Welcome to NewtonMoves!
The NewtonMoves forum is a community resource for information and discussion about all aspects of transportation, parking, and streetscape design in Newton, Massachusetts.
NewtonMoves is not affiliated with the City of Newton.
Our streets and streetscapes, and how we get around, are critical parts of our identity as a city. The have shaped our past, and will shape our future. They give us a sense of place, connect us as a community, and allow us to access civic and commercial resources such as parks and village centers.
Too often, we take our streets and transportation systems for granted, except perhaps when failure or tragedy strikes. As a community, we can do better. We can shape our community and our future if we work together. Hence, this forum.
This site is a work in progress.
This forum was created to allow everyone, including advocates, residents, lawmakers, staff, and the general public, to learn about and discuss this important part of Newton life. Many projects, topics, or great ideas never get the audience they deserve, or are forgotten about, because information about them is spread about in multiple places on the internet. NewtonMoves is intended to be both the crossroads and the community memory where we make great ideas come to reality.
Expectations and ground rules
This forum is not intended to be a general purpose forum. I do not intend it to be platform for completely protected speech. Rather, I hope and expect that this forum will foster respectful dialog about transportation and streetscape related matters. To do that, we must maintain a high “signal to noise” ratio and keep on-topic. In particular:
-
I expect respect for other posters and other people. Disagree with ideas, not people.
-
Personal attacks on others will be addressed harshly.
-
I hope and expect people to act out of good will and good intentions. You should also be able to expect good will and good intensions from others.
-
Few people are experts. We only learn by participating in discussion with other people, especially those with different viewpoints and different experiences from us. Respect people’s interest in contributing and accommodate any lack of knowledge or misconceptions in a constructive manner.
-
Every person can have a good idea, but not every idea is a good idea. I expect that ideas will be debated and assessed. This process makes good ideas stronger.
-
Look beyond what someone is saying to why they are saying it.
-
We are all fallible human beings, with strengths and weaknesses, visions and blindspots. We can learn, change our minds, and become better. But we must also try.
-
Look beyond particular solutions to underlying causes. The solution you think best for a particular problem might not be the most appropriate one. That’s where community comes in.
-
Look beyond specific problems and see if there are patterns that may reveal a broader problem or solution.
-
However, be wary of stereotypes. We are individuals acting within a community. All jokes and generalizations aside, there is no such thing as a “Newton driver”. Nor bicyclist. Nor pedestrian. Don’t even get me started on stereotyping races, genders, ethnicities, professions, or anything else. Statistics may provide information about the tendencies of groups, and that’s potentially interesting. However, blanket statements about aggregates of people blind us to the actions and potential of the individual.
-
Also, stay on topic and don’t derail conversations. Start a new topic when needed and provide a link to it.
-
Beware the risk of prematurely overthinking problems. Good ideas often start off as crazy ideas. Many a good idea has been crushed before its time in Newton by premature and vicious criticism based on “what about…”. Pointing out pitfalls is fine.
-
Science, engineering, studies, facts, observations, and rear world experiences will beat out personal guesses and unsupported opinions almost every time.
-
Support your arguments. Think of good tests for them.
Our assumption should always be that people are well-meaning. I and (I hope) like-minded people like me will promote these rules and suggestions to maintain a useful resource in a respectful community. Forum actions may include:
- re-categorizing a post,
- editing a post,
- deleting a post,
- banning a user temporarily or permanently.
I believe in fairness and developing even-handed rules. I also believe in the ability of fair-minded people to identify and address situations that have negative consequences.
I ask for your help in making this experiment in community collaboration succeed!
Thanks!
Michael Halle