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SOMERVILLE NEIGHBORS TOGETHER
Our community working together to build relationships, problem solve, and take action.

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GROUPS

Please find here a list of groups by neighborhood or topic, with criteria for membership, and how to join. Have a group to add (or subtract or edit)? Please contact Stephanie at: stephanie@stephaniehirsch.org.

CITY UPDATES

Neighborhood specific updates and weekly ResiStat email: https://www.somervillema.gov/alerts

BY NEIGHBORHOOD

Ball Square Neighborhood: New group working to form. Contact Jeff Shwom for more information (jshwom@gmail.com)
Beacon Street Neighbors: This is an email list for community organizing and information exchange about the Beacon Street.
Belmont Street Neighbors: A mailing list for residents on Belmont Street. Request membership at: belmont-street@googlegroups.com.
Davis Square Forum: To share issues and events related to Davis Square. Request membership at: https://davis-square.dreamwidth.org/Now mainly shifted to Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DavisSquare/
Gilman Square Neighborhood Group: Follow news of the emerging Gilman Square neighborhood group.
Gilman Square GLX: "Is construction of the Gilman Square Station impacting your life in some way? ...Watch this space." More information here: www.facebook.com/GilmanSquareStation/
Magoun Square News: Blog maintained by Magoun Square resident. Visit at http://www.ward5online.com/
Nunziato - Friends of Nunziato: "A growing group of Somerville residents concerned about plans to dig up Nunziato Park and install a stormwater catchment container." Request membership at: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!members/nunziato
Prospect Hill Neighbors: Mailing list for Prospect Hill neighborhood. Request membership at: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/prospect-hill-neighbors
Porter Square Neighbors: Find information here: http://portersquare.net/get-involved and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PorterSquareNeighbors/
Union Square Neighbors: "A grassroots, independent neighborhood association dedicated to helping residents and stakeholders of Union Square shape the future of their community." More information at: www.unionsquareneighbors.com and request membership at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!aboutgroup/usn-announcements
Union United: "Union United is a coalition of stakeholders...including small business owners, residents, activists, immigrant groups, religious congregations, labor unions, and community-based organizations, working to ensure that the Union Square redevelopment process results in tangible benefits — not displacement — for the Union Square community." More information and join mailing list here: unionunitedsomerville.com/
Union Square Neighborhood Council: "Residents, business people, and city officials have been working together to create a Neighborhood Council to influence the redevelopment of Union Square." More information and join announcements list here: http://unionsquareneighborhoodcouncil.org/#email
Union Square Main Streets: "Union Square Main Streets works collaboratively to actively support a vibrant neighborhood by preserving the character and advancing the economic strength of the Union Square business district and community. More information here: www.unionsquaremain.org/
Winter Hill Neighborhood Association: "This group is the place for members (and any others interested) in communicating about goals and objectives relating to the Winter Hill Neighborhood Association." Request membership at: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!aboutgroup/winterhillneighborhoodassociation
Winter Hill Forum: Request membership at: https://whna.dreamwidth.org/
West Somerville Neighborhood Group: Group advocating for neighborhood issues in West Somerville. More information here: http://westsomerville.org/ and request membership at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WestSomerville/info
Citywide Somerville Reddit: Request membership and create account at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/

ELECTED OFFICIAL NEWSLETTERS AND/OR CONTACT INFORMATION

US Rep Mike Capuano
State Senator Pat Jehlen
State Rep Denise Provost
State Rep Christine Barber
State Rep Michael Connelly
Ward 1 Somerville Alderman Matt McLaughlin
Ward 2 Somerville JT Scott
Ward 3 Somerville Ben Ewen-Campen
Ward 4 Somerville Jesse Clingan
Ward 5 Somerville Mark Niedergang
Ward 6 Somerville Lance Davis
Ward 7 Somerville Katjana Ballantyne
At-Large William White
At-Large Mary Jo Rossetti
At-Large Will Mbah
At-Large Stephanie Hirsch
Board of Aldermen Meetings and Minutes online here: https://www.somervillema.gov/boa

BY INTEREST AREA

Community Media:

Somerville Media Center Member Listserv -- "SCATV & Boston Free Radio members and advocates who want to share information related to Somerville: events & event coverage, resource sharing, workshops, tips in the field, production crew calls, and classes." Visit https://groups.google.com/forum/#!aboutgroup/scatv

Environmental Action, Open Space, & Urban Forestry

Somerville Climate Action -- "A community-based group building a better future in Somerville." Visit https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/somervilleclimateaction. Website here: http://www.somervilleclimateaction.org/mission-who-we-are
Mystic River Watershed -- "We protect and restore the Mystic River" (and they host fun events). Visit https://mysticriver.org/
Green and Open Somerville -- "A place for people interested in improving and increasing Somerville's green spaces to learn more and join together to make a difference." More information here: http://greenopensomerville.blogspot.com/
SustainaVille City of Somerville Office -- City Office that is working to create a "resilient and carbon neutral Somerville." Sign up here: https://www.somervillema.gov/sustainaville
Somerville Urban Forestry -- A group formed to sustain a conversation about our trees, and also about ecological diversity, birds, native species, and related topics.

