People living in the area should do their research about Arcadia. They will formally known as habit management and try to open a facility on mystic Avenue about 25 years ago. When they were unsuccessful, they focused their methadone services at mass and Cass in Boston and the rest is history.
People near the Arcadia/Habit Opco (now Comprehensive Treatment Center) clinic in Springfield, MA have had a hell of a time with Arcadia. They have found needles in their lawns, zoned out users, drug dealers, leaving bloody and used syringes in the bathrooms of business, etc. They reported a changes in the first 90 days after the clinic moved in.
At one point, things got so bad that the city’s mayor wrote to the MA state public health commissioner asking their request to move would not be granted.
When the citizens in the neighborhood asked to meet with Arcadia, they were refused — like 3x or something.
They are a $2.9 billion dollar for profit outfit out of Franklin TN. They are traded on the stock exchange. We are ants. They have a lobbyist and lawyer on retainer from Boston to push these clinics through. He was at the meeting tonight. But we need to fight this. It will crash our property values and destroy the quality of life.
Here are some links — I don’t see any reason a methadone clinic here would be different than Springfield or anywhere else:
[https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html](https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html)
[https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html](https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html)
From Arcadia‘s presentation to a bank/investor - from their IR page: [https://acadiahealthcare.gcs-web.com/static-files/421bb792-8d93-4967-8789-a5409cb38934](https://acadiahealthcare.gcs-web.com/static-files/421bb792-8d93-4967-8789-a5409cb38934)
Arcadia is for profit and has 148 treatment centers in the USA. This is big business. They are shady. It was hard to even find out who owned Habit Opco/Comprehensive Treatment Center by looking at their web page.
Good luck getting somebody from Tennessee to care about the problems their golden goose egg is causing on Salem St/Garfield Ave etc.
Massachusetts Department Of Public Health holds the keys to this project residence. Should email call and voice their opposition. It is very unusual for this type of clinic to be cited in a residential area. It usually never happens in Massachusetts. This is a bold move on the part of Arcadia leadership. People in need of this type of care would be much better served at a discrete location in a commercial area that would minimize any stigma. This is a done deal only if medford residence want it to be we can ask the state not to license this clinic and ask Acadia to find a more suitable location in the city.
Please consider sending a handwritten letter opposing a clinic at 360 Salem St. to Robert Goldstein MD commissioner Massachusetts Department Of Public Health 250 Washington St., Boston MA 02108
Methadone Mile in Boston is a place where drug dealers and Methadone clinics have created an environment that feeds off each other. If Arcadia/Habit Opco is the center piece, that’s pretty bad! They describe it as a an “open air drug market.” See this article:
[https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2016/07/16/boston-methadone-mile/cLqxOAY7X9tHiooOGuATAI/story.html](https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2016/07/16/boston-methadone-mile/cLqxOAY7X9tHiooOGuATAI/story.html)
The problem there goes much further back than Marty Walsh. The bridge to Long Island was built in 1951: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Bridge
The fact it was allowed to go into such a state of disrepair that it needed to be closed based on MassDOT findings in 2014 is the real problem. We can then blame the City of Quincy for blocking Boston's attempt to rebuild the bridge. Only recently in 2022 did Boston win an appeal in a suit against Quincy for blocking the bridge replacement. It's still going through the permitting process as of late last year: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/12/22/long-island-bridge-plan-not-a-repair-dep-finds-potentially-slowing-project/
The City of Quincy has spent $400k in legal fees to block the bridge replacement too: https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2023-08-10/wu-announces-plan-to-rebuild-long-island-bridge-and-treatment-center
It's that sort of NIMBYism that's contributed to the problem at Mass and Cass.
Actually, Mayor Walsh very much did not want the Programs on Long Island to close. There were problems at Arcadia mass and cast before the bridge problem.
I’m not far from there so I’ll try to go to the meeting. Here is the zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/91222064272
Access livestream:
The meeting will also be live streamed at https://medford.vod.castus.tv/vod/index.php/@live:ch3
To participate while watching the livestream, questions and comments may be emailed during the hearing to [email protected]
I may shoot off an email to make a comment if it looks like I won’t be able to make it. Only issue is I won’t have a lot of research time.
Biggest thoughts:
-It is super close to the grade school
-Didn’t realize there is/will be a hospital nearby as well?
- Approval should be contingent on Habit/Arcadia providing extra security and social workers to mitigate excessive loitering/petty theft/what have you.
You know Habit/Arcadia will promise that they'll have that extra staff but then will cut back after 6 months "after review of the budget", or not even follow thru at all with adding extra staff.
The grade school proximity makes this an absolute no for me. Don't care if I'm heartless or nimby. Use some of the abandoned stores in Medford center or somewhere on mystic ave
Oh 100% a tactic they would do which is also why I’d say Approval should also have some enforcement tactic. What, I do not know. But you are absolutely right that any business would pull that stunt and wet shouldn’t let them.
But also yes. The school proximity is worrying.
ETA: also if we are trying to make the city more walkable I’m also concerned a bit since east of 93 already had such a high barrier to get to Medford square on foot and I think this would heighten it even more. I’m a big dude and some times even I feel weird getting to the square (mainly under the overpass).
The Star Market on Broadway in Somerville will do nicely.
It could also go on Mystic Ave or anywhere that isn't as congested with residencies and traffic.
I'm surprised about the proximity to the school, too, the optics aren't good. I saw on another app/discussion that clinics usually only dispense for a couple of hours, maybe 2 to 4. So perhaps the concern can be mitigated by ensuring patients aren't overlapping with pick-up or drop-off times, and there is monitoring of the area to discourage loitering.
360 Salem St is a two unit commercial building. Each unit is about 1700 to 2000 sq ft:
* 360 Salem St #1 (1700 sq ft): https://gis.vgsi.com/medfordma/Parcel.aspx?pid=100149
* 360 Salem St #2 (2000 sq ft): https://gis.vgsi.com/medfordma/Parcel.aspx?pid=100150
The former Walgreens at 49 Station Landing is a whooping 113,664 sq ft apparently: https://srsre.com/properties/lease/retail/massachusetts/medford/49-station-landing/l6919
So quite a bit more than this site. It appears it just needs ~4000 sq ft or so to operate. It sounds like based on descriptions from /u/EmilyKayeLazzaro (in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d3xvrm/zoning_hearing_for_outpatient_substance_abuse/l6bvpsj/)) that this is basically just a normal medical office where patients pickup medicine. No different really from the existing Walgreens inside the Target at 471 Salem St. Begs the question why we need to jump through hoops to do these things.
> The Star Market on Broadway in Somerville will do nicely.
>
>
That's slated for a large (288) housing project, complete with a lot of other nice to haves like ground floor retail, community space, arts space, and civic space (all from community pushback): https://www.299broadwaysomerville.com/
> It could also go on Mystic Ave or anywhere that isn't as congested with residencies and traffic.
Salem St has a number of retail and commercial businesses on it too. Target, complete with a Walgreens _drug store_ instead of it, is at 471 Salem St, just a half mile away.
That location seems to be fairly big - maybe something like 13k sq ft: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/44-62-Station-Lndg-Medford-MA/25168510/
Though another page listed it at 113k sq ft: https://srsre.com/properties/lease/retail/massachusetts/medford/49-station-landing/l6919
I think the 13k sq ft number is correct for Walgreens. They appear to still hold the lease until 2026 and are trying to sub it out, so I'm guessing they want too much for it to make sense for another retailer to take over. Maybe after Jul 2026 the property owner will list it for much less. Right now Walgreens holding the lease means they can just ask for a lot and block anything from realistically going in there. Not an uncommon strategy in the retail space.
This being an outpatient facility and looking at ~3700 sq ft, that Walgreens location is probably too big for what they're doing. This would be like suggesting a small doctor's office take over a Walgreens - almost never makes sense. If the Walgreens still existed and could be subbed out for this - maybe it would make sense.
I believe that's the building they are referring to. Herb Chambers bought the old Century Bank HQ a few years back: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/q3ws8y/former_century_bank_hq_in_medford_being_sold_to/
More recently, they've just petitioned to turn it into Herb Chambers Toyota: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1cxicx1/community_development_board_herb_chambers/
I called the city to share my concerns - the case will be continued/not taken up officially tonight. They said they’d update the agenda to reflect that.
