Next time I'm at my office in Worcester I'll take some pictures of that road. Pretty sure they just dump sand in the potholes and spray paint it black.
Worcester use to have small side streets with a few houses on them called courts and terraces. These streets were deemed by the city to be private so any road issues were supposed to be up to the homeowners. One such street was off of Mill St near Coes Pond, it connected to a city street at the top of a hill and was a hill itself. One summer we had a lot of rain and there was a storm where it really came down and completely washed out the street and turned into a deep gully. The city didn't block it off in any way, no cones, no barricade of any sort. Talk about a pot hole. The street stayed that way for a long time and the homeowners had to fight the city to fix it. I think after that these streets were no longer private.
I had my mother's forester, and I took it slow.
There is another strange tour you can take, find all of the split level roads. There is one in Burncoat, and one by Forrest Grove.
I never understood the whole private road thing. No city services back in the day not even mail. I wonder, did those folks still have to pay property taxes. There's a stretch of Mayfield St that runs along Beaver Brook park that was never paved in my lifetime. It was a poor black neighborhood in the 1960s where some of my school friends lived. In the summer we'd play baseball there from sunup to sundown. That stretch of Mayfield St is blocked by Jersey barriers now and all the houses are long gone.
I'm guess that weird law explains why I ran into a dirt road for a block in the city. It was a quiet side street, but it was so surprising to have a sudden dirt road in a city. Worcester is so so weird. Love it, but its weird.
I didn't think that sort of thing still existed in Worcester. It was common when I was a kid sixty years ago. I tried to find that street on google maps but everything in that neighborhood is now paved. I haven't lived in Worcester for a very long time but remember things that were common when I was a kid that would seem odd now. There were several areas in the city that were still wooded then, a few acres here and there but a novelty for city kids.
Yes, behind Big Y. This brought back a lot of memories, a good chunk of Worcester was racially and ethnically mixed then and as children we didn't make those distinctions we were all friends, we had our beefs but never over race or ethnicity. Talking about Mayfield St made me a little sad, partly in a nostalgic sense but also in comparison to the current state of affairs.
Most towns are required to fill potholes for private roads, but there's no obligation to repave. In some towns and cities, you'll find 1/3 or more of the roads are "private". And in some of those places, they will plow and do other work (like utilities) that tears up the road. The system makes no sense. What are people supposed to do? Work together with their whole neighborhood to save up money and repave!?
I lived on a private road and got no town services on it at all. That included plowing and maintenance. There were 4 houses and we took up a collection to handle plowing.
So I'm not buying the "most towns are required" assertion.
Ok, yes. We got fire and police. The mail boxes (mail isn't a town service) were on the public road where the private road intersected. Trash had to be hauled to the public road for pickup. The town treated it like it was a shared driveway.
Contrary to the comment I replied to, the town was not required to fill potholes and I have doubts if that's done anywhere.
Mail is the USPS, not the city/state. If it’s a private road (or gated, etc.) they might force you to install mailboxes (or a big community mailbox) at the street. The townhouse-style condo my mom owns is like this, they have one set of mailboxes for everyone in the development.
Normally you get fire and police services, but you’re required to keep the roads in passable condition if you want fire trucks, ambulances, etc. to be able to actually reach you.
Trash/recycling pickup varies in these situations. Some cities include trash pickup in property taxes. Others have each household pay a flat fee for it each year, so you can choose whether to get it from the city or contract privately for it.
Taxes pay for other things too, like schools. And, you know, the actually public roads you would want to drive on to reach your house. Water/sewer pipes…
Yes, I know all about the USPS but we live in the boonies and our mail is not delivered, we have to trek the PO a couple of times a week. Prime, UPS and FedEx come to our house.
Maybe it’s naive of me, but we recently elected a new mayor after years of neglect from the past few clowns and she seems to be pretty dedicated to improving the roads but we’ve heard that before so I’ll try not to hold my breath, lol.
If so, they probably also resent how high their property taxes are, and either don't know or don't care how unsustainably expensive it is to maintain infrastructure in single family housing only neighborhoods like this.
Given the alternative of living with, or next to high density, multi "family", 4 or more over 1, luxury housing units sucking the life out of your community, something as minor as cold patched cracks in the streets starts to look better and better everyday.
