Public Comment from Robert Claycomb (with FY-17 Public Hearing) — File 201721

Dear Mayor Curtatone, When my wife and I moved to town in 1985, we had only been married nine months. We were displaced from Brookline because our building was made into condominiums far too expensive for our lifestyle. Here we found a convenient and affordable apartment with space for music and art studios and a life in relative comfort. At that time some of my acquaintances called it “Slumerville’, a kind of Harvard Sq. barroom joke, but things changed. Ten years later, many were calling it “the Paris of the Nineties”, comparing it with that famous city when the likes of Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso and Buñuel, and many artists of eventual renown gathered and worked there. Somerville became a haven for the arts. It seems like most everyone of artistic incline I’ve met, anywhere, once lived in Somerville. It was boasted that we had the greatest density of artists in the country next to New York City. If that was true then, I don’t believe it is any longer. Things changed Now there are bloggers complaining of the gentrification of our town. Families with low and middle incomes as well as many small businesses are being forced to relocate and, as you have seen in this year’s housing reports, between 70 and 90% of households are significantly challenged, largely as a result of the rising cost of housing. To its credit, and yours, Somerville, has earned a reputation for efficient and effective operation, but there is a concern we will “lose our Soul”, a phrase I believe you have used. The ongoing gentrification is driving out the working hands that built this city. The creative spirit is beginning to wither on the vine, and there is a risk the diversity of expression will be stifled, suffocated, and eventually extinguished. When that happens, the city will be left with a sterile shadow in its heart. There are many new projects on the table including the Green line extension and the new High School that are desirable and perhaps necessary, but which come with a high price tag. I urge you and the city planners to find timetables and cost mitigating strategies that eliminate a sudden overburden of new tax to property owners, forcing tenants out and costly renovation to attract a new population with higher income. A number of residents are already thinking of “leaving the ville”. Many will go quietly while others rage. Some will try to stick around just long enough to use their ballots one last time in hopes of being heard. After over 30 years, we are for the first time worrying about our future here. Like the others, we are waiting to see what you do. Sincerely, Robert Claycomb Highland Avenue, Somerville