Thirteen Villages & One Goal... Waban

Waban takes its name from the famous Algonquin chief, one of the first Native Americans converted to Christianity by the Reverend John Eliot in 1646.  It is a lovely village of mostly single-family homes, many in the Tudor Revival style, with a few two-family houses, and a discrete area of low-density apartments along Wyman Street.  The village is bordered by the Charles River and Route 9 to the South, Route 16 to the West, with less visible boundaries to the North and East.

Beacon Street passes through Waban's village center, with the village green on one side and the historic (c. 1896) Strong's Block of shops (see photo above) on the other side.

The village center is particularly charming because of three other handsome community structures.  One is the Waban Library Center, a former branch library surplused by the City, but saved for community use through the efforts of the Waban Improvement Society (WIS), a long-established village association.  Another is Waban Hall (c. 1890), which housed shops, a school, and WIS meetings in years past, but which is known to most in Newton today as the home of the most comfortable Starbucks in Newton, a shoe repair shop, and an ice cream store.  It's said that at least one novel has been written in Waban Starbucks.

Waban Hall then. Photo, Historic Newton.

Waban Library Center

Waban Hall now. Photo, Candidmoura.com

Windsor Club

Wabanites are devoted to their shops, the Waban Kitchen restaurant and, of course, Barry's Deli.  The village center is also home to two lovely churches, the Angier School, and many historic and beautiful houses.

The third community building of note is the Windsor Club, a tennis, swimming, bowling and social club founded in 1916. The Club is open for membership only to those who reside in the area covered by the Waban zip code, but used for many neighborhood functions as well. 

Barry's Deli

Waban is known for large Tudor-style homes, but is also a highly desirable village for young families looking for smaller, more affordable houses. 

The house lots go from 41,000 square feet with stately old trees to 6,000 square feet on charming streets with ample space between sidewalks and houses.

Waban was once a heavily forested area which developed as an agricultural village.  Waban was famous for its orchards, farms and nurseries.  It has two ponds (one an overgrown kettle pond), one golf course, with its famous "Death Hill" sledding slope, and four playgrounds. 

In recent years, coyotes, turkeys and rabbits have replaced foxes and pheasants, but hawks still circle, perch and look for prey. Waban is crossed by the Cochituate Aqueduct trail allowing one to walk or bike from Wellesley to Cold Spring Park. Another place to walk in Waban that could be lovely is along the Charles River near Quinobequin Road. However, the path is poorly maintained, and next to the road, rather than along the river in many places.

Inadequate Path by Charles River, Quinobequin Road. Photo, NVA.

Density and Over-Development Issues in Waban:
-       the sale and demolition of St. Phillip Neri church and likely higher-density housing on its site
-       the demolition and re-construction of Angier School starting in July 2014
-       the controversial expansion of Zervas School
-       the demolition of typical New England houses to be replaced over-sized McMansions
-       commuters overflowing the T parking lot and crowding residential streets, plus the possible loss of the T parking lot

St. Phillip Neri Church. Photo, Google.

St. Phillip Neri Church

The church has been sold to a developer who has said that he can make a profit whether he develops the site with single family homes, low-density multi-unit structures, or a higher-density housing project.  The City's Planning Department is recommending a higher-density project including 15% affordable units.  There seems to be little interest on the part of the developer or the Planning Department in saving the church building itself. 

Plans for a new Angier School.

Angier School 

Angier School is overcrowded and in terrible condition.  In 2013, Newton voters approved overrides to pay for the rebuilding of Angier school in Waban and Cabot School in Newtonville, and to address overcrowding at Zervas School.  See a video of the conditions here.  The Massachusetts School Building Authority is working with Newton on the Angier and Cabot projects.  The Angier School demolition and reconstruction project will commence in July 2014  and is expected to cost approximately $37.5 million.  These three schools are the first in the pipeline, but all of Newton's elementary schools need expensive renovation. Rebuilding Angier School is great news for the teachers and children who teach and learn there, but there are several years of upheaval ahead.

Angier School now. Photo, NPS.

Architect's Rendering of Planned Angier School.

Zervas School to be expanded to hold 490 students. Photo, NPS.

Zervas School Expansion

The same override that secured taxpayer support for Angier and Cabot, also promised to address overcrowding at Zervas School.  It wasn't made clear to voters how that would be done and the override passed.  Now many in the Zervas community are upset after learning that Zervas will be expanded from a school of approximately 320 students to one with capacity for 490.  Because of adjacent wetlands, expanding Zervas will require the City to purchase, by eminant domain or otherwise, three nearby houses.  Many believe the Zervas expansion shows the City is abandoning Newton's tradition of walkable, village and neighborhood-based elementary schools.  Under this plan, children in Upper Falls will still be without a village school, and will continue to be bussed to Zervas and other schools.

57 Metacomet Road, slated for demolition. Photo, NVA.

Teardowns and McMansions

As is every other village of Newton, Waban is currently under siege from developers intent on squeezing every last dollar out of a property by demolishing houses that are appropriately sized for their lots, clear-cutting trees, and building oversized McMansions.  In Waban, with its particularly fine housing stock, the demolitions are very hard to understand.  57 Metacomet, a beautiful brick Georgian house, is under a Newton Historical Commission one year delay, but will be demolished after that delay.  The developer has already removed all the trees and grass, and left a dustbowl around the house.

Waban T Parking Lot. Photo courtesy, Jeremiah Cox.

Waban T Parking Lot

The Waban MBTA parking lot isn't sufficient to hold the cars of all the commuters who want to park there, and so commuters' cars spill over onto nearby residential streets. Even worse, the future of the lot is uncertain.
At a public meeting in Waban on March 13, 2014, Newton Planning Director Candace Havens said that she would consider a proposal for a 5-story, high-density, mixed-use, apartment complex to be built on the Waban T parking lot.  The MBTA has been developing its parking lots and other properties, so her comment is worrying.