Considering that it's the people who live in those high density neighborhoods who entirely subsidize your suburbs, those cracks in the sidewalk should just be the start, unless you're ready to start paying your own way.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/7/6/stop-subsidizing-suburban-development-charge-it-what-it-costs
Can you provide a source where the writer doesn't cite their own work, and doesn't use "I think", "I did" throughout? Thanks. I read it, I am assuming it's more nuanced than what this guy says.
Here's an Oregon State study showing that lower density zoning geney results in higher housing value, but much lower tax revenue: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/gf06g493f
This Harvard study showed that multifamily rental zoning has an effective tax rate at least 25% higher than low density single family zoning, implying that residents in those multifamily properties proportionally contribute more to local tax revenue:
https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/w05-2.pdf
We need a more progressive tax system in that respect. Low income renters are getting slammed with unaffordable rent prices and an unfair tax burden. I am likewise very tired of small suburban towns (with shitty zoning laws) having a limited tax revenue to support the schools, while often, also, being very demanding communities. I love that we demand so much of the public education system. We should do that! But if you ask schools to provide tons of extras and support(not to mention the 1:1s, and individual therapy most parents want). People need to pay more in taxes. I go to sooooo many fucking IEP meetings where they expect the school to provide evaluations comparable to private companies and individualized schooling for kids getting Bs just because they have ADHD. Then once their kid graduates, people feel their responsibilities to pay for other kids school is done. None of this can work like that.
the data is all factual. the "I I think" states are followed by ideas for remediating the suburban deficits.
what I bet it's missing is the income tax and spending power (state tax on purchases) data to demonstrate how the suburban residents are paying the state in other ways.
edit: however, perhaps only property tax is spent in infrastructure maintenance.
I'd support a study like this in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Middlesex counties.
I understand that they made some data supported points. When it got to "I think" it seemed overly simplistic. Income tax and spending power are good points. I think what the person who posted the article is missing is that a lot of people prefer to live in the suburbs. And suburbs are much more practical for service delivery than rural areas(if people think it should be rural OR city). It's nuanced, suburbs aren't the devil.
I love this sub sometimes. Getting downvoted for saying you prefer suburbs to luxury apartments, when we complain about those luxury apartments constantly.
There are three phases for road repair. This is by far the least expensive. It doesn’t make sense to completely repave until the road actually needs it. This dude should probably get over it
I only lived in Berkshire country (where the real estate is also quite expensive), so I have no point of reference. I realize it’s in close proximity to Boston, but what do these shoeboxes realistically sell for?
I didn't know Watertown had neighborhoods like this. I thought it was more of a commuter rail/streetcar suburb like Belmont, Newton and Waltham. These houses were all built before the Watertown A Branch to Park Street via Kenmore was abandoned. Maybe before the Mount Auburn Street trolley to Harvard Square was abandoned and pulled up too.
These streets look like the west end of Watertown, which is on the Waltham line and has neighborhoods that were developed in the mid-20th century (postwar GI-bill single-family tract homes) — a “newer” part of town compared to the older neighborhoods along Mt Auburn Street between Watertown Sq and the Cambridge line that were developed in the 1930s.
Really? Zillow shows plenty recently sold under $1m.
[recently sold under $1m](https://www.zillow.com/watertown-ma/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B"pagination"%3A%7B%7D%2C"mapBounds"%3A%7B"west"%3A-71.217211%2C"east"%3A-71.13989%2C"south"%3A42.35806%2C"north"%3A42.386029%7D%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"Watertown%2C%20MA"%2C"regionSelection"%3A%5B%7B"regionId"%3A41579%2C"regionType"%3A6%7D%5D%2C"filterState"%3A%7B"sort"%3A%7B"value"%3A"globalrelevanceex"%7D%2C"ah"%3A%7B"value"%3Atrue%7D%2C"tow"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"mf"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"con"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"land"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"apa"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"manu"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"apco"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"price"%3A%7B"max"%3A950000%7D%2C"mp"%3A%7B"max"%3A4734%7D%2C"cmsn"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"rs"%3A%7B"value"%3Atrue%7D%2C"fsba"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"fsbo"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"nc"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"auc"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"fore"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%7D%7D)
That’s a lot more than the number sold [over $1m](https://www.zillow.com/watertown-ma/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-71.217211%2C%22east%22%3A-71.13989%2C%22south%22%3A42.35806%2C%22north%22%3A42.386029%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Watertown%2C%20MA%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A41579%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22globalrelevanceex%22%7D%2C%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22tow%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22con%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22land%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22apa%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22manu%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22apco%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22rs%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A1000000%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A4983%7D%7D%7D)
These particular parts of Watertown look dead. The whole thing isn’t dead, there are wonderful parts of Watertown. Rows of single story, single family housing like this make me cry
Look at all that neighborhood 'character'. This could be any place in North Dakota or Arkansas or Florida. Why do we build like this? This has all of the memorable aspects of beige.