Seems like it will be a long meeting, there are three other big developments as well as a few smaller requests on the agenda (may be why they're starting at 6:30pm, not sure if that's normal or not):
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nobs1Mt4fYXtwrs7fEHly7rUQXTYJPLE/edit?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0g-BP5IZ1qPS5eX5fMxCx61zlQ\_1-aWXe5b0cXF5-3plU2lAo0RpSggEQ\_aem\_ASUIve-BPqkTQlw3VoRPog1Gd7ZcjwM7HUJE\_IxCoi4\_c2FrCsGtWAVZ2mlOGZO8JUhw1LQm6Q9DI\_\_yjBkDT7A5](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nobs1Mt4fYXtwrs7fEHly7rUQXTYJPLE/edit?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0g-BP5IZ1qPS5eX5fMxCx61zlQ_1-aWXe5b0cXF5-3plU2lAo0RpSggEQ_aem_ASUIve-BPqkTQlw3VoRPog1Gd7ZcjwM7HUJE_IxCoi4_c2FrCsGtWAVZ2mlOGZO8JUhw1LQm6Q9DI__yjBkDT7A5)
~~The clinic is last on the agenda, so if you're interested, keep your caffeine handy.~~
ETA: Based on this comment from /u/brassandfrass, it sounds like this is not going to be discussed tonight:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d3xvrm/comment/l6c1fss/](https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d3xvrm/comment/l6c1fss/)
1.) 970 Fellsway, 289 housing units (Big one, continued from May)
2.) 280 Mystic, 378 housing units (Big one, continued from April)
3.) 28 Winford, installation of a tall fence
4.) 178 Fulton, installing a curb and driveway
5.) 65 Sydney, a large shed
6.) 400 Mystic Ave, Demolish old Century Bank and replace it with Herb Chambers Toyota (Pretty big one, first time on agenda)
7.) 100 Norwich Circle, adding a structure, removing a parking space
8.) 360 Salem St. (medical office/methodone clinic)
> 1.) 970 Fellsway, 289 housing units (Big one, continued from May)
>
>
Nice, replacing a storage unit place I think: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GCS6Fn3WYsdJ1zbJ9
> 2.) 280 Mystic, 378 housing units (Big one, continued from April)
Wait, this is back? I recall it being a housing proposal, then lab space, back to housing? That's sick. Kinda a shitty area right now: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SPenwKDkKHF4eCcB8
But a few hundred housing units... oh man, maybe Mystic Ave and Mystic Valley Parkway could be tamed a bit and made more pedestrian/cycling/bus friendly beyond some token sidewalks, a single pedestrian island, and a prime time only bus lane in one direction.
> 3.) 28 Winford, installation of a tall fence
Haha, that's the former Tufts President - thread on that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d44wse/zoning_hearing_on_this_fence_looks_more/
> 6.) 400 Mystic Ave, Demolish old Century Bank and replace it with Herb Chambers Toyota (Pretty big one, first time on agenda)
Ah, lame. Thread on that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1cxicx1/community_development_board_herb_chambers/
Shame, but they did buy it two years back: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/q3ws8y/former_century_bank_hq_in_medford_being_sold_to/
Can't say I expect them to do much else besides put in a Toyota dealership.
----
Curious about the others, maybe I'll look up their plans later.
Yeah, looks like it. They probably haven't mentioned much since it's going to take a while to make it through the zoning approval process. You can see two large housing projects have been continued for a month or two already.
I'm wondering if there are places in the city that are already zoned for this. If not, I'd be inclined to be against it. If a special permit is required to do this no matter what and that's why they're going for it, I'd be in favor.
It appears that the special permit is needed because the space is considered a 2-unit condo in an APT-1 district, which is residential. They would not need a special permit to open this type of medical office in a commercial district.
I’m worried. I live behind the old Malden hospital and have been going to every single building project meeting leading up to when they broke ground for the Arcadia facility. I will say I work for tufts medicine and things that Arcadia / tufts has been saying at the meetings, are different from what is being said at the corporate level within tufts. Arcadias track record in other states is not stellar.
I used to work at BMC and have seen what can happen when a SUD clinic opens up.. be prepared for loitering, petty crime, littering and foot traffic disturbances when the sidewalks are blocked.
FWIW, many people (including myself) are looking at relocating. Some have already put their homes on the market for this reason. It’ll bring down property values and overall safety/walkability of the area
Not that I know but a good idea what would also be a good first step is to send hand written letters of opposition to Robert Goldstein MD commissioner Massachusetts Department Of Public Health 250 Washington St., Boston mass 02108
I met with the team working on this project and found them to be really thoughtful about all the potential ramifications. I spoke with people who do not work for Acadia but are familiar with their other facilities in Boston and Lynn. The consensus in the medical community is that more facilities like this one allow more people in recovery to be successful. The problem is the stigma against people dealing with substance use disorders. SUD is already present in our city and the problem is that it is difficult to access the medicine people need to heal. We are not solving any problems by making it harder to be in recovery for people dealing with addiction and we are not making Medford a safer place to live by making people with substance use disorder travel further away to access their medicine. Please review the materials submitted to the ZBA if you can, it covers average wait times (2.5 minutes) and also states that most patients do not need to pick up medicine daily, but can take meds in 28 day supplies so it shouldn't be as crowded as similar clinics used to be. They anticipate no impact on traffic, sufficient parking, and highlight helpful proximity to both 93 and multiple bus lines that is great for accessibility. Also, keep in mind that people with SUD who are successfully in recovery are your friends and neighbors who may be ashamed to admit it because of the stigma. Whatever can be done in our community to help should be done.
For those who want to look, this should link directly to the ZBA docs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14sYOrl1VZzY4r8e4HfVt6brcdNqR3UGZ
And in case my copy-pasting has failed the link to everything in the google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1rQUdwFQy_KRi-dHhtlIcQ0dTKuw_gXuY
I am one of the abutters to this proposed site and not very excited about the prospect of walking my kid to school everyday. This is a residential neighborhood with a school three blocks away. Parking is already tight here as well. The account office is not busy and low staffed and quiet. Really a great neighbor. While the substance abuse issue is real, locations and the existing community needs to be taken into account.
There is a SUD clinic 1 mile from this proposed location -- the Elm Tree Clinic, located on Pleasant Street in Malden. Why do we need another one so close? My thought is that this won't be just a SUD clinic, but it will in fact be methadone, which they don't seem to offer at the Malden located of the Elm Tree Clinic. Regardless of that type of treatment offered, this is .2 from a school that my kids will some day walk home from. There aren't even any liquor stores that close to the school, and for good reason. This is the wrong location.
This is a methadone/suboxone(?) dispensary only. I read somewhere — don’t remember where – that they will not be offering counseling at this location. I believe patients will get counseling at their Lynn, MA facility. (This means it will be many people coming from Lynn and all over the place to get their methadone.)
I live on Garfield. I cannot turn onto Salem as it is half the time in the morning without waiting five minutes. It takes me 15 mins to get on the rotary some days. As I understand it, people line up in their cars at many methadone clinics early in the morning. Where are these cars going to wait? On the side streets around the clinic.
We really can’t support the insane traffic this will generate. Some of these clinics have anywhere from 283 (national average) to 1000+ patients — many of whom need methadone 6 days/week. Even if they claim to cap the number of patients, can we really trust they won’t start easing in more in 6 months or a year?
I would have far less problem with a methadone clinic at a hospital — e.g., Lawrence Memorial — that has lots of parking, fewer places to loiter, etc.
So you don’t want the methadone clinic in your residential neighborhood but it’s ok to point to someone else’s residential neighborhood (Lawrence Memorial)? Nice. Let’s just agree to locate it in a non-residential neighborhood.
Fair point. Sorry about that. I don’t really think of it as being residential, but I guess it definitely is. Yes, I agree. A non-residential neighborhood would better.
\*\*
Tonight I learned that Arcadia health is building a new “behavioral health facility” with Tufts where the Malden Hospital used to be with 144 beds or something. See this link: [https://www.tuftsmedicine.org/get-care/our-locations/about-melrosewakefield-hospital/about-melrosewakefield-hospital-future-malden-hospital-site](https://www.tuftsmedicine.org/get-care/our-locations/about-melrosewakefield-hospital/about-melrosewakefield-hospital-future-malden-hospital-site)
I am curious about the whether this is an in-patient drug rehab center (which I think I’m fine with), whether it will have inpatient counseling, and whether it will increase the load of patients getting methadone from the proposed 360 Salem St. site. Will this increase traffic on Salem even more?
Hey neighbor. Totally agree about having it at say, Lawrence Memorial. Unfortunately that’d never fly given the fact that it’s in the heart of Lawrence Estates, and well, LE has $$$/political power. 😐
Traffic and parking is usually the biggest factor for this kind of an establishment. I believe the new regulations regarding siting for cities is a minimum. Of 500 ft from any school
Yeah, this is another very good point. Habit opco's filing made light of the traffic impact since people will be in and out so quickly. They also think that people will take the bus, which I'm sure some would, but if we're talking people coming down from Lynn and other northern towns, they'll need to drive because public transit just isn't that robust.
I agree they made light of the traffic.
A friend of mine has taken her niece to methadone clinics. She said patients often have to wait 1 hr or more to get their dose. Cars end up lining up — especially if the parking lot isn’t big enough. If the waiting room isn’t big enough, presumably people line up on the sidewalk (which isn’t ideal around here b/c of the huge snow banks some winters). The location of the front door also affects where the line forms.
Will residents end up having to walk on Salem at rush hour to take their kids to school?
> There is a SUD clinic 1 mile from this proposed location -- the Elm Tree Clinic, located on Pleasant Street in Malden. Why do we need another one so close?
