The Green Line is coming, do you buy it?
I have been hearing about the Green Line extension into Somerville for fifteen or so years. I have been hearing listing agents “sell” it as a feature of a property for two or three years. Since this summer, I hear it being “sold” as a done deal. Brokers are saying “The Green Line stop is going to be three blocks away.” “The new Green Line will make this an easy commute.” “See that building there? It is going to be torn down to make a new Green line stop.”
The Green Line is coming, but so is Christmas. Christmas will be here first. The Green Line is coming, expected in a neighborhood near you in 2014. Six years. A lot can happen in six years. Do you believe in the Green Line? Do you believe in Santa Claus?
The Green Line project is moving along. They have a great report on the station sites. Somerville is still fighting against an storage and maintenance facility in East Somerville (11.5 acres of land.) The Green Line extension will use about 32 new trains, whereas the facility will accommodate 80 trains. Hum... Somerville’s mayor is proposing an underground facility so the city can build above it. So, there’s still a lot to be said and done before 2014.
Then there is Question One. What could that do to Green Line funding? Six years is a long time. Look what the passing of Question One will do to Somerville or your town.
I am uncomfortable telling my buyers to anticipate positive changes brought on by the Green Line extension. There are too many variables in the way. However, listening to the rhetoric of my peers, I seem in the minority.
Urban buyers, are you hearing what I’m hearing? Do you buy it?