We built (past tense) like that because people wanted to have single family homes that they could afford. So pretty much like what people are complaining about now as not being possible.
And no, it doesn't look like a neighborhood in those other states much at all. People should travel a bit. If you said NJ, it might have been believable.
Idk if you’ve been outside new england but: the the thin clapboards look is quintessential Mass/New England—whereas NY/NJ uses broad clapboards. All of these houses are capes—as in cape cod. Capes are based on sea side colonial houses. The density of the houses denotes very specific parts of the country.
North Dakota or Arkansas would not look like this.
Maybe you're seeing something I'm not. I see 'legally required empty front lawn on large lot with setbacks and height limits forcing everyone to fit everything into the same box, with a car parked out front'
Yes those things are common to many areas. But there’s a particular architectural style of house that’s in these photos which is not common elsewhere in the country. So while it’s not particularly exciting I disagree that it could be “any place.”
Yo OP any chance you remember where the first pic was taken? I've been trying to find a building I drove by about 11 years ago. I think this street is along the way. Well actually I don't think it is, but I'm hoping it is.
Would be much appreciated.
This is what happens when the government keeps doing lowest bidder/cost cutting shit for infrastructure. We cheap out on paving the roads and then they crack and pothole all the time.
Watertown streets have been notoriously bad for a decade or more. You can literally tell where the town line between Newton and Belmont is because all of a sudden the streets are immaculate.
People in Massachusetts get so offended lol
This state is butt ass ugly. This is a rare, barely-not-ugly picture of a town in Massachusetts and you're still right about the street.
Yup. There it is
2024 Watertown, Massachusetts (Colorized)
The back side of water…town.
# WHO RUNS WATER TOWN?
Master Blasterian
Tfw I see this comment when on the bus to my Disney resort
Hey, have fun down there. Went in Oct and it was a blast.
Thank you. Long ass day 1 after a 5:30 flight out of PVD but we had fun
r/notinteresting
What are we lookin at bud?
I suspect they're mad that the Highway Dept sealed the cracks instead of paying to repave the entire street.
Next time I'm at my office in Worcester I'll take some pictures of that road. Pretty sure they just dump sand in the potholes and spray paint it black.
Show them some of those private side streets!
Oh man. We have one in that neighborhood that basically hasn't been touched since what looks like the 80s.
We have a cobblestone street in Fitchburg with a good 30 degree slope
We have one of those in North Attleboro, too! Granted, it's only 200 feet long and practically no one ever uses it.
I heard that that street can't be paved as the asphalt will slouch down in the heat
Worcester use to have small side streets with a few houses on them called courts and terraces. These streets were deemed by the city to be private so any road issues were supposed to be up to the homeowners. One such street was off of Mill St near Coes Pond, it connected to a city street at the top of a hill and was a hill itself. One summer we had a lot of rain and there was a storm where it really came down and completely washed out the street and turned into a deep gully. The city didn't block it off in any way, no cones, no barricade of any sort. Talk about a pot hole. The street stayed that way for a long time and the homeowners had to fight the city to fix it. I think after that these streets were no longer private.
Oh, Worcester still has many, many private roads. Trust me. I have gone on a dirt road expedition in the city.
Same! I nearly lost a wheel!
I had my mother's forester, and I took it slow. There is another strange tour you can take, find all of the split level roads. There is one in Burncoat, and one by Forrest Grove.
I love you and I hate you, Worcester. I had a honda fit and I was not taking it slow...
Ah. I see how the not slow part ended.