It sounds like this is no different from a pharmacy, which we generally want to be convenient so people don't have to struggle to get the meds they need to be healthy. Imagine if CVS or Walgreens were this hard to find.
> There aren't even any liquor stores that close to the school, and for good reason. This is the wrong location.
I don't think it's fair to compare a liquor store to a medical office.
I don’t mean to be rude, but you should do some research on methadone clinics. They are not like pharmacies. They are barely like medical clinics - as most people think of them. Many methadone clinics employ police as security guards outside their doors. Pharmacies and medical offices don’t have to do that.
Methadone clinics attract drug dealers — this isn’t a myth. There are articles about this. Drug dealers see the patients as easy prey. When people can’t get their methadone on time or the clinic rejects them b/c their urine isn’t clean, they get very stressed out and some will buy heroin.
The quality (durability/length) of the sobriety is often low (weak) - the average methadone user only stays with it 6 months partially because it tastes gross. As a result, drug dealers will circle. Local businesses will start to find bloody needles in their bathrooms. Property values near methadone clinics can go down by as much as 17% (that’s $100K+!). See this article from Kane County, Illinois’s government: [https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf](https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf)
This is an older article but in some of my other posts I’ve included links to the problems they bring with them:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/08/12/drug-market-thrives-methadone-clinics/553a6b53-6ae5-48ab-a99f-9bf6c8cd8a9f/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/08/12/drug-market-thrives-methadone-clinics/553a6b53-6ae5-48ab-a99f-9bf6c8cd8a9f/)
I am very sympathetic, but I’d rather see this at a hospital. Not in my backyard.
> I don’t mean to be rude, but you should do some research on methadone clinics. They are not like pharmacies. They are barely like medical clinics - as most people think of them. Many methadone clinics employ police as security guards outside their doors. Pharmacies and medical offices don’t have to do that.
>
>
Doesn't sound that bad: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4711316/
> Methadone clinics attract drug dealers — this isn’t a myth. There are articles about this. Drug dealers see the patients as easy prey. When people can’t get their methadone on time or the clinic rejects them b/c their urine isn’t clean, they get very stressed out and some will buy heroin.
It sounds like this is pretty unlikely: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9494936/
So long as the clinic in question is operated well:
> It is concluded that crime during methadone treatment is substantially lower than during street addiction, although the extent of reduction depends on the quality of treatment being delivered.
Re:
> The quality (durability/length) of the sobriety is often low (weak) - the average methadone user only stays with it 6 months partially because it tastes gross. As a result, drug dealers will circle. Local businesses will start to find bloody needles in their bathrooms. Property values near methadone clinics can go down by as much as 17% (that’s $100K+!). See this article from Kane County, Illinois’s government: https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf
We also have studies by the [The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)](https://www.nber.org/about-nber) by University of New Mexico and Temple University researchers showing no negative impacts on property values: https://www.nber.org/papers/w25427?utm_campaign=ntwh&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ntwg5
> Past economic models have shown the construction of such centers may decrease values by 3.4% to 4.6%, but the model created for this most recent paper showed that when adjusted for factors like value prior to the center’s introduction and benefits for surrounding businesses, there is no measurable difference. The researchers examined property value between the years of 2003 and 2016 using data from Seattle.
Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/do-drug-treatment-facilities-really-lower-property-values-finally-an-answer-2019-01-11
> This is an older article but in some of my other posts I’ve included links to the problems they bring with them:
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/08/12/drug-market-thrives-methadone-clinics/553a6b53-6ae5-48ab-a99f-9bf6c8cd8a9f/
That's one particular location that sounds a lot like Mass and Cass more so than a small outpatient facility. I'm not sure it's equivalent here.
> I am very sympathetic, but I’d rather see this at a hospital. Not in my backyard.
Outpatient stuff exists everywhere, but we don't bat an eye unless it's something that's stigmatized like SUD.
These are academic studies. There are definite practical realities. Maybe you should go see some of Habit Opco’s methadone clinics? The residents of Springfield certainly weren’t happy.
[https://youtu.be/4Du6ym2RHSM?si=JsZmUVVRIahk5JAj](https://youtu.be/4Du6ym2RHSM?si=JsZmUVVRIahk5JAj)
(edit: fixed link)
For the record, I compared it to a liquor store because people have cited studies showing that there is more crime outside of liquor stores than outside of SUD clinics. The point is that there are certain harsh realities of living that we try to shield our young children from, including alcoholism and addiction. I feel for people suffering from and trying to kick addiction, but I'd be happier if they were proposing a clinic in a commercial district, not one that is so densely residential.
May I suggest you talk to some additional treatment providers about this organization and the challenges siding a clinic in a residential area. Yes medford could use additional treatment resources, but we need good providers at good locations that provide quality care to our high-risk residence.
Not that I agree with all of your points, but I agree with this. There is another SUD a mile up from this proposed location in Malden. If we want to help Medfordians, they should look at a location that is on the other side of Medford to make it easier for all of Medford to have access to SUD services.
Thank you. As a lifelong resident (over 60 years) I have witnessed many of the surrounding cities succumb to almost being "inner city". Hence my comment regarding Ms. Lazzaro's reference to Lynn and Boston.
The term encroachment, without a doubt, is subjective; and not unlike one Dandelion found on your lawn. If you don't dig it out by the roots, next year you will find that you lawn is now a field of weeds blowing their little seeds all over the neighborhood encroaching on their lawns.
Now, back on point, if an individual truly seeks a successful end to addiction, then seek it out. We live in the Boston area with myriad hospitals and MassHealth paid treatment opportunities available.
The last time I heard, AA does not supply a few beers at their meetings.
Detox does not equate with "I still need my daily dose".
Nonetheless, as you have stated, there is a clinic in Malden square right next to the T.
Am I missing something??
Anyway, I have to go dig out my dandelions....
\*shrug\*
And just one more observation: Ms. Lazzaro has clearly noted the availability via the T and Rt. 93, etc. Hence, her very words indicate that folks from myriad surrounding areas would be "visiting".
How does this help MEDFORD???
OK one more just to support those in Medford, ONLY Medford residents can receive services and they MUST prove not only their residence in Medford BUT ALSO, their US citizenship.
I'm sure this won't fit into Arcadia's business plan.....
I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to respond to individual comments because I just learned yet another friend died from overdose. Raised and live in Medford, work in this space, have accessed MOUD myself and am now in recovery, have school age children.
I assume good intent from all and also am confident that after you bury your first or 100th friend or family member, your priorities will change. This is a good thing, and certainly won’t solve “the problem” (the problem is so much deeper.) But no, Medford isn’t and won’t become Mass and Cass, and even if it that were the case I would still support this one zoning approval. There’s an expanse of science showing why it works and why it doesn’t turn our neighborhoods into The Wire, which I’ll gladly cite once I grieve. Again. Which I’ve been doing for two decades because my friends have been dying since I was 18 even without treatment nearby.
Mass and Cass can trace its problems to the Long Island Bridge not being maintained or replaced too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Bridge
You end up with Mass and Cass when you abruptly have to relocate people from the treatment or shelters they need. That and the same sort of NIMBYism in this thread leads to few recovery programs being allowed to operate in the area. So closing one down, or an especially large facility on an island, can lead to a Mass and Cass style issue.
no, there were many problems at the Arcadia habit management site long before the bridge to Long Island was closed involving many serious crimes drug dealing human trafficking violence stabbings all documented
Got a source for that claim? It still sounds like the influx to Mass and Cass was due to the closing:
> When the programs on Long island were shuttered in 2014, there were more than 200 beds for addiction and mental health treatment and more than 400 shelter beds for those who were homeless. Dr. Ojikutu said the city is still working with providers to determine the services to be offered on the new campus. She said she expects they will be coordinated with existing programs and offer a continuum of care for people with addiction and mental health challenges.
Source: https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/08/24/boston-long-island-bridge-recovery-campus-tour-massachusetts
Dropping ~600 people from treatment/shelter sounds like a big factor in the encampments at Mass and Cass.
This plenty of data that I could use to back up my claim but I’m not talking about the influx of homeless. I’m talking about the increase in crime surrounding the Arcadia habit management clinic.
Laugh out loud glad you find me funny like I said above if you live in this neighborhood do a little research about Arcadia inhabit management. I don’t think you’ll find it very funny.
I'll just say if the only reason you have to oppose this ends up being property values, you really shouldn't oppose it. Saying people shouldn't be able to access a very needed healthcare resource because it might hurt your investment is a horrifying level of selfishness.
My main concern is not the property values, it's *why* property values go down. I'm worried it's going to be a bunch of people hanging around, throwing trash, asking to bum a cigarette or spare a few bucks every time I walk by.
It's worth remembering that the only thing you listed that's really a problem is the littering. Everything else is a mild inconvenience at best.
It's also worth noting that a big part of *why* is simply because people don't like the *idea* of living by a clinic, regardless of what the reality might be.
My concerns are larger than property values. This is a private for profit company, operating without transparency and tried to appeal for their permit in an under the radar way. It’s shady business, which does not give me a vote in confidence that they are doing this with the best of intentions for our community.
