I live right in West Newton Square, in the village center. I love walking and do walk, both for pleasure and practicality. I’m also not averse to using public transit; I always take the T when I go into Boston.
That said, West Newton is not transit-oriented, despite Beacon Communities president Josh Cohen’s assertion that it is. Public transit works in West Newton if you want to go into and out of Boston during regular commuting times. But if I want to take public transit to Needham Street, for example, to go to that Trader Joe’s to buy a bottle of wine and do some shopping at TJ Maxx, it will take an hour and a half on the train (the train to the T to the bus), according to Google. The 59 bus can get me to Needham Street in half an hour, but first I need to walk to Walnut Street in Newtonville. If I want to go on a Sunday, the bus doesn’t run frequently.
When my son was a student at Lesley University, he considered living at home and commuting to Cambridge, but by bus or T it would have taken an hour to get there, and late night service wouldn’t have been available for him to get home.
It is unrealistic to walk to Woodland or Waban to take the D line to take the T; when I take the T, I drive to the station and park. I need my car to get around Newton and to go other cities/towns. It is completely disingenuous to call West Newton transit-oriented and to think that offering twenty-five parking spots in a seventy-two unit development is sufficient.
Annette Seaward
West Newton