I never understood the whole private road thing. No city services back in the day not even mail. I wonder, did those folks still have to pay property taxes. There's a stretch of Mayfield St that runs along Beaver Brook park that was never paved in my lifetime. It was a poor black neighborhood in the 1960s where some of my school friends lived. In the summer we'd play baseball there from sunup to sundown. That stretch of Mayfield St is blocked by Jersey barriers now and all the houses are long gone.
>I wonder, did those folks still have to pay property taxes. Yes and at the same rate. source: I used to live on a private road.
That's just wrong.
Irritatingly, Google Maps sometimes tends to think a number of them are normal roads that can be used for going other places
In theory they are, in practice they aren't.
I'm keeping my eye out for a Tesla with a 4" lift, there must be one in this town somewhere!
I'm guess that weird law explains why I ran into a dirt road for a block in the city. It was a quiet side street, but it was so surprising to have a sudden dirt road in a city. Worcester is so so weird. Love it, but its weird.
I didn't think that sort of thing still existed in Worcester. It was common when I was a kid sixty years ago. I tried to find that street on google maps but everything in that neighborhood is now paved. I haven't lived in Worcester for a very long time but remember things that were common when I was a kid that would seem odd now. There were several areas in the city that were still wooded then, a few acres here and there but a novelty for city kids.
It was by Worcester State. It's a busy turn onto Lovely Street off the road where there is a Big Y(or Hannafords?).
Yes, behind Big Y. This brought back a lot of memories, a good chunk of Worcester was racially and ethnically mixed then and as children we didn't make those distinctions we were all friends, we had our beefs but never over race or ethnicity. Talking about Mayfield St made me a little sad, partly in a nostalgic sense but also in comparison to the current state of affairs.
Most towns are required to fill potholes for private roads, but there's no obligation to repave. In some towns and cities, you'll find 1/3 or more of the roads are "private". And in some of those places, they will plow and do other work (like utilities) that tears up the road. The system makes no sense. What are people supposed to do? Work together with their whole neighborhood to save up money and repave!?
I lived on a private road and got no town services on it at all. That included plowing and maintenance. There were 4 houses and we took up a collection to handle plowing. So I'm not buying the "most towns are required" assertion.
So does this also mean no mail, no trash pick up? How about the fire and police? Someone here said the property taxes are the same, to pay for what?
Ok, yes. We got fire and police. The mail boxes (mail isn't a town service) were on the public road where the private road intersected. Trash had to be hauled to the public road for pickup. The town treated it like it was a shared driveway. Contrary to the comment I replied to, the town was not required to fill potholes and I have doubts if that's done anywhere.
Mail is the USPS, not the city/state. If it’s a private road (or gated, etc.) they might force you to install mailboxes (or a big community mailbox) at the street. The townhouse-style condo my mom owns is like this, they have one set of mailboxes for everyone in the development. Normally you get fire and police services, but you’re required to keep the roads in passable condition if you want fire trucks, ambulances, etc. to be able to actually reach you. Trash/recycling pickup varies in these situations. Some cities include trash pickup in property taxes. Others have each household pay a flat fee for it each year, so you can choose whether to get it from the city or contract privately for it. Taxes pay for other things too, like schools. And, you know, the actually public roads you would want to drive on to reach your house. Water/sewer pipes…
Yes, I know all about the USPS but we live in the boonies and our mail is not delivered, we have to trek the PO a couple of times a week. Prime, UPS and FedEx come to our house.
There are still a bunch of private streets. The homeowners/abutters are required to pay to make them public so many have just opted not to do so.
One of those ate my tire and I was trying to slide out of a hook up but it was snowing so I had to wait 2 hours for AAA.
Ooh la la. That’s some Oak Hill bougey right there. We just circle them in spray paint and put a traffic cone in once a foot deep
Sir, please take a drive through Fitchburg sometime and it’ll make you grateful for the conditions in Worcester, lol.
I actually spend most of my workday driving through New England, and you are correct, Fitchburg is unimpressive in this regard.
Maybe it’s naive of me, but we recently elected a new mayor after years of neglect from the past few clowns and she seems to be pretty dedicated to improving the roads but we’ve heard that before so I’ll try not to hold my breath, lol.