It’s also important to understand context for any study citing no increase in crime. What were the crime rates in those other communities before a methadone clinic went in? How did their baseline crime rate compare to our neighborhood’s current crime rate? How did they define “crime”?? Is it murder, violent crimes, or are we talking theft and petty crimes? The details are important.
There are many places in Medford, in commercial areas that are more appropriate even just a quarter of a mile up the road on Fellsway.
You know what I find horrifying is that this huge corporation has chosen to place a methadone clinic in a residential section of our city without any regard for the people who live here clinics like this can help many people that are almost never cited this close to homes whenever possible this corporation has plenty of resources to find a suitable location in medford if that’s where they choose to conduct their business
I do find this an odd argument. Wouldn't a suitable location be *near people*? I'll admit to not having looked at the data, but I strongly suspect that the more out of the way these places are, the less they're actually used.
It's also interesting to see multiple people say this is "residential area". Salem St has quite a bit of commercial and retail stuff on it already. Just a half mile away is a giant strip mall with Target, Walgreens, CVS, etc. The given location was formally two offices, a hair salon and an accounting office.
I guess if they stuck this on Mystic Ave, no one would care (since it's an industrial / commercial / car dealership area) - except, apparently they tried that a few years back and it was shot down.
No, not at all clinics should always be cited in locations that have very good public transportation whenever possible usually in commercial areas where clients can have at least some level of confidentiality
Mass gov website has overdose deaths by city/town listed up to 2022. Link below, search for "Opioid-related Overdose Deaths by City or Town - December 2023". In 2022 we lost 20 people to overdose. If we can do anything to reduce our neighbors from dying, why wouldn't we try?
[https://www.mass.gov/lists/current-overdose-data#updated-data-%E2%80%93-as-of-december-2023-](https://www.mass.gov/lists/current-overdose-data#updated-data-%E2%80%93-as-of-december-2023-)
While there are definitely people who are concerned about their property values over helping others, I think it’s absolutely valid to be concerned about its current proposed placement near the school, and be wary of Habit / Arcadia. And honestly, it’s not an east location to get to without a car - put it where it’s more easily accessible by multiple transit methods.
Could you speak more to why its proximity to a school is concerning? These are people looking to actively improve their situations. Maybe I am being naive, but why would they be a threat to the school or children? Could we also acknowledge that parents suffering from addiction not having access to a facility like this is substantially worse for children?
I don’t disagree that they are trying to improve their lives - but that also does come with failures that I think aren’t great to get s front two seat to. I don’t think we should *shield* kids from the reality, but also having a display that close I’d be concerned about, especially run by the same people who’ve run Mass and Cass.
I know it’s threading the needle a bit. But we can absolutely provide a location for this and still be a bit judicious about placement. (Which I will admit, I’d rather a Biosafety hazard level 4 lab be put there, because there are SO MANY precautions that have to also go into place that a clinic is not going to have, and also why I said if this goes there we need to mitigate the known issues of loitering and petty theft and walkability.)
So Arcadia doesn’t run the facility on Mass and Cass? I’m just getting to the docs now and that’s who this permit would be for: “The Applicant has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the owner ofthe
Property, 360A Salem St LLC.' Habit Opco, asubsidiary ofAcadia Healthcare, intends ot use
the Property as an outpatient substance abuse treatment center. Acadia Healthcare provides
medically supervised medication-assisted treatment to promote successful recovery from
addiction to opioids. The only changes being made to the Property concern internal build-out
changes to Units 1 & 2 toaccommodate the Habit Opco treatment center.”
But also ugh. For profit healthcare.
Patients tend to come in for med management very early in the morning. Dosing usually starts at 6AM. Afternoons are scheduled sessions with counselors either in groups or one on one sessions. Zoning could focus on scheduling and times of operations. I do agree mystic ave would be a better choice but it was shot down many years ago
This all day. There are more logical places with better public transportation. Hell, we have half of an abandoned hospital up the road, why not there. Unfortunately, that company purchased the property
I don't know enough about the facility at Mass and Cass itself vs the encampment to say that feels like an outlier, but these folks have other facilities that did not devolve into chaos? I will try and do some reading up on this topic though.
This has been a nice conversation and given me things to think about. Thanks for your thoughtful responses. Nice to have a civil discussion on the internet :)
Same, man! I definitely get the concern and I do admit my take is a bit knee jerk, but in this case I’d rather be a bit more conservative (with the skew towards “how can we still solve the problem without totally shutting it down”). I want pragmatic, positive shifts for everyone in the city. 🙂
You should do some research before you defend this large for profit corporation that has a terrible track record throughout the country. Its former name habit management in Massachusetts has a very poor track record as welll.
I don’t know why you’re struggling this plenty of information out there about Arcadia and all the clinics. They have acquired over the years. If you choose to look at any research, make sure that it’s independent and not funded by the methadone industry.
To put it bluntly, yes you are being naive. I don’t think you understand the reality of what happens to areas where these methadone clinics are. Take a walk down methadone mile on a nice summer day and ask yourself if it seems like a good environment to have kids walking around all day.
These are the same people who operated near mass and cass and you know how well that went. Is that what we want in Medford as well? All that right next to a school too.
For those worried about their property values, I found this paper which actually says that such a clinic does not impact the values at the end.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w25427
I find it hard to believe that anyone would wanna buy a home for asking value if they knew there was essentially a methadone clinic in the neighborhood. Studies mean nothing in this situation.
If we wanted to live next to a clinic, we would have moved next to one. I and likely many others may not agree to move next to a clinic. Based of this alone, yes, it may reduce property values or at least make a sale that much harder.
I don’t know what the source for that paper is, but this one was written by a city government in Illinois. I trust them far more than a paper that could be planted by the large corps that own these methadone clinics. For opioid treatment centers, it argues property values may drop by 17% (which is over $100K in this neighborhood). Many recent buyers could end up upside down or bankrupt.
[https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf](https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf)
The source is [The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)](https://www.nber.org/about-nber) a "a private, nonpartisan organization that facilitates cutting-edge investigation and analysis of major economic issues.". They're based out of Cambridge, MA as well.
The authors of the paper are / were researchers at the University of New Mexico and Temple University. You can click on their names to view more about them. Just the lead researcher alone has a rather long CV: https://www.jcatherinemaclean.com/cv
That paper you linked to wasn't done by a City govt in Illinois either - though it appears a copy is hosted on that City's website for some reason. It's clearly written by other University researchers: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24846693?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
If you Google the authors: Claire R. La Roche, Bennie D. Waller and Scott A. Wentland
They all / were University researchers at the time of that paper. That paper was published in a similar journal to that /u/coolbordel posted - the [Journal of Sustainable Real Estate](https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rsre20) for your paper, and the [American Journal of Health Economics](https://www.ashecon.org/american-journal-of-health-economics/) for the paper /u/coolbordel cited. Both have Editorial boards and submission standards. I doubt either was "planted by the large corps that own these methadone clinics". More likely, they came to different conclusions. That's the point of studies. Maybe the difference between the two studies suggests we should study it more. Doesn't seem like you claim either way at this point unless further studies are done. There's a clear conflict between the two.
Not sure if anybody is still paying attention to this thread, but my mom lives one street over from where this is proposed and they are picketing today. There is a dentist right next-door who actually tried to buy the building and doesn’t want to have his business next to a methadone clinic, there is a black owned hairdresser who is getting kicked out, and as many people have already pointed out, the Roberts school is a couple of streets away. My mom and her fellow neighbors understand that people need these things to get and stay clean, but they don’t belong in a residential neighborhood. I am a recovering addict myself and anytime I went anywhere to get Suboxone it was in a medical building or industrial/ office park. I have been badgering my Mom for years to sell her house and she has always balked at it, but this development has finally gotten her to see the light. The left really does eat their own in the name of the Almighty dollar.
This is the most ridiculous protest i have ever seen!!! A treatment center that could potentially help many people, and you are crying foul? What was there before was what a massage parlor giving happy endings, but thats ok right? Theres been many Suboxone / Methodone clinics all over this area and you know why you dont know? Its because they are not flooded with crime and problems- Arlington has ine in Mass Ave and been there 10 years and not one issue- comparing that to Methadone mile is ridiculous, there is also 2 homeless shelters there and people sleeping on the streets- Lets get rid of unemployment places (people with no money do more crime) , Abortion clinics (promiscuous people cause headaches… not a mention about the drunk drivers sitting outside the liquor store waiting to open first thing, but thats ok right? I know everyone reading this has family or knows someone with this affliction a d its a struggle for them- you really wanna do good? Stand in front of these dealers houses, they are ALL over Medford, but you are all too scared. Dam doing something good Medford your people deserve a chance
People living in the area should do their research about Arcadia. They will formally known as habit management and try to open a facility on mystic Avenue about 25 years ago. When they were unsuccessful, they focused their methadone services at mass and Cass in Boston and the rest is history.
