By Karen Klinger

It was last fall when the battle was joined between developers and abutters over the future of bucolic Shady Hill Square in Cambridge's Agassiz neighborhood and it seems unlikely that anything will be settled before this summer, at the earliest.

In the meantime, the abutters can look out on an expanse of green free of any signs that a 5,000-square-foot building might go up in the middle of the park-like setting around which their homes are clustered.

In April, the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal decided to continue a hearing on aspects of a building permit held by Stonehouse Holdings to put up what neighbors deride as a "McMansion" on the horseshoe-shaped square that has served as a common yard for a dozen semi-detached stucco houses since they were built in 1915.

For now, Stonehouse is prohibited from doing anything on the site by a "stop work" order issued last October by city building commissioner Ranjit Singanayagam after the abutters raised questions about the ownership of the property and the developers' legal access to it. He told Stonehouse's attorneys in February that he was not lifting the order until matters had been resolved. read more...

Cambridge is full of change. Some of the biggest changes have come from management firms that are buying and redeveloping whole sections of our neighborhoods. Some of these changes have been positive and some negative. It is important that change comes to us in an open, honest, and respectable manner. It is the city who is in charge of overseeing that process. It is the residents who must oversee our city officials. Does anyone want to share a story of the change process? Were you aware it was coming? Did you take part in the process? What was the result? I for one am happy to see some of the gorgeous buildings dotting the landscape of Kendall Square. One of the downsides has been a serious increase in noise, traffic, and pollution. What can the city do to make the process more transparent? How about larger, more descriptive signs that tip us off for zoning/variance hearings? What can the city do to redirect the new traffic from residential streets? What can residents do to ensure we are protected from continued overdevelopment? How can residents work more directly with management firms that respect the needs of our community? read more...

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...

By Karen Klinger

For most of its nearly century-long existence in Cambridge, Lesley University has for the most part flown under the civic radar while its much larger neighbor Harvard developed a reputation as a bully boy willing to throw its weight around to get what it wanted, whether new buildings, new properties or new zoning.

But in recent years, Lesley began a rapid expansion program, raising its profile as it grew to a student body of more than 10,000, moved up Massachusetts Avenue from its main campus in the Agassiz neighborhood to establish a second campus in Porter Square and acquired the Art Institute of Boston (AIB).

In its latest move, Lesley announced its intention to establish a third Cambridge campus with a $33.5 million deal to buy seven buildings on the eight-acre campus of the Episcopal Divinity School near Harvard Square. Lesley President Joseph B. Moore said the university would like to use the EDS facilities for student housing, library services and academic space. 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.