If you could annex a town (or towns) to Boston, what would it be (Chelsea: community, good)

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

If anything, it’s an insult to Rozzie that the orange line goes to Wellington and Malden Center and that the green line will soon go to Tufts while the orange line still doesn’t go to Rozzi Square. Roslindale deserves good transit more than Medford does.

They got lots of federal dollars in the ‘70s for transit improvements as trade-in for not using federal highway funds to build I-95 through Boston and Lynn or the inner belt or the route 2 extension though Somerville. That funded the new orange line co-located along the main Amtrak line but why it wasn’t extended beyond the original Forest Hills terminal I don’t remember. There’s an oft told urban legend about Arlington refusing the red line extension at around the same time but orange to Roslindale Square would have made as much sense then as now but it wasn’t even on the table.

[msRB311]

Why would hull be on this list?

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

The MBTA exists to serve *Boston*. If the latter didn’t exist, then the former wouldn’t either; much to the dismay of Medford, MA!

MBTA doesn't even have "Boston" in the name.
It serves the people that live in grater Boston. I don't know about the specific cases but I would hope that the MBTA decides where to expand based on transit data and specific analysis.

An extension to a big University campus makes obvious sense because it has a high concentration of people that are probably willing to consider MBTA for their needs.

[FlurryCat]

Originally Posted by missionhill

There’s an oft told urban legend about Arlington refusing the red line extension

Not an urban legend. I remember it well. There were some legitimate concerns about increased traffic and whatnot, but what really got the opposition rolling was the locals and the church didn't want Arlington Catholic High School to be accessible to "urban" students.

Good summary of what happened here:

https://tuftsobserver.org/red-tape-w...stopped-short/

The Red Line Extension plan in its original conception would have essentially consisted of two parts. The first part would have extended the subway from Harvard Square to Arlington Center, while the second part would have taken the subway all the way to Rt. 128 in Lexington, where it would connect to a major highway. Though this plan won almost immediate approval in Cambridge and Somerville, the fact that the Red Line would temporarily end in Arlington Center caused an initial round of opposition. The community feared additional traffic, parking, and general congestion that would result from living at the end of a subway line where commuters would park and ride into the city. As a result, in 1972, the Board of Selectmen voted for “128 or nothing”—either the Red Line would extend all the way to Rt. 128 or it would not extend through Arlington at all.

As the Board of Selectmen vote illustrates, some initial opposition to the Red Line Extension did exist, but it was not determinative. In fact, the local opinion at the time was split not on the question of whether the Red Line should be extended, but on whether or not the community could allow it temporarily to end in Arlington Center. Just four years later, in April of 1976, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council completed an application for federal funding for the Red Line Extension. At the time, it was the largest application for federal funds ever made in Boston ($381,191,000) and these federal dollars would have covered 80 percent of the cost of the total project. Today, such spending by the federal government on large mass transportation projects is unheard of; this application truly represented a once in a lifetime opportunity to complete the Red Line.

Local opposition intensified quickly. The proposed Red Line station in Arlington Center was near Arlington Catholic High School, a division of the local church. Local residents and parishioners saw this location as undesirable. The State Representative, John Cusack, responded by introducing a bill to prohibit the MBTA from constructing any facility within 150 yards of the high school. Though never passed, the bill was supported by 1,000 Arlington residents at a town hall meeting. Out of this legislative effort, the Arlington Red Line Action Movement (ALARM) was born. Largely a creation of the local church, St. Agnes, ALARM placed a special referendum on the ballot in March 1977 on whether or not the Red Line should go through Arlington. The pastor of St. Agnes called a “no” vote, “a must for the survival of Arlington as a residential community.” ALARM and the church worked together to distribute literature, call 18,000 homes, and in the end send the referendum question to overwhelming defeat, with voters rejecting the Red Line Extension 9 to 1.

Also:
https://boston.curbed.com/2014/2/13/...-and-lexington

Into the 1980s, it was assumed by the powers that be, including local Congressman Tip O'Neill, who controlled a sizable bunch of federal purse strings as U.S. House speaker, that the Red Line would eventually end at or near Route 128. Stations we know today, such as Davis (a particular pet of O'Neill's), Porter and Alewife, were merely to be stops on the way.
Then community opposition in Arlington rose up like a penny on the track. We'll let Future MBTA take it from here: "Enough money was available to build the line to Arlington Heights with new stations at Porter Sq, Alewife, Arlington Center, and Arlington Heights. ... Arlington residents didn't like the idea of increased traffic and certain urban elements entering their quiet suburban town. The plan was eventually voted down and the line only got as far as Alewife, although the tunnels for the subway do actually extend into Arlington for storage."

Of course, in these days of transit-oriented development and the economic stimulus it can bring, we imagine the children of these Arlington opponents would love themselves some Red Line right about now. As it is, the rights of way for the Red Line route that never was is now used for the Minute Man Commuter Bikeway. Progress.

And now I'm watching the same thing play out in Phoenix, where people are fighting the extension of the light rail system because it will bring "undesirables" to the outer neighborhoods.

[P Larsen]

The Orange Line parking lot at Oak Grove ends at the Malden/Melrose city line. That too is an artifact of the same issues of the 1970s when the Orange Line north extension (the old line used to end in City Square in Everett) was being designed and built. Unlike Arlington, however, Melrose has three commuter rail stations within roughly 1.2 miles, a legacy of the 1840s when the northern parish of Malden that was settled by Europeans in the late 1630s became built out more significantly and quickly was incorporated on its own.

[ormari]

I'm not going to read through the seven pages of this thread, but why would any of the cities/towns want to become part of Boston? If anything, wouldn't many of the annexed towns that are now part of Boston want to disaffiliate with Boston?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by ormari

I'm not going to read through the seven pages of this thread, but why would any of the cities/towns want to become part of Boston? If anything, wouldn't many of the annexed towns that are now part of Boston want to disaffiliate with Boston?

How would it be in Roxbury, Dorchester or Hyde Park's interest to succeed from Boston??? That would be like if South Providence became a separate city. Worse than Chelsea, or a Central Falls.

[bostongymjunkie]

Nobody in their right mind residing in any of those municipalities would wish to be annexed to the city of Boston. Unless of course they see freebies of some kind in it.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Nobody in their right mind residing in any of those municipalities would wish to be annexed to the city of Boston. Unless of course they see freebies of some kind in it.

Except for (maybe) Chelsea.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by ormari

I'm not going to read through the seven pages of this thread, but why would any of the cities/towns want to become part of Boston? If anything, wouldn't many of the annexed towns that are now part of Boston want to disaffiliate with Boston?

They wouldn't. And in some cases (like Brookline), they actively resisted annexation when it was on the table and they'd almost certainly continue to resist it if it was ever proposed again. Some place like Chelsea or Everett might at least discuss the idea since they'd benefit from access to Boston's resources, services, etc. But I still don't see even those places actually entertaining the idea if it was ever on the table.

I doubt any of the annexed cities or towns would seriously entertain the idea of leaving Boston either. Definitely not to go it alone. I guess I could see a discussion in a place like West Roxbury or Brighton if Newton or Brookline expressed interest in annexing either neighborhood (unlikely - what does Brookline or Newton gain?). But I doubt any discussion would gain much traction. Both scenarios (annexation or withdrawal) are extremely unlikely.