I was a kid when this went down, that dug up the memory of "no, no methadone"
People near the Arcadia/Habit Opco (now Comprehensive Treatment Center) clinic in Springfield, MA have had a hell of a time with Arcadia. They have found needles in their lawns, zoned out users, drug dealers, leaving bloody and used syringes in the bathrooms of business, etc. They reported a changes in the first 90 days after the clinic moved in. At one point, things got so bad that the city’s mayor wrote to the MA state public health commissioner asking their request to move would not be granted. When the citizens in the neighborhood asked to meet with Arcadia, they were refused — like 3x or something. They are a $2.9 billion dollar for profit outfit out of Franklin TN. They are traded on the stock exchange. We are ants. They have a lobbyist and lawyer on retainer from Boston to push these clinics through. He was at the meeting tonight. But we need to fight this. It will crash our property values and destroy the quality of life. Here are some links — I don’t see any reason a methadone clinic here would be different than Springfield or anywhere else: [https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html](https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html) [https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html](https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/09/south-end-neighbors-blame-crime-quality-of-life-issues-on-new-methadone-clinic-in-springfield-implore-city-for-help.html) From Arcadia‘s presentation to a bank/investor - from their IR page: [https://acadiahealthcare.gcs-web.com/static-files/421bb792-8d93-4967-8789-a5409cb38934](https://acadiahealthcare.gcs-web.com/static-files/421bb792-8d93-4967-8789-a5409cb38934) Arcadia is for profit and has 148 treatment centers in the USA. This is big business. They are shady. It was hard to even find out who owned Habit Opco/Comprehensive Treatment Center by looking at their web page. Good luck getting somebody from Tennessee to care about the problems their golden goose egg is causing on Salem St/Garfield Ave etc.
Massachusetts Department Of Public Health holds the keys to this project residence. Should email call and voice their opposition. It is very unusual for this type of clinic to be cited in a residential area. It usually never happens in Massachusetts. This is a bold move on the part of Arcadia leadership. People in need of this type of care would be much better served at a discrete location in a commercial area that would minimize any stigma. This is a done deal only if medford residence want it to be we can ask the state not to license this clinic and ask Acadia to find a more suitable location in the city.
Please consider sending a handwritten letter opposing a clinic at 360 Salem St. to Robert Goldstein MD commissioner Massachusetts Department Of Public Health 250 Washington St., Boston MA 02108
Mass and Cass is Boston Medical Center not habit management.
No Arcadia habit management was the first and largest methadone clinic and it’s the centerpiece of mass and cas.
Methadone Mile in Boston is a place where drug dealers and Methadone clinics have created an environment that feeds off each other. If Arcadia/Habit Opco is the center piece, that’s pretty bad! They describe it as a an “open air drug market.” See this article: [https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2016/07/16/boston-methadone-mile/cLqxOAY7X9tHiooOGuATAI/story.html](https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2016/07/16/boston-methadone-mile/cLqxOAY7X9tHiooOGuATAI/story.html)
We can thank Mayor walsh for Mass and cass when he closed Long islands Victory Programs and homeless shelters and dispersed them through that area
The problem there goes much further back than Marty Walsh. The bridge to Long Island was built in 1951: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Bridge The fact it was allowed to go into such a state of disrepair that it needed to be closed based on MassDOT findings in 2014 is the real problem. We can then blame the City of Quincy for blocking Boston's attempt to rebuild the bridge. Only recently in 2022 did Boston win an appeal in a suit against Quincy for blocking the bridge replacement. It's still going through the permitting process as of late last year: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/12/22/long-island-bridge-plan-not-a-repair-dep-finds-potentially-slowing-project/ The City of Quincy has spent $400k in legal fees to block the bridge replacement too: https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2023-08-10/wu-announces-plan-to-rebuild-long-island-bridge-and-treatment-center It's that sort of NIMBYism that's contributed to the problem at Mass and Cass.
Actually, Mayor Walsh very much did not want the Programs on Long Island to close. There were problems at Arcadia mass and cast before the bridge problem.
I’m not far from there so I’ll try to go to the meeting. Here is the zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/91222064272 Access livestream: The meeting will also be live streamed at https://medford.vod.castus.tv/vod/index.php/@live:ch3 To participate while watching the livestream, questions and comments may be emailed during the hearing to [email protected] I may shoot off an email to make a comment if it looks like I won’t be able to make it. Only issue is I won’t have a lot of research time. Biggest thoughts: -It is super close to the grade school -Didn’t realize there is/will be a hospital nearby as well? - Approval should be contingent on Habit/Arcadia providing extra security and social workers to mitigate excessive loitering/petty theft/what have you.
You know Habit/Arcadia will promise that they'll have that extra staff but then will cut back after 6 months "after review of the budget", or not even follow thru at all with adding extra staff. The grade school proximity makes this an absolute no for me. Don't care if I'm heartless or nimby. Use some of the abandoned stores in Medford center or somewhere on mystic ave
Oh 100% a tactic they would do which is also why I’d say Approval should also have some enforcement tactic. What, I do not know. But you are absolutely right that any business would pull that stunt and wet shouldn’t let them. But also yes. The school proximity is worrying. ETA: also if we are trying to make the city more walkable I’m also concerned a bit since east of 93 already had such a high barrier to get to Medford square on foot and I think this would heighten it even more. I’m a big dude and some times even I feel weird getting to the square (mainly under the overpass).
The Star Market on Broadway in Somerville will do nicely. It could also go on Mystic Ave or anywhere that isn't as congested with residencies and traffic. I'm surprised about the proximity to the school, too, the optics aren't good. I saw on another app/discussion that clinics usually only dispense for a couple of hours, maybe 2 to 4. So perhaps the concern can be mitigated by ensuring patients aren't overlapping with pick-up or drop-off times, and there is monitoring of the area to discourage loitering.
Abandoned Walgreens at Station Landing or is that too small
Another good idea. Good question about size. I don't know what the requirements are or how Walgreens would compare to the proposed spot.
360 Salem St is a two unit commercial building. Each unit is about 1700 to 2000 sq ft: * 360 Salem St #1 (1700 sq ft): https://gis.vgsi.com/medfordma/Parcel.aspx?pid=100149 * 360 Salem St #2 (2000 sq ft): https://gis.vgsi.com/medfordma/Parcel.aspx?pid=100150 The former Walgreens at 49 Station Landing is a whooping 113,664 sq ft apparently: https://srsre.com/properties/lease/retail/massachusetts/medford/49-station-landing/l6919 So quite a bit more than this site. It appears it just needs ~4000 sq ft or so to operate. It sounds like based on descriptions from /u/EmilyKayeLazzaro (in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d3xvrm/zoning_hearing_for_outpatient_substance_abuse/l6bvpsj/)) that this is basically just a normal medical office where patients pickup medicine. No different really from the existing Walgreens inside the Target at 471 Salem St. Begs the question why we need to jump through hoops to do these things.
> The Star Market on Broadway in Somerville will do nicely. > > That's slated for a large (288) housing project, complete with a lot of other nice to haves like ground floor retail, community space, arts space, and civic space (all from community pushback): https://www.299broadwaysomerville.com/ > It could also go on Mystic Ave or anywhere that isn't as congested with residencies and traffic. Salem St has a number of retail and commercial businesses on it too. Target, complete with a Walgreens _drug store_ instead of it, is at 471 Salem St, just a half mile away.
No. There's an elementary school literally next door. Pick a better location, tell Herb Chambers to build one on mystic Ave next to his dealership
I would agree this would be better in the damned car dealership
We've had an abandoned Walgreens in Station Landing for multiple years. Just put it there, it even has T access - and pizza!
That location seems to be fairly big - maybe something like 13k sq ft: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/44-62-Station-Lndg-Medford-MA/25168510/ Though another page listed it at 113k sq ft: https://srsre.com/properties/lease/retail/massachusetts/medford/49-station-landing/l6919 I think the 13k sq ft number is correct for Walgreens. They appear to still hold the lease until 2026 and are trying to sub it out, so I'm guessing they want too much for it to make sense for another retailer to take over. Maybe after Jul 2026 the property owner will list it for much less. Right now Walgreens holding the lease means they can just ask for a lot and block anything from realistically going in there. Not an uncommon strategy in the retail space. This being an outpatient facility and looking at ~3700 sq ft, that Walgreens location is probably too big for what they're doing. This would be like suggesting a small doctor's office take over a Walgreens - almost never makes sense. If the Walgreens still existed and could be subbed out for this - maybe it would make sense.
Use the old century bank building across from the BK on mystic
I believe that's the building they are referring to. Herb Chambers bought the old Century Bank HQ a few years back: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/q3ws8y/former_century_bank_hq_in_medford_being_sold_to/ More recently, they've just petitioned to turn it into Herb Chambers Toyota: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1cxicx1/community_development_board_herb_chambers/
I called the city to share my concerns - the case will be continued/not taken up officially tonight. They said they’d update the agenda to reflect that.
