Big Interest in Little River

I was glad to read this morning that the city is following what's going on just south of the border in Newbury. I had no doubt the city's water and sewer officials were watching the review of the Little River Transit Village to gauge what sort of demand the project could put on Newburyport's water and sewer systems.

But it's comforting to know for sure they're on the case. And city officials shouldn't be the only ones watching and thinking about what this project means to the city. This project is significant enough to affect everyone east of Route 95.

Here's how Stephen Tait describes the project in today's article:

The Village at Little River would be constructed on 72 acres on Route 1 just south of the Henry A. Walker Memorial Bridge at the corner of Middle Road. Current plans call for 200 residences - a combination of condominiums and rental apartments - and about 150,000 square feet of retail and office space, including a small supermarket, a pharmacy, a restaurant and a coffee shop. It would also include a senior center.

This is obviosly an enormous project for Newbury. Hell, it'd be huge for most communities but this would be the first sizable project to hit that town, perhaps ever. (I'm pretending the Expo along Route 95 in Byfield--or whatever that thing is called--never happened. Clearly it shouldn't have.)

But this also will hit Newburyport too. As Larry McCavitt and other point out, this creates competition for the two plazas along Route 113 as well as downtown. (Downtown property owners are a bit concerned, believe me.)

Competition isn't a bad thing, of course. The Carriagetown Plaza in Amesbury apparently hasn't hurt business on Route 113. I suspect the Little River village won't be the end of them either, but it's worth watching.

As for the city, I don't think we should be withholding sewer or water access simply to protect our business. But if our water supply is short, and the sewer system can't handle the additional flow (it apparently can, for now) that's an entirely different story.

But perhaps the one thing this project can shine a light on is how disconnected our city is to our own Commuter Rail station. Visitors from Boston get dumped out at the station with no idea of how to get to the downtown. And even if they know the way, it's a miserable walk. One they're not likely to repeat.

If the Little River project gives life to the idea of integrating the MBTA station into the core of a community, be it ours or Newbury's, than that's would be a positive thing. John Wells had an interesting column on this subject in the News today.

I don't know what the answer is--walking trails, trolley cars, pedicabs, a combination of all three--but we need to connect the train station to the downtown. Not only will this draw new visitors to our shows, but visitors who choose to drive to the city might find that an attractive place to park.