Re: [HUAB] The Allston Post Office fiasco
Paul Creighton
--Regarding the Allston Post Office fiasco:
The June 20, 2025 letter from the USPS to Mayor Wu (seen at the bottom of Tony D’Isidoro’s posting today, pasted farther down) includes the following statement:
“The Postal Service will only consider relocation sites that are convenient and otherwise suitable for our customers and that will meet all postal operational needs. The Postal Service anticipates providing the same services at the new location as were provided to our customers at the former location.”
This month, upon learning that the USPS has definitely declined to open a new Allston branch in the Eden Properties’ project on Harvard Ave., the developer, Noah Maslan stated the following in his company’s press release:
"We continue to believe this location is viable and would provide an important and long overdue service to the community." Maslan said.
The problem is that this location is NOT viable. The space is too small, and this development has no room for postal trucks and employee and customer parking. Vehicular access is very difficult too.
Noah Maslan knows that, but he is sweeping that issue under the rug -- because it exposes the unrealistic, faulty planning that he chose for his development. In his plan, the proposed Post Office was just a small appendage, an afterthought to his oversized residential development. All he cared about was piling up as many rental units as he possibly could. And the promise of the Post Office (inadequately sized) was used to attract community support for an overwhelmingly large rental development (I hope Tony can learn something from that).
Additionally, the Harvard Ave./Cambridge St. area has terrible congestion already, and it will only be getting worse with additional overdevelopment that is happening near that intersection. Adding USPS tracks to that mix was a bad idea to begin with. Of course, Allston badly needs a Post Office – but as long as the City continues to listen only to the housing advocates, and abdicates neighborhood planning to developers, finding a suitable space for a functional Post Office in Allston and other facilities that serve the public may end up being a pipe dream.
The City (and some sadly clueless pro-housing activists who have never seen a large development proposal they didn’t like) doesn’t care that the excessive density that is getting created in that area will become a big problem -- making life difficult, raising the residents’, workers’, and visitors’ blood pressure, contributing to stress, sleep disruption and illness, not to mention the perpetual transiency that will be undermining the neighborhood’s cohesion and a sense of community.
Things are so overdeveloped there that there is no place to even safely and comfortably walk a dog. And this is a Boston NEIGHBORHOOD, not a downtown area. In fact, there is far more greenery downtown that in Upper Allston.
This is what happens when you don’t pay attention to quality-of-life issues when making new development decisions, and just accept everything that is being proposed. The only goal seems to be, pack the maximum number of small units, and then pack some more. This serves developers’ and investors’ (none of whom live in Allston-Brighto) purposes, while it creates a congested urban jungle – not a real, stable, livable neighborhood.
Lastly, this whole Allston Post Office saga illustrates the extent of denial when it comes to the the important role that properly planned vehicular traffic needs to play in urban planning. The experienced “old school” traffic engineers are now gone from BTD (and are missed dearly), and there is nobody there right now who even dares to bring up developments’ traffic impacts. It’s not being acknowledged at all – as if it can be just wished away.
However, numerous large, dense buildings don’t exist in a vacuum – lots of people who live in them come and go, the buildings need to be serviced and maintained, there are numerous deliveries, people get visitors – all of that creates congestion with or without parking.
At least parking requirements (which can be flexible depending on location) help keep density in check – without them, there are practically no limits on the amount of density the City will be progressively trying to force on A-B. The assumption that you can turn an area into an urban jungle, but as long as you can eliminate parking, things will be hunky-dory, is delusional.
On 4/24/26, 11:03 AM, "David Strati" <cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com on behalf of da...@uniformsforamerica.com> wrote:
Why should the post office be any different? It is just Allston, Rat City right? I guess we don't need or deserve these services.
Dave
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 10:57 AM Kathy Markham <kmarkh...@gmail.com> wrote:
Even though I don't live in Allston this is shameful. Allston and Brighton are not getting the services we need and deserve.
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026, 10:52 AM Anthony D'Isidoro <anthony...@msn.com> wrote:
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Help us enlarge HUAB's membership. Let your Allston-Brighton neighbors know about our group. Anyone who supports homeownership in Allston-Brighton can request to become a member.
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tahir h
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Mary Helen Black
On Apr 24, 2026, at 4:26 PM, 'Eva Webster' via Homeowners Union of Allston-Brighton <homeowners-union-o...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
On 4/24/26, 4:09 PM, "tahir h" <homeowners-union-o...@googlegroups.com on behalf of tahi...@gmail.com> wrote:
How about the ground-floor retail area at the 1270 Comm Av location?