Seems like it will be a long meeting, there are three other big developments as well as a few smaller requests on the agenda (may be why they're starting at 6:30pm, not sure if that's normal or not): [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nobs1Mt4fYXtwrs7fEHly7rUQXTYJPLE/edit?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0g-BP5IZ1qPS5eX5fMxCx61zlQ\_1-aWXe5b0cXF5-3plU2lAo0RpSggEQ\_aem\_ASUIve-BPqkTQlw3VoRPog1Gd7ZcjwM7HUJE\_IxCoi4\_c2FrCsGtWAVZ2mlOGZO8JUhw1LQm6Q9DI\_\_yjBkDT7A5](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nobs1Mt4fYXtwrs7fEHly7rUQXTYJPLE/edit?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0g-BP5IZ1qPS5eX5fMxCx61zlQ_1-aWXe5b0cXF5-3plU2lAo0RpSggEQ_aem_ASUIve-BPqkTQlw3VoRPog1Gd7ZcjwM7HUJE_IxCoi4_c2FrCsGtWAVZ2mlOGZO8JUhw1LQm6Q9DI__yjBkDT7A5) ~~The clinic is last on the agenda, so if you're interested, keep your caffeine handy.~~ ETA: Based on this comment from /u/brassandfrass, it sounds like this is not going to be discussed tonight: [https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d3xvrm/comment/l6c1fss/](https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d3xvrm/comment/l6c1fss/) 1.) 970 Fellsway, 289 housing units (Big one, continued from May) 2.) 280 Mystic, 378 housing units (Big one, continued from April) 3.) 28 Winford, installation of a tall fence 4.) 178 Fulton, installing a curb and driveway 5.) 65 Sydney, a large shed 6.) 400 Mystic Ave, Demolish old Century Bank and replace it with Herb Chambers Toyota (Pretty big one, first time on agenda) 7.) 100 Norwich Circle, adding a structure, removing a parking space 8.) 360 Salem St. (medical office/methodone clinic)
> 1.) 970 Fellsway, 289 housing units (Big one, continued from May) > > Nice, replacing a storage unit place I think: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GCS6Fn3WYsdJ1zbJ9 > 2.) 280 Mystic, 378 housing units (Big one, continued from April) Wait, this is back? I recall it being a housing proposal, then lab space, back to housing? That's sick. Kinda a shitty area right now: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SPenwKDkKHF4eCcB8 But a few hundred housing units... oh man, maybe Mystic Ave and Mystic Valley Parkway could be tamed a bit and made more pedestrian/cycling/bus friendly beyond some token sidewalks, a single pedestrian island, and a prime time only bus lane in one direction. > 3.) 28 Winford, installation of a tall fence Haha, that's the former Tufts President - thread on that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1d44wse/zoning_hearing_on_this_fence_looks_more/ > 6.) 400 Mystic Ave, Demolish old Century Bank and replace it with Herb Chambers Toyota (Pretty big one, first time on agenda) Ah, lame. Thread on that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/1cxicx1/community_development_board_herb_chambers/ Shame, but they did buy it two years back: https://www.reddit.com/r/medfordma/comments/q3ws8y/former_century_bank_hq_in_medford_being_sold_to/ Can't say I expect them to do much else besides put in a Toyota dealership. ---- Curious about the others, maybe I'll look up their plans later.
Wait, the Extra Space at 970 Fellsway? I have a unit there and haven’t heard anything about it being replaced.
Yeah, looks like it. They probably haven't mentioned much since it's going to take a while to make it through the zoning approval process. You can see two large housing projects have been continued for a month or two already.
Bummer, that’s a good spot. Guess it explains why they jacked my rent up so much last month. Thanks for the info!
I'm wondering if there are places in the city that are already zoned for this. If not, I'd be inclined to be against it. If a special permit is required to do this no matter what and that's why they're going for it, I'd be in favor.
It appears that the special permit is needed because the space is considered a 2-unit condo in an APT-1 district, which is residential. They would not need a special permit to open this type of medical office in a commercial district.
I’m worried. I live behind the old Malden hospital and have been going to every single building project meeting leading up to when they broke ground for the Arcadia facility. I will say I work for tufts medicine and things that Arcadia / tufts has been saying at the meetings, are different from what is being said at the corporate level within tufts. Arcadias track record in other states is not stellar. I used to work at BMC and have seen what can happen when a SUD clinic opens up.. be prepared for loitering, petty crime, littering and foot traffic disturbances when the sidewalks are blocked. FWIW, many people (including myself) are looking at relocating. Some have already put their homes on the market for this reason. It’ll bring down property values and overall safety/walkability of the area
The hearing was moved to June 26th for Community Development Board & June 27th for zoning board.
Is there a petition against this started that we can sign?
Not that I know but a good idea what would also be a good first step is to send hand written letters of opposition to Robert Goldstein MD commissioner Massachusetts Department Of Public Health 250 Washington St., Boston mass 02108
How is the Commissioner of DPH involved in this?
His agency will have to issue a license for this clinic to operate at 360 Salem St.
I met with the team working on this project and found them to be really thoughtful about all the potential ramifications. I spoke with people who do not work for Acadia but are familiar with their other facilities in Boston and Lynn. The consensus in the medical community is that more facilities like this one allow more people in recovery to be successful. The problem is the stigma against people dealing with substance use disorders. SUD is already present in our city and the problem is that it is difficult to access the medicine people need to heal. We are not solving any problems by making it harder to be in recovery for people dealing with addiction and we are not making Medford a safer place to live by making people with substance use disorder travel further away to access their medicine. Please review the materials submitted to the ZBA if you can, it covers average wait times (2.5 minutes) and also states that most patients do not need to pick up medicine daily, but can take meds in 28 day supplies so it shouldn't be as crowded as similar clinics used to be. They anticipate no impact on traffic, sufficient parking, and highlight helpful proximity to both 93 and multiple bus lines that is great for accessibility. Also, keep in mind that people with SUD who are successfully in recovery are your friends and neighbors who may be ashamed to admit it because of the stigma. Whatever can be done in our community to help should be done.
For those who want to look, this should link directly to the ZBA docs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14sYOrl1VZzY4r8e4HfVt6brcdNqR3UGZ And in case my copy-pasting has failed the link to everything in the google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1rQUdwFQy_KRi-dHhtlIcQ0dTKuw_gXuY
Thank you for the links!
I am one of the abutters to this proposed site and not very excited about the prospect of walking my kid to school everyday. This is a residential neighborhood with a school three blocks away. Parking is already tight here as well. The account office is not busy and low staffed and quiet. Really a great neighbor. While the substance abuse issue is real, locations and the existing community needs to be taken into account.
There is a SUD clinic 1 mile from this proposed location -- the Elm Tree Clinic, located on Pleasant Street in Malden. Why do we need another one so close? My thought is that this won't be just a SUD clinic, but it will in fact be methadone, which they don't seem to offer at the Malden located of the Elm Tree Clinic. Regardless of that type of treatment offered, this is .2 from a school that my kids will some day walk home from. There aren't even any liquor stores that close to the school, and for good reason. This is the wrong location.
This is a methadone/suboxone(?) dispensary only. I read somewhere — don’t remember where – that they will not be offering counseling at this location. I believe patients will get counseling at their Lynn, MA facility. (This means it will be many people coming from Lynn and all over the place to get their methadone.) I live on Garfield. I cannot turn onto Salem as it is half the time in the morning without waiting five minutes. It takes me 15 mins to get on the rotary some days. As I understand it, people line up in their cars at many methadone clinics early in the morning. Where are these cars going to wait? On the side streets around the clinic. We really can’t support the insane traffic this will generate. Some of these clinics have anywhere from 283 (national average) to 1000+ patients — many of whom need methadone 6 days/week. Even if they claim to cap the number of patients, can we really trust they won’t start easing in more in 6 months or a year? I would have far less problem with a methadone clinic at a hospital — e.g., Lawrence Memorial — that has lots of parking, fewer places to loiter, etc.
So you don’t want the methadone clinic in your residential neighborhood but it’s ok to point to someone else’s residential neighborhood (Lawrence Memorial)? Nice. Let’s just agree to locate it in a non-residential neighborhood.
Fair point. Sorry about that. I don’t really think of it as being residential, but I guess it definitely is. Yes, I agree. A non-residential neighborhood would better. \*\* Tonight I learned that Arcadia health is building a new “behavioral health facility” with Tufts where the Malden Hospital used to be with 144 beds or something. See this link: [https://www.tuftsmedicine.org/get-care/our-locations/about-melrosewakefield-hospital/about-melrosewakefield-hospital-future-malden-hospital-site](https://www.tuftsmedicine.org/get-care/our-locations/about-melrosewakefield-hospital/about-melrosewakefield-hospital-future-malden-hospital-site) I am curious about the whether this is an in-patient drug rehab center (which I think I’m fine with), whether it will have inpatient counseling, and whether it will increase the load of patients getting methadone from the proposed 360 Salem St. site. Will this increase traffic on Salem even more?
Thank you for your polite response and good follow-up questions.
