Developing "Villages" in Westwood and Connecting the Town

The Town of Westwood Comprehensive Plan was created in February 2000 and describes how the town is made up of two town centers: Islington/Washington Street and High Street. The plan is filled with broad recommendations for strengthening those centers and preserving the rural characteristics of the town epitomized by the scenic drive along Gay Street between High Street and Washington St.

I am relatively new to town and one of the things I like about where I live is that my wife and I can walk a stroller over to the newly-revitalized School Street playground and potentially have lunch at Cafe Diva or Islington House of Pizza. I can walk to the commuter rail station and library. Groceries are a 2-minute drive away at Roche Brothers. The Cold Stone Creamery is a little overpriced for my taste, but we'll probably indulge in that sometime too. But that's about it for stuff to do in Islington.

I wish there was a little more in the center...another restaurant, maybe a bookstore, a hardware store, something...On High Street, it is more of a strip. As a runner, I often loop from the High School down Fox Hill and back along High Street past town hall, the library, Vellos, Starbucks, etc. but I don't get the sense that it is very walkable...and probably a stretch for people living near Buckminster Pond to walk over to the Library. But I feel like there is so much potential to tie a lot of these things together and realize a more walkable community.

I am curious what could be done to foster "micro-development" in this fashion. Do the Board of Selectmen candidates see a role for the Selectmen in this process? The town no longer has an Economic Development Officer and most energy these days is focused on Westwood Station, but regardless of how that project proceeds, what can we do to increase the vitality of our town centers?

The School Street playground renovation was led by the Westwood Young Womens Club and was hugely successful at transforming an old, out of date playground with splintery, broken structures that parents were afraid to let their kids play on into a busy hub of activity. We need more projects like that...how do we make that happen?

In addition to making our centers more vital, I think we should look for ways to better link up the parts of the town. Granted, it is an easy drive from one side to the other, but what if, as part of the Westwood Station project, we could create a free van service running between the Route 128 train station to Islington station and center, then up Clapboardtree to the Senior Center and along High Street to the Library and Town Hall? That's about a 5 1/2 mile route, one-way and, if it could be made feasible, reliable, and timely, would:

• Connect the Westwood Station restaurants, retail, and potential offices to all parts of town in a way that residents would not have to participate in the traffic that is drawn to the station.
• Allow residents in the High Street area to get to commuter rail without driving--and to easily swap between the Providence/Stoughton and Franklin lines into Boston as necessary.
• Allow seniors and other residents in Islington a free ride to the Senior Center, main library or town hall.
• Encourage walkability throughout town by making the centers of town accessible to all without having to drive.

I have a feeling this is not a new idea and it was probably not considered feasible because of expense and lack of demand. But that might change as part of an overall growth in the town. And I think we should be looking for ways to link the town centers...and the new center-to-be at Westwood Station.