 million retail complex with 19,400 square feet and 45 parking spaces.

In January, the Cambridge Planning Board approved plans by the Brookline real estate development firm Sydney Associates, Inc., to create a complex with up to seven separate businesses on the site, possibly including a restaurant. The firm said it hoped to have the new structure ready to open by early next year.

This home is in East Cambridge. The owner has been able to make major expansions to this home without upset from neighbors. I won't mention his name or address. The owner hasn't made any efforts to cover this graffiti in four years. About a month ago I nicely offered the owner to help him cover the graffiti by giving him some extra paint I have. He did not take the offer. I later mentioned that the current condition is scaring would be buyers in the neighborhood. He feels the current condition is attracting buyers to the neighborhood because it is under construction. I feel all of this raises a question. Would people support a city ordinance that demands unoccupied properties in this condition be fined after a certain number of years? Shouldn't people who want to expand their properties at least do so in a reasonable and respectable manner? I certainly understand people’s rights to maintain their homes as they wish, but the city environment demands special considerations. It is time to pay attention to degrading projects in all of our neighborhoods.