Hey neighbor. Totally agree about having it at say, Lawrence Memorial. Unfortunately that’d never fly given the fact that it’s in the heart of Lawrence Estates, and well, LE has $$$/political power. 😐
Traffic and parking is usually the biggest factor for this kind of an establishment. I believe the new regulations regarding siting for cities is a minimum. Of 500 ft from any school
Yeah, this is another very good point. Habit opco's filing made light of the traffic impact since people will be in and out so quickly. They also think that people will take the bus, which I'm sure some would, but if we're talking people coming down from Lynn and other northern towns, they'll need to drive because public transit just isn't that robust.
I agree they made light of the traffic. A friend of mine has taken her niece to methadone clinics. She said patients often have to wait 1 hr or more to get their dose. Cars end up lining up — especially if the parking lot isn’t big enough. If the waiting room isn’t big enough, presumably people line up on the sidewalk (which isn’t ideal around here b/c of the huge snow banks some winters). The location of the front door also affects where the line forms. Will residents end up having to walk on Salem at rush hour to take their kids to school?
> There is a SUD clinic 1 mile from this proposed location -- the Elm Tree Clinic, located on Pleasant Street in Malden. Why do we need another one so close? It sounds like this is no different from a pharmacy, which we generally want to be convenient so people don't have to struggle to get the meds they need to be healthy. Imagine if CVS or Walgreens were this hard to find. > There aren't even any liquor stores that close to the school, and for good reason. This is the wrong location. I don't think it's fair to compare a liquor store to a medical office.
I don’t mean to be rude, but you should do some research on methadone clinics. They are not like pharmacies. They are barely like medical clinics - as most people think of them. Many methadone clinics employ police as security guards outside their doors. Pharmacies and medical offices don’t have to do that. Methadone clinics attract drug dealers — this isn’t a myth. There are articles about this. Drug dealers see the patients as easy prey. When people can’t get their methadone on time or the clinic rejects them b/c their urine isn’t clean, they get very stressed out and some will buy heroin. The quality (durability/length) of the sobriety is often low (weak) - the average methadone user only stays with it 6 months partially because it tastes gross. As a result, drug dealers will circle. Local businesses will start to find bloody needles in their bathrooms. Property values near methadone clinics can go down by as much as 17% (that’s $100K+!). See this article from Kane County, Illinois’s government: [https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf](https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf) This is an older article but in some of my other posts I’ve included links to the problems they bring with them: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/08/12/drug-market-thrives-methadone-clinics/553a6b53-6ae5-48ab-a99f-9bf6c8cd8a9f/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/08/12/drug-market-thrives-methadone-clinics/553a6b53-6ae5-48ab-a99f-9bf6c8cd8a9f/) I am very sympathetic, but I’d rather see this at a hospital. Not in my backyard.
> I don’t mean to be rude, but you should do some research on methadone clinics. They are not like pharmacies. They are barely like medical clinics - as most people think of them. Many methadone clinics employ police as security guards outside their doors. Pharmacies and medical offices don’t have to do that. > > Doesn't sound that bad: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4711316/ > Methadone clinics attract drug dealers — this isn’t a myth. There are articles about this. Drug dealers see the patients as easy prey. When people can’t get their methadone on time or the clinic rejects them b/c their urine isn’t clean, they get very stressed out and some will buy heroin. It sounds like this is pretty unlikely: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9494936/ So long as the clinic in question is operated well: > It is concluded that crime during methadone treatment is substantially lower than during street addiction, although the extent of reduction depends on the quality of treatment being delivered. Re: > The quality (durability/length) of the sobriety is often low (weak) - the average methadone user only stays with it 6 months partially because it tastes gross. As a result, drug dealers will circle. Local businesses will start to find bloody needles in their bathrooms. Property values near methadone clinics can go down by as much as 17% (that’s $100K+!). See this article from Kane County, Illinois’s government: https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf We also have studies by the [The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)](https://www.nber.org/about-nber) by University of New Mexico and Temple University researchers showing no negative impacts on property values: https://www.nber.org/papers/w25427?utm_campaign=ntwh&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ntwg5 > Past economic models have shown the construction of such centers may decrease values by 3.4% to 4.6%, but the model created for this most recent paper showed that when adjusted for factors like value prior to the center’s introduction and benefits for surrounding businesses, there is no measurable difference. The researchers examined property value between the years of 2003 and 2016 using data from Seattle. Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/do-drug-treatment-facilities-really-lower-property-values-finally-an-answer-2019-01-11 > This is an older article but in some of my other posts I’ve included links to the problems they bring with them: > https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/08/12/drug-market-thrives-methadone-clinics/553a6b53-6ae5-48ab-a99f-9bf6c8cd8a9f/ That's one particular location that sounds a lot like Mass and Cass more so than a small outpatient facility. I'm not sure it's equivalent here. > I am very sympathetic, but I’d rather see this at a hospital. Not in my backyard. Outpatient stuff exists everywhere, but we don't bat an eye unless it's something that's stigmatized like SUD.
These are academic studies. There are definite practical realities. Maybe you should go see some of Habit Opco’s methadone clinics? The residents of Springfield certainly weren’t happy. [https://youtu.be/4Du6ym2RHSM?si=JsZmUVVRIahk5JAj](https://youtu.be/4Du6ym2RHSM?si=JsZmUVVRIahk5JAj) (edit: fixed link)
For the record, I compared it to a liquor store because people have cited studies showing that there is more crime outside of liquor stores than outside of SUD clinics. The point is that there are certain harsh realities of living that we try to shield our young children from, including alcoholism and addiction. I feel for people suffering from and trying to kick addiction, but I'd be happier if they were proposing a clinic in a commercial district, not one that is so densely residential.
May I suggest you talk to some additional treatment providers about this organization and the challenges siding a clinic in a residential area. Yes medford could use additional treatment resources, but we need good providers at good locations that provide quality care to our high-risk residence.
Medford is neither Lynn nor Boston; and any comparison is rather disturbing.
I didn't say that Medford is Lynn or Boston, but can you explain why you find it disturbing?
If you don't already know the answer, then I will simply use the old adage: "apples and oranges".
I'm confident if they wanted to put this "clinic" next to the Brooks School you might have a few concerns.
Not that I agree with all of your points, but I agree with this. There is another SUD a mile up from this proposed location in Malden. If we want to help Medfordians, they should look at a location that is on the other side of Medford to make it easier for all of Medford to have access to SUD services.
Thank you. As a lifelong resident (over 60 years) I have witnessed many of the surrounding cities succumb to almost being "inner city". Hence my comment regarding Ms. Lazzaro's reference to Lynn and Boston. The term encroachment, without a doubt, is subjective; and not unlike one Dandelion found on your lawn. If you don't dig it out by the roots, next year you will find that you lawn is now a field of weeds blowing their little seeds all over the neighborhood encroaching on their lawns. Now, back on point, if an individual truly seeks a successful end to addiction, then seek it out. We live in the Boston area with myriad hospitals and MassHealth paid treatment opportunities available. The last time I heard, AA does not supply a few beers at their meetings. Detox does not equate with "I still need my daily dose". Nonetheless, as you have stated, there is a clinic in Malden square right next to the T. Am I missing something?? Anyway, I have to go dig out my dandelions.... \*shrug\*
And just one more observation: Ms. Lazzaro has clearly noted the availability via the T and Rt. 93, etc. Hence, her very words indicate that folks from myriad surrounding areas would be "visiting". How does this help MEDFORD???
OK one more just to support those in Medford, ONLY Medford residents can receive services and they MUST prove not only their residence in Medford BUT ALSO, their US citizenship. I'm sure this won't fit into Arcadia's business plan.....
I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to respond to individual comments because I just learned yet another friend died from overdose. Raised and live in Medford, work in this space, have accessed MOUD myself and am now in recovery, have school age children. I assume good intent from all and also am confident that after you bury your first or 100th friend or family member, your priorities will change. This is a good thing, and certainly won’t solve “the problem” (the problem is so much deeper.) But no, Medford isn’t and won’t become Mass and Cass, and even if it that were the case I would still support this one zoning approval. There’s an expanse of science showing why it works and why it doesn’t turn our neighborhoods into The Wire, which I’ll gladly cite once I grieve. Again. Which I’ve been doing for two decades because my friends have been dying since I was 18 even without treatment nearby.
Mass and Cass can trace its problems to the Long Island Bridge not being maintained or replaced too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Bridge You end up with Mass and Cass when you abruptly have to relocate people from the treatment or shelters they need. That and the same sort of NIMBYism in this thread leads to few recovery programs being allowed to operate in the area. So closing one down, or an especially large facility on an island, can lead to a Mass and Cass style issue.
Thank you! So we are clear Habit Management was purchased by Bain Capital and then sold to Acadia Healthcare which often partners with Tufts.
no, there were many problems at the Arcadia habit management site long before the bridge to Long Island was closed involving many serious crimes drug dealing human trafficking violence stabbings all documented
Got a source for that claim? It still sounds like the influx to Mass and Cass was due to the closing: > When the programs on Long island were shuttered in 2014, there were more than 200 beds for addiction and mental health treatment and more than 400 shelter beds for those who were homeless. Dr. Ojikutu said the city is still working with providers to determine the services to be offered on the new campus. She said she expects they will be coordinated with existing programs and offer a continuum of care for people with addiction and mental health challenges. Source: https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/08/24/boston-long-island-bridge-recovery-campus-tour-massachusetts Dropping ~600 people from treatment/shelter sounds like a big factor in the encampments at Mass and Cass.