Historic Preservation and Research

Historic Somerville -- Purpose is to "broaden awareness of the enormous economic impact of preservation as an essential tool for community revitalization and quality of life enhancement". To see events: Go to htttp://historicsomerville.org/

Housing:

Tenant Right of First Refusal -- To explore how to organize for a Tenant Right of First Refusal Legislation (either local or state enabling). Visit https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer#!forum/ma-tenant-right-of-first-refusal
Somerville YIMBY -- "A group of Somerville residents that advocates for smart growth that benefits everyone." Website is http://somervilleyimby.org and Facebook page is here facebook.com/SomervilleYIMBY. Subscribe on website or, for more information or to help in planning meetings, email Jeff at: jeff@somervilleyimby.org.
AHOC -- A group that meets about monthly to discuss affordable housing advocacy.

Kids and Families:

Somerville Parents -- "Covers a wide range of parenting topics, with a particular focus on Somerville"; Membership Criteria: "Parents/ guardians or expectant parents living in - or otherwise connected to - the Somerville area." Follow the prompts on the website: https://groups.io/g/SomervilleParents. This group was formerly SomervilleMoms Yahoogroup.
Somerville Families -- Purpose is to "support community building among Somerville families and children, and the promotion of discussions of policy and programming that will make Somerville the best possible place to raise a family"; Membership Criteria: "limited to parents, guardians, grandparents, and care-givers who live in Somerville.; Go to www.SomervilleFamilies.com and complete online form to sign up for different lists.
Somerville (and Beyond) parents Facebook Page: An informal group for parents in the Somerville, Massachusetts area and surrounding towns. This group is intended to make it easier for parents to ask questions, seek advice, share articles or resources, and get acquainted.
Moms of Camberville: Groups are organized by age of child, with one per year. Here is the 2017-2018 group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/momsofcamberville20172018/https://www.facebook.com/groups/momsofcamberville20172018/
Somerville Fields and Recreation: "A place for people interested in improving and increasing access to Somerville's fields and athletic facilities to learn more and join together to make a difference." Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/somervilleparks
Acess4All: "A group for discussion of how to remove any barriers to participation in programs or access to facilities for youth and adults who identify as non-binary or other gender identities."

Politics:

Somerville Democratic City Committee -- "The SDCC works to elect Democrats up and down the ballot in our city and beyond." To Join: Visit http://www.somdems.org/
Somerville Republican Committee -- More information and meeting listed at: http://www.massgop.com/bmc08yaz/somerville_republican_city_committee?recruiter_id=184062
Indivisible Somerville -- "We serve as an incubator for experimental activism called Labs, a resource for civics education, and a training program for new leaders." Visit https://indivisiblesomerville.com/
Our Revolution Somerville -- "Our mission is to transform city politics so that local government represents residents, instead of special interests and developers." Visit https://www.facebook.com/OurRevolutionSomerville/

Seniors:

Council on Aging -- "This group is a resource for Somerville Senior Citizens to learn about events, activities, discounts or other senior related items throughout Somerville and the surrounding areas." Visit https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/somerville-council-on-aging

Transit & Traffic:

Pedestrian and Transit Issues: A group formed to advocate for traffic calming, transit access and pedestrian safety.
GLX neighborhood updates: A GLX Working Group has been formed with residents who live near each station as well as a few at-large representatives. They meet monthly with Mass DOT and the contractor representatives, city personnel from each city, and others. Their job is to help Mass DOT communicate to residents and business owners, as well as to give Mass DOT feedback and questions from residents. To stay up to date, see:

For citywide issues: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/glxworkinggroup/join and contact Michaela Bogosh, michaela.bogos@gmail.com
College Avenue: Laurel Ruma, laurel.ruma@gmail.com and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CollegeAveGreenLineStation

Ball Square/Medford: Jim Silva, jfsilva@smrto.org and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BallSquareGLXNews
Ball Square/Somerville: Jennifer Dorsen, dorsen@gmail.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BallSquareGLXNews/
Gilman Squarehttps://www.facebook.com/GilmanSquareStation/: Justin Moeling, lxjustin@gmail.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/GilmanSquareStation/https://www.facebook.com/GilmanSquareStation/
Magoun Square: Ryan Dunn, ryandunn.glx@gmail.com and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Magoun-Square-Green-Line-Extension-392581591169903/
Union Square: Jim McGinnis, jim02143@gmail.com
Brickbottom: Elliott Bradshaw, ebradshaw@alum.mit.edu
East Somerville: Dylan Manley, dylanm510@gmail.com and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/eastsomervillegreenlinestation

Official GLX Construction Updates: Join this list - https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MADOT/subscriber/new?topic_id=MADOT_2
GLX Hotline: For any questions or concerns (for example about noise, lights, dust - things that need immediate attention), email info@glxinfo.com, or call the 24/7 project hotline: 1-855-GLX-INFO. Danger or injuries that require fire, ambulance or police, as always, to 9-1-1.
City update list: The City of Somerville will maintain an email update list for interested constituents to notify you of important upcoming schedules and construction impacts on a regular basis. You can opt-out at any time. To sign up for City updates: Email construction@somervillema.gov and mention that you are opting into GLX updates. The City's website has a plethora of additional information, past meeting notes and related documents. https://www.somervillema.gov/glx
Friends of the Path: Group of citizens in Somerville and greater Boston who are advocating to extend the path 2.2 miles from its current ending at Lowell St. in Somerville to Cambridge & the Charles River. More information here: http://pathfriends.org/
STEP:
A community group dedicated to improving transportation in Somerville. They advocate for the Green Line extension, a more livable city, and public health issues. More information here:

http://www.somervillestep.org/

CALENDARS