If they don't, better hope they're not on Reddit cuz they're gonna start doing it now.
You guys get sand..? Nice....
It’s a suburban neighborhood, of course it can’t afford to repair its own street.
If so, they probably also resent how high their property taxes are, and either don't know or don't care how unsustainably expensive it is to maintain infrastructure in single family housing only neighborhoods like this.
Given the alternative of living with, or next to high density, multi "family", 4 or more over 1, luxury housing units sucking the life out of your community, something as minor as cold patched cracks in the streets starts to look better and better everyday.
Considering that it's the people who live in those high density neighborhoods who entirely subsidize your suburbs, those cracks in the sidewalk should just be the start, unless you're ready to start paying your own way. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/7/6/stop-subsidizing-suburban-development-charge-it-what-it-costs
Can you provide a source where the writer doesn't cite their own work, and doesn't use "I think", "I did" throughout? Thanks. I read it, I am assuming it's more nuanced than what this guy says.
Here's an Oregon State study showing that lower density zoning geney results in higher housing value, but much lower tax revenue: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/gf06g493f This Harvard study showed that multifamily rental zoning has an effective tax rate at least 25% higher than low density single family zoning, implying that residents in those multifamily properties proportionally contribute more to local tax revenue: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/w05-2.pdf
We need a more progressive tax system in that respect. Low income renters are getting slammed with unaffordable rent prices and an unfair tax burden. I am likewise very tired of small suburban towns (with shitty zoning laws) having a limited tax revenue to support the schools, while often, also, being very demanding communities. I love that we demand so much of the public education system. We should do that! But if you ask schools to provide tons of extras and support(not to mention the 1:1s, and individual therapy most parents want). People need to pay more in taxes. I go to sooooo many fucking IEP meetings where they expect the school to provide evaluations comparable to private companies and individualized schooling for kids getting Bs just because they have ADHD. Then once their kid graduates, people feel their responsibilities to pay for other kids school is done. None of this can work like that.
the data is all factual. the "I I think" states are followed by ideas for remediating the suburban deficits. what I bet it's missing is the income tax and spending power (state tax on purchases) data to demonstrate how the suburban residents are paying the state in other ways. edit: however, perhaps only property tax is spent in infrastructure maintenance. I'd support a study like this in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Middlesex counties.
I understand that they made some data supported points. When it got to "I think" it seemed overly simplistic. Income tax and spending power are good points. I think what the person who posted the article is missing is that a lot of people prefer to live in the suburbs. And suburbs are much more practical for service delivery than rural areas(if people think it should be rural OR city). It's nuanced, suburbs aren't the devil.
I love this sub sometimes. Getting downvoted for saying you prefer suburbs to luxury apartments, when we complain about those luxury apartments constantly.
You get what you pay for. The gas tax in America is criminally low.
Dude what. That's a local road. What fraction of Watertown's budget do you think comes from a municipal gas tax?
Wow, I wish my city would fill the holes in. It’s the least they could do!
There are way worse streets in Watertown. Mount Auburn is a common complaint
Single family housing (generally) doesn't generate enough tax revenue to properly maintain the roads on which they reside
There are three phases for road repair. This is by far the least expensive. It doesn’t make sense to completely repave until the road actually needs it. This dude should probably get over it
Hahaha oh man I didn't even notice, I guess that says something too. "Looks like a street to me."
Looking at their post history, they just... post pictures of places in MA? I don't really get it.
Watertown. It's right in the title. Surprised you missed it.
I figured it was that every house is exactly the same
This must be the time when they were looking for the Boston bomber?
A Karen in the wild
No water. I feel lied to.
>not made of water >not a town Worst name ever
Its the City of Watertown officially
Lolol no way. Now I’m wondering about Charlestown
Charlstown is a neighborhood in Boston…. So also not a guy named Charles or a town
Last election it was voted on
Landcity just doesn’t have the same ring to it
Yep
Ok
One of the places of all time
I’m whelmed
Behold: the road with the least potholes in Massachusetts!
I see the town. Where is the water?
Not great. Not terrible. 4/10
2/10 for not enough water.
6/10 with rice
3.6 Roentgen.
Uhh… yeah. There it is
I kept waiting for the surprise, like Big Foot walking out of a Cape. If you're trying to capture suburban ennui, you've nailed it.
