Westwood Square

My self-employment has led me to search for venues outside our busy home from which to work...and the past two weeks I've been spending a lot of time in Dedham Square--mainly at Cafe Video Paradiso where it is relatively quiet and there is free wifi. I'd work from Westwood if there were such a place, but I'm not aware of one. The Starbucks is about as close as it gets--I've been there a few times for coffee with people and then bumped into other folks, but there is not really enough room to work there and the wifi is not free. The Library has free internet access...but you can't talk or eat there.

But "hanging out" in Dedham Square has helped me appreciate more than just having some free office space...there is also huge value in just being in a place where other members of the community regularly frequent. I've gotten to know Paul and Peter Reynolds, and bumped into some other involved Dedham community members.

We need something like that in Westwood. The official town offices--Library, Town Hall, Police/Fire, etc., are strung along High Street, but there's no coffeeshops other than Starbucks...no "square" around which to congregate. The Senior Center is a great space--but it is essentially in a residential area along with the High School. The most geographically logical center of town is at First Parish Church; standing on the steps on that hill, one can imagine why the meeting house was situated there at the crossroads of Clapboardtree and Nahatan when the town was formed--but it is not an economic center.

I think Islington has the potential to be more of a town center for all of Westwood. Imagine if the MBTA station were moved out of the residential area at the end of Grafton Street and positioned over East Street. What if the area around the train tracks and Roche Brothers could be developed into a project encompassing shops, apartments, and office space? The center is already relatively accessible from residential areas all the way to Gay Street...and if the pedestrian access under the train tracks and over Route 1 were safer, would be equally accessible from the Downey School area. There are already some pieces in place...Cafe Diva is a great lunch and breakfast spot...the renovated School Street playground is a meeting place for parents and kids...and everyone drives to Roche Brothers for groceries. On the other side of the tracks, we have a few businesses...the Mercedes dealership, the Turbine company...and a couple of stores that are currently "land-locked between Route 1, Everett Street, and the train tracks...what if these commercial areas were accessible to pedestrian traffic and could be considered a part of an extended Islington Square?

I think there is great potential in how Islington could gradually develop over the next decade or more. I'm not saying we should be like Dedham or Norwood or anyone else. But I think we need more places where people can live and work in the community on a regular basis. Although something like moving the MBTA station would require huge external efforts, I think most of the changes would have to come from people and businesses in town--not from politics and not from an outside developer. Something like this would be built one coffeshop, one boutique, one deli, one storefront at a time...but I'm curious if anyone else thinks this is a future worth dreaming...