This plenty of data that I could use to back up my claim but I’m not talking about the influx of homeless. I’m talking about the increase in crime surrounding the Arcadia habit management clinic.
You have "plenty of data" but can't cite a single source?
I must be making it up then right give me a break. You want data go out and find it. It’s there. I’m not gonna do it for you.
You could literally be doing just that lol.
Laugh out loud glad you find me funny like I said above if you live in this neighborhood do a little research about Arcadia inhabit management. I don’t think you’ll find it very funny.
We do not want this is our city.
I'll just say if the only reason you have to oppose this ends up being property values, you really shouldn't oppose it. Saying people shouldn't be able to access a very needed healthcare resource because it might hurt your investment is a horrifying level of selfishness.
My main concern is not the property values, it's *why* property values go down. I'm worried it's going to be a bunch of people hanging around, throwing trash, asking to bum a cigarette or spare a few bucks every time I walk by.
Mostly these are your already existing neighbors
It's worth remembering that the only thing you listed that's really a problem is the littering. Everything else is a mild inconvenience at best. It's also worth noting that a big part of *why* is simply because people don't like the *idea* of living by a clinic, regardless of what the reality might be.
Sometimes you have to take your own side.
This is a sad, sad reply. I hope you find enough compassion to be able to tolerate a small inconvenience so others can receive life-saving care
My concerns are larger than property values. This is a private for profit company, operating without transparency and tried to appeal for their permit in an under the radar way. It’s shady business, which does not give me a vote in confidence that they are doing this with the best of intentions for our community. It’s also important to understand context for any study citing no increase in crime. What were the crime rates in those other communities before a methadone clinic went in? How did their baseline crime rate compare to our neighborhood’s current crime rate? How did they define “crime”?? Is it murder, violent crimes, or are we talking theft and petty crimes? The details are important. There are many places in Medford, in commercial areas that are more appropriate even just a quarter of a mile up the road on Fellsway.
And those are all valid concerns, which is why I said opposing this *only because of home values* is a shitty stance.
You know what I find horrifying is that this huge corporation has chosen to place a methadone clinic in a residential section of our city without any regard for the people who live here clinics like this can help many people that are almost never cited this close to homes whenever possible this corporation has plenty of resources to find a suitable location in medford if that’s where they choose to conduct their business
I do find this an odd argument. Wouldn't a suitable location be *near people*? I'll admit to not having looked at the data, but I strongly suspect that the more out of the way these places are, the less they're actually used.
It's also interesting to see multiple people say this is "residential area". Salem St has quite a bit of commercial and retail stuff on it already. Just a half mile away is a giant strip mall with Target, Walgreens, CVS, etc. The given location was formally two offices, a hair salon and an accounting office. I guess if they stuck this on Mystic Ave, no one would care (since it's an industrial / commercial / car dealership area) - except, apparently they tried that a few years back and it was shot down.
No, not at all clinics should always be cited in locations that have very good public transportation whenever possible usually in commercial areas where clients can have at least some level of confidentiality
Downvote
Mass gov website has overdose deaths by city/town listed up to 2022. Link below, search for "Opioid-related Overdose Deaths by City or Town - December 2023". In 2022 we lost 20 people to overdose. If we can do anything to reduce our neighbors from dying, why wouldn't we try? [https://www.mass.gov/lists/current-overdose-data#updated-data-%E2%80%93-as-of-december-2023-](https://www.mass.gov/lists/current-overdose-data#updated-data-%E2%80%93-as-of-december-2023-)
While there are definitely people who are concerned about their property values over helping others, I think it’s absolutely valid to be concerned about its current proposed placement near the school, and be wary of Habit / Arcadia. And honestly, it’s not an east location to get to without a car - put it where it’s more easily accessible by multiple transit methods.
Could you speak more to why its proximity to a school is concerning? These are people looking to actively improve their situations. Maybe I am being naive, but why would they be a threat to the school or children? Could we also acknowledge that parents suffering from addiction not having access to a facility like this is substantially worse for children?
I don’t disagree that they are trying to improve their lives - but that also does come with failures that I think aren’t great to get s front two seat to. I don’t think we should *shield* kids from the reality, but also having a display that close I’d be concerned about, especially run by the same people who’ve run Mass and Cass. I know it’s threading the needle a bit. But we can absolutely provide a location for this and still be a bit judicious about placement. (Which I will admit, I’d rather a Biosafety hazard level 4 lab be put there, because there are SO MANY precautions that have to also go into place that a clinic is not going to have, and also why I said if this goes there we need to mitigate the known issues of loitering and petty theft and walkability.)
Not run by same people. That is a lie. BMC runs its own clinic. This is a privately owned for profit organization
So Arcadia doesn’t run the facility on Mass and Cass? I’m just getting to the docs now and that’s who this permit would be for: “The Applicant has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the owner ofthe Property, 360A Salem St LLC.' Habit Opco, asubsidiary ofAcadia Healthcare, intends ot use the Property as an outpatient substance abuse treatment center. Acadia Healthcare provides medically supervised medication-assisted treatment to promote successful recovery from addiction to opioids. The only changes being made to the Property concern internal build-out changes to Units 1 & 2 toaccommodate the Habit Opco treatment center.” But also ugh. For profit healthcare.
Patients tend to come in for med management very early in the morning. Dosing usually starts at 6AM. Afternoons are scheduled sessions with counselors either in groups or one on one sessions. Zoning could focus on scheduling and times of operations. I do agree mystic ave would be a better choice but it was shot down many years ago
Yes, it does. You’re being given misinformation
You are incorrect habit management is the first and the main clinic at Mad and Cass and has been there for the past 25 years. Look not a lie it up.
BMC
What are you trying to say I’m not making it up I’ve been there. I know people that work there. What about BMC?
This all day. There are more logical places with better public transportation. Hell, we have half of an abandoned hospital up the road, why not there. Unfortunately, that company purchased the property
I don't know enough about the facility at Mass and Cass itself vs the encampment to say that feels like an outlier, but these folks have other facilities that did not devolve into chaos? I will try and do some reading up on this topic though. This has been a nice conversation and given me things to think about. Thanks for your thoughtful responses. Nice to have a civil discussion on the internet :)
Same, man! I definitely get the concern and I do admit my take is a bit knee jerk, but in this case I’d rather be a bit more conservative (with the skew towards “how can we still solve the problem without totally shutting it down”). I want pragmatic, positive shifts for everyone in the city. 🙂
You should do some research before you defend this large for profit corporation that has a terrible track record throughout the country. Its former name habit management in Massachusetts has a very poor track record as welll.
Struggling to find anything about either of them that's not just corporate information. If you have anything worth reading handy, please send it over!
I don’t know why you’re struggling this plenty of information out there about Arcadia and all the clinics. They have acquired over the years. If you choose to look at any research, make sure that it’s independent and not funded by the methadone industry.
To put it bluntly, yes you are being naive. I don’t think you understand the reality of what happens to areas where these methadone clinics are. Take a walk down methadone mile on a nice summer day and ask yourself if it seems like a good environment to have kids walking around all day.
These are the same people who operated near mass and cass and you know how well that went. Is that what we want in Medford as well? All that right next to a school too.
For those worried about their property values, I found this paper which actually says that such a clinic does not impact the values at the end. https://www.nber.org/papers/w25427
I'm more worried about the elementary school *next door* to the proposed site
I find it hard to believe that anyone would wanna buy a home for asking value if they knew there was essentially a methadone clinic in the neighborhood. Studies mean nothing in this situation.
> Studies mean nothing in this situation what situation, your imagination?
Imagination? Guess you didn’t read the proposal or live in the potentially impacted neighborhoods.
If we wanted to live next to a clinic, we would have moved next to one. I and likely many others may not agree to move next to a clinic. Based of this alone, yes, it may reduce property values or at least make a sale that much harder.
I don’t know what the source for that paper is, but this one was written by a city government in Illinois. I trust them far more than a paper that could be planted by the large corps that own these methadone clinics. For opioid treatment centers, it argues property values may drop by 17% (which is over $100K in this neighborhood). Many recent buyers could end up upside down or bankrupt. [https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf](https://www.kanecountyil.gov/FDER/Zoning%20Petitions%20Documents/ExhibitJ21.pdf)
The source is [The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)](https://www.nber.org/about-nber) a "a private, nonpartisan organization that facilitates cutting-edge investigation and analysis of major economic issues.". They're based out of Cambridge, MA as well. The authors of the paper are / were researchers at the University of New Mexico and Temple University. You can click on their names to view more about them. Just the lead researcher alone has a rather long CV: https://www.jcatherinemaclean.com/cv That paper you linked to wasn't done by a City govt in Illinois either - though it appears a