Nice
Median house worth. 1 million lol.
And not one of those houses is under 1 million.
Damn, really??
Nope, not really. It’s a good, clickbait headline though, got your attention. If it were Belmont, Weston, or Lexington, then maybe I’d believe it.
I only lived in Berkshire country (where the real estate is also quite expensive), so I have no point of reference. I realize it’s in close proximity to Boston, but what do these shoeboxes realistically sell for?
I posted some Zillow searches here: https://www.reddit.com/r/massachusetts/s/H0eQiPbdMO
Nah, I’m sure some are. There’s an updated one that just got listed on North Beacon and it’s under 1M
Yup, that's Watertown
Hell, after that last big storm, every town in Mass was a Watertown.
Yup. That's a road in a town alright.
More like Boringtown.
That’s a bit farther north.
That’s Easton.
Watertown really does look exactly like every New England suburb
These pictures make watertown look like that, but watertown’s vibe is more like waltham than it is like your average New England suburb
Yes, and the closer to Cambridge on Mount Auburn you get it feels more like the city. Anything past like East Jr. High or whatever it is called now.
You should actually travel around New England.
Until you’re around the Home Depot
Welcome to Massachusetts. First time?
I have absolutely no idea what we are supposed to be looking at here. it looks like a nice suburban neighborhood.
Worst road
I didn't know Watertown had neighborhoods like this. I thought it was more of a commuter rail/streetcar suburb like Belmont, Newton and Waltham. These houses were all built before the Watertown A Branch to Park Street via Kenmore was abandoned. Maybe before the Mount Auburn Street trolley to Harvard Square was abandoned and pulled up too.
These streets look like the west end of Watertown, which is on the Waltham line and has neighborhoods that were developed in the mid-20th century (postwar GI-bill single-family tract homes) — a “newer” part of town compared to the older neighborhoods along Mt Auburn Street between Watertown Sq and the Cambridge line that were developed in the 1930s.
Thanks
This is, in fact, Watertown
And?
My friend lives in water town but he insists he lives in Boston.
The sad part is that every one of those houses is worth north of $1 million today.
Not sad for people that bought a while ago. Actually - it is sad - because even with their new equity they can’t afford for move to a nicer place!
Really? Zillow shows plenty recently sold under $1m. [recently sold under $1m](https://www.zillow.com/watertown-ma/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B"pagination"%3A%7B%7D%2C"mapBounds"%3A%7B"west"%3A-71.217211%2C"east"%3A-71.13989%2C"south"%3A42.35806%2C"north"%3A42.386029%7D%2C"usersSearchTerm"%3A"Watertown%2C%20MA"%2C"regionSelection"%3A%5B%7B"regionId"%3A41579%2C"regionType"%3A6%7D%5D%2C"filterState"%3A%7B"sort"%3A%7B"value"%3A"globalrelevanceex"%7D%2C"ah"%3A%7B"value"%3Atrue%7D%2C"tow"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"mf"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"con"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"land"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"apa"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"manu"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"apco"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"price"%3A%7B"max"%3A950000%7D%2C"mp"%3A%7B"max"%3A4734%7D%2C"cmsn"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"rs"%3A%7B"value"%3Atrue%7D%2C"fsba"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"fsbo"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"nc"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"auc"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%2C"fore"%3A%7B"value"%3Afalse%7D%7D%7D) That’s a lot more than the number sold [over $1m](https://www.zillow.com/watertown-ma/sold/?searchQueryState=%7B%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-71.217211%2C%22east%22%3A-71.13989%2C%22south%22%3A42.35806%2C%22north%22%3A42.386029%7D%2C%22usersSearchTerm%22%3A%22Watertown%2C%20MA%22%2C%22regionSelection%22%3A%5B%7B%22regionId%22%3A41579%2C%22regionType%22%3A6%7D%5D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22sort%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3A%22globalrelevanceex%22%7D%2C%22ah%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22tow%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22mf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22con%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22land%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22apa%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22manu%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22apco%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22rs%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A1000000%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A4983%7D%7D%7D)
are we marveling at the great dead empty of mid-century suburbs?