That former CVS site on Comm. Ave. would be a great location (large, and with good vehicular access), but the City already approved this project there:
https://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/1270-commonwealth-avenue
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026, at 3:50 PM Paul Creighton <creight...@gmail.com> wrote:
Well stated
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 2:33 PM 'Eva Webster' via Homeowners Union of Allston-Brighton <homeowners-union-o...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Regarding the Allston Post Office fiasco:
The June 20, 2025 letter from the USPS to Mayor Wu (seen at the bottom of Tony D’Isidoro’s posting today, pasted farther down) includes the following statement:
“The Postal Service will only consider relocation sites that are convenient and otherwise suitable for our customers and that will meet all postal operational needs. The Postal Service anticipates providing the same services at the new location as were provided to our customers at the former location.”
This month, upon learning that the USPS has definitely declined to open a new Allston branch in the Eden Properties’ project on Harvard Ave., the developer, Noah Maslan stated the following in his company’s press release:
"We continue to believe this location is viable and would provide an important and long overdue service to the community." Maslan said.
The problem is that this location is NOT viable. The space is too small, and this development has no room for postal trucks and employee and customer parking. Vehicular access is very difficult too.
Noah Maslan knows that, but he is sweeping that issue under the rug -- because it exposes the unrealistic, faulty planning that he chose for his development. In his plan, the proposed Post Office was just a small appendage, an afterthought to his oversized residential development. All he cared about was piling up as many rental units as he possibly could. And the promise of the Post Office (inadequately sized) was used to attract community support for an overwhelmingly large rental development (I hope Tony can learn something from that).
Additionally, the Harvard Ave./Cambridge St. area has terrible congestion already, and it will only be getting worse with additional overdevelopment that is happening near that intersection. Adding USPS tracks to that mix was a bad idea to begin with. Of course, Allston badly needs a Post Office – but as long as the City continues to listen only to the housing advocates, and abdicates neighborhood planning to developers, finding a suitable space for a functional Post Office in Allston and other facilities that serve the public may end up being a pipe dream.
The City (and some sadly clueless pro-housing activists who have never seen a large development proposal they didn’t like) doesn’t care that the excessive density that is getting created in that area will become a big problem -- making life difficult, raising the residents’, workers’, and visitors’ blood pressure, contributing to stress, sleep disruption and illness, not to mention the perpetual transiency that will be undermining the neighborhood’s cohesion and a sense of community.
Things are so overdeveloped there that there is no place to even safely and comfortably walk a dog. And this is a Boston NEIGHBORHOOD, not a downtown area. In fact, there is far more greenery downtown that in Upper Allston.
This is what happens when you don’t pay attention to quality-of-life issues when making new development decisions, and just accept everything that is being proposed. The only goal seems to be, pack the maximum number of small units, and then pack some more. This serves developers’ and investors’ (none of whom live in Allston-Brighto) purposes, while it creates a congested urban jungle – not a real, stable, livable neighborhood.
Lastly, this whole Allston Post Office saga illustrates the extent of denial when it comes to the the important role that properly planned vehicular traffic needs to play in urban planning. The experienced “old school” traffic engineers are now gone from BTD (and are missed dearly), and there is nobody there right now who even dares to bring up developments’ traffic impacts. It’s not being acknowledged at all – as if it can be just wished away.
However, numerous large, dense buildings don’t exist in a vacuum – lots of people who live in them come and go, the buildings need to be serviced and maintained, there are numerous deliveries, people get visitors – all of that creates congestion with or without parking.
At least parking requirements (which can be flexible depending on location) help keep density in check – without them, there are practically no limits on the amount of density the City will be progressively trying to force on A-B. The assumption that you can turn an area into an urban jungle, but as long as you can eliminate parking, things will be hunky-dory, is delusional.
On 4/24/26, 11:03 AM, "David Strati" <cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com on behalf of da...@uniformsforamerica.com> wrote:
Why should the post office be any different? It is just Allston, Rat City right? I guess we don't need or deserve these services.
Dave
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 10:57 AM Kathy Markham <kmarkh...@gmail.com> wrote:
Even though I don't live in Allston this is shameful. Allston and Brighton are not getting the services we need and deserve.
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026, 10:52 AM Anthony D'Isidoro <anthony...@msn.com> wrote:
<image001.jpg><image002.jpg><image003.jpg>
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Help us enlarge HUAB's membership. Let your Allston-Brighton neighbors know about our group. Anyone who supports homeownership in Allston-Brighton can request to become a member.
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tahir h
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Executive Director
Mary Helen Black
On Apr 24, 2026, at 6:54 PM, Executive Director <dire...@brightonmainstreets.org> wrote:
What about lower Allston? There has to be a location near there somewhere?Maybe new senior housing buildings?
On Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 6:52 PM tahir h <tahi...@gmail.com> wrote:
A great example is the Post Office at 1575 Tremont Street in Mission Hill. Below is a picture of the post office and the apartment building.
<IMG_3536.jpeg>