Our dissatisfaction with the project was not a case of NIMBY. It was a case of not addressing transportation infrastructure. I love retail, and I love IKEA and could’ve been very happy having it available to me - just not with the plan they proposed.
Probably more true in much of the US, but IKEAs do exist in congested cities that attract the subway crowd. I would visit IKEA more often if I didn’t have to beg my dad for the car to get there. I may not buy furniture all the time, but IKEA actually has great house and kitchenware that is easily taken on a train. There is also a thriving IKEA right in Time Sq in Hong Kong, and many of the browsers were like me, taking the subway to the store.
I believe IKEA eyed this neighborhood for a long time because of the closeness to a number of universities and the students, many of whom do not take their cars with them to school.
I work right in the area, and I hear about the terrible congestion all the time. I for one actually believe that moving an IKEA or casino or something else in the area will finally force the city to recognize the need to fix the roads and congestion problems now, rather than being complacent with the current state. I miss having a closer Trader Joe’s so this will be a welcome addition for me.
Can’t wait for Trader Joe’s - a sensible outlet for this development!! 
in complete agreement re ikea in urban areas. they have great housewares; i’m still using dishtowels i bought close to 10 years ago. plenty of stuff that doesn’t require a car. and, of course, they don’t do mail order for most items, so i have to wait until we make the trip, usually after a visit to the fuller craft museum. in brockton.
but, as i said at the top, can’t wait for tj’s!
Isn’t one of those giant new parking garages dedicated for the huge new Partners building? I hate to think of the traffic after that building opens.
I really wish IKEA was more flexible; they seem to insist on massive box stores around here, but frankly we don’t need an entire floor of showrooms or a gigantic warehouse. A small IKEA-lite that sells their housewares, fabrics, etc and has a few popular furniture items and some showrooms so that you can peruse, ask questions, and select things to be shipped (or picked up later in-store) would be awesome.
One of them is, but I’m unsure about the other. And yes, the traffic will be insane, I fear. Mayor Curtatone is very proud of his baby, but for me, Assembly Square is mostly just a place to go see movies and GTFO.
I like most of it. I use the path regularly for my evening workout. I love the T station - we no longer have to take the 95 bus at the end of our street to Sullivan. The River Bar is a very cool spot - great food, drinks, staff. Legal is always great for a post-work dozen oysters and a beer/wine. The movie theater - as you note - is great to have. Another feature I really appreciate is aesthetics salons in the complex - no longer do I need to get in a car and drive to other parts of Somerville of Cambridge - I can get any skin, nail, or hair services by walking 5 minutes. It is not for everybody - granted, but I love how Assembly Place has changed my neighborhood and made my life better by giving me retail I can walk to.
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I for one am glad that the Mayor is seems to be trying to oppose the Everett casino until the traffic issues get worked out. The other state casinos are not making money or employing locals at anywhere near the rate predicted. The last thing the Sullivan Square/Assembly area needs is a bunch of drunk drivers going to a casino in Everett. Riverbar and the Legal and Fuji, are ok, but we did not really need an Outback, did we, or a very overpriced Canadian chain, Earl’s, or Tony C’s, or Papagayo. I know, they come with the mall, just like every other mall. I am curious about the soon-to-be opened Southern Kin, and I stop in to get take out bread at Paul every once in a while. Also, like everyone else in our East Somerville neighborhood, we do not have a garage (we are lucky to have a very short substandard driveway) and the deal Assembly worked out with the City to let locals park in the Assembly garage during the snowstorms was very helpful.
From what I heard, they’ve long since been worked out, with a massive overhaul of the area’s traffic patterns, new roadways, and a commitment from the casino to pay thousands of dollars of penalties per day every time traffic rises beyond agreed-upon levels after the new roadways are implemented. The Mayor is being very petty about his pet project being infringed on, even refusing to let the casino build (at their own cost) a footbridge from the casino to the new T station to get people there without having to drive. In his own words, the mayor doesn’t want people leaving Assembly to go eat at the casino’s restaurants. Wah.
Drunk people don’t usually drive to casinos. Casinos are where they get drunk (and lose their money).
And considering that the lines for Outback, Papagayo, and the ‘overpriced chain’ are usually out the door, I’d say the area needed restaurants you’re not a fan of as much as Riverbar.
To be clear, I actually really like Assembly Sq, and think they’re doing great stuff with it. The variety of restaurants, the mix of retail, offices, and functional space, and the landscaping are well done. I’ve had a great time visiting the beer garden with friends, walking around, and having ice cream at JP Licks. But right now, the traffic going in and out of the main garage can be so difficult to deal with, and the area so clogged, that it’s best to go via the T station.
Hummmm…maybe people don’t drive drunk to casinos, but as you say they do get drunk there and then if they drove, they are driving home drunk. So I don’t quite get the point.
I meant the restaurants the neighborhood needs, and I understand, as I said, that the chains come with the mall. The people eating at Outback are not from the neighborhood, they are there shopping at the mall. The mall clearly profits from those restaurants, as they are indeed popular. Riverbar is ok because of the novelty of the outside bar with the river view. I’ve only been once, and won’t go back. It is however a unique establishment. I only wish the outright lie on the Assembly Row promotional website were even a bit more true: “Embrace your options. Al fresco, local, one-of-a-kind eateries that will make your next meal hit that sweet spot”.
I have never been a fan of the mayor. Never voted for him, never will. The river walkway green space turned out far better than I ever expected, and the playground there is really nice, as is the farmers’ market. In any case, overall it’s better than the vacant stores, huge empty parking lots, and that long ago closed games place near Home Depot that was a prime location for drug selling and crime.
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I ate lunch at River Bar one day and I still get shudders to think of the meal. We were so starved that we wolfed a few bites of the fried chicken sandwich before realizing that the chicken was completely raw inside. I spat what was in my mouth into my napkin and seriously considered going into the restroom and pulling the trigger. The bartender was nice about it, and quite embarrassed, she comped our bill. I don’t know if they started with partially frozen chicken or what. Never again.
We enjoyed our dinner at Fuji, the fish was very fresh.
The casino promises to bring some additional eats to the area. They are planning on recreating some of the eateries from their Wynn Las Vegas property including Red 8 (which does an excellent job with Americanized Chinese) and SW Steak. No, we don’t need another steakhouse, but SW is probably the best of the bunch in Vegas.
The mayor is trying to stick them up for more $$, just like Marty Walsh did.
Yes, the playground is fantastic, my kids love it. Unfortunately it is on the small side and the word is out at this point.
Partners already has large number of staff at the Schraft’s center which is right down the road, so it may not actually change traffic that much. If anything, it may give a little bit of relief to the horror show that is right outside Sullivan Sq.
I work right in Sullivan Sq so the new place for after work socials tends to be Assembly Sq (you can only have so many parties at the 99). I’ve been to River Bar for drinks, but I haven’t had the food. Most of the employees who’ve eaten there seem to confirm that the place is good for the outdoor seating; the food, not so much.
I will give a shout-out to Earl’s there. While it’s not a destination place for food, I love that they have interesting non-alcoholic drinks on their menu. I don’t partake in alcohol,so I love places willing to make it more interesting than a ginger ale or glass of water. And their non-alcoholic drinks are fairly creative and tasty.
Glad to hear there is something to recommend about Earl’s. There used to a Fitcorp gym at Schrafft’s and it was so daunting, years ago, to walk there from my house just a few blocks away I took a bus from Sullivan so didn’t have to try to negotiate that horrible traffic circle at Sullivan. Life threatening for a pedestrian. But that Partners building will house many more employees than the number who work at Schrafft’s from all different companies and agencies. And yes, the alternatives to the 99, which used to be my son’s favorite, are welcome, comparatively.
actually, not long since worked it out …at all…about the traffic and Curtatone and the casino. Still going on. Hearing on Thursday.
I’m not taking a stand on who is right and who is wrong, it’s mostly politics and big interests taking on other big interests.
I do have an interest in not having casino patrons walking across a footbridge over a river near a children’s playground and a high traffic area.
The traffic agreements I’d heard about before were between the casino and Boston, who worked out exactly what the casino would be responsible for. Curtatone refuses to be satisfied with those agreements and continues to file appeals to block the construction.
The proposed footbridge would go directly from the casino to the Assembly T station (and community path), nowhere near the playground. That seems like a good idea to me.
You mean the arcade that was torn down to make way for the IKEA that was never built? I know a lot of people who miss that place.
It was called Good Times. The last time we were at assembly Row, I was saying how much I missed that place. I personally never saw much drug dealing around there, however it was a popular spot with lots of different parts of the local community.
I loved that place, they had great arcade games
Yes, apparently lots of the local community spent time there. Including the local police, who showed up at Good Times for drug busts. Local police are also busy at all the Assembly Row stores arresting shoplifters, according to the police logs in local newspapers.