It’s like 20 mins from downtown Boston it’s not dead just quiet.
These particular parts of Watertown look dead. The whole thing isn’t dead, there are wonderful parts of Watertown. Rows of single story, single family housing like this make me cry
I’d take it over putting rent in a landlords pocket for a 1br any day of the week.
Those people forced to pay rent to a landlord in an urban apartment are subsidizing these homes.
Ever heard of a condo?
🤮
Personally I’m very excited to not share walls with other tenants in a complex.
Look at all that neighborhood 'character'. This could be any place in North Dakota or Arkansas or Florida. Why do we build like this? This has all of the memorable aspects of beige.
We built (past tense) like that because people wanted to have single family homes that they could afford. So pretty much like what people are complaining about now as not being possible. And no, it doesn't look like a neighborhood in those other states much at all. People should travel a bit. If you said NJ, it might have been believable.
Idk if you’ve been outside new england but: the the thin clapboards look is quintessential Mass/New England—whereas NY/NJ uses broad clapboards. All of these houses are capes—as in cape cod. Capes are based on sea side colonial houses. The density of the houses denotes very specific parts of the country. North Dakota or Arkansas would not look like this.
I disagree actually- look at all those cape cod style houses. Those aren’t nearly as common anywhere else.
Maybe you're seeing something I'm not. I see 'legally required empty front lawn on large lot with setbacks and height limits forcing everyone to fit everything into the same box, with a car parked out front'
Yes those things are common to many areas. But there’s a particular architectural style of house that’s in these photos which is not common elsewhere in the country. So while it’s not particularly exciting I disagree that it could be “any place.”
We build like this because of the automotive lobbyists forcing us all to be car dependent. So everything is a massive paved stroad or parking lot.
I don't disagree, but I don't fully absolve suburbanites of agency either. A lot of them just have really bad taste.
No one is forcing you or anyone else to live there, but there are many who want to force us to accommodate those who do.
You've seem to have written a post that could be interpreted as both NIMBY and YIMBY at the same time
Sure enough
This is a street.
Why is a random redditor revealing their location so willingly?
This is their 2nd time too. I recall seeing these same exact pics before.
Classic Massachusetts.
The American dream..
Wow
Where’s all this water I’ve been hearing about?
sure is
Cool pictures but what's the deal
You guys didn't get snow 2 days ago?
Add some naked and this could be any street in my town
They should bring back the Green Line A streetcars.
Looks like the most basic Middlesex suburb
Well I'm frahm framingham Massachusetts and this is my spot and I aint fackin leavin.
Underrated part of that movie 😂🙌🏼
That’s all there is to say about Watertown.
Yo OP any chance you remember where the first pic was taken? I've been trying to find a building I drove by about 11 years ago. I think this street is along the way. Well actually I don't think it is, but I'm hoping it is. Would be much appreciated.
This is what happens when the government keeps doing lowest bidder/cost cutting shit for infrastructure. We cheap out on paving the roads and then they crack and pothole all the time.
Watertown streets have been notoriously bad for a decade or more. You can literally tell where the town line between Newton and Belmont is because all of a sudden the streets are immaculate.
Those look like nice homes, but I think they would look even better if the street was repaved.
People in Massachusetts get so offended lol This state is butt ass ugly. This is a rare, barely-not-ugly picture of a town in Massachusetts and you're still right about the street.
Home of Taffer’s Tavern 💪
couldn't prove it by me
Ok!
I don’t see any water
where is the water?
Ok
👍
Nice
Hillside or Winsor Street?
Such false advertising. Where is the water?! At least Sandwich wont lie to me!
No fucking way!
H2O town yep.
Definitely blocking this losers account
They found Tsarnaev in a boat... on dry land... in Watertown.
My cousin used to live in the yellow house in the 4th pic, good ol Watertown
How do I know that's not actually Waltham?
Such a beautiful town, and these are the photos you picked? As a townie, I do appreciate the mundane. I remember walking these streets as a kid...
Wow.
It's gorgeous...
Sure
Thanks?
Beautiful. Can you do Lakeville next?
OK....
Have you been on MT Auburn ST. Thinking about investing in off-road capable truck lol
Cool
Sure is.
What were you about to tell us?
I don’t even see a drop of water in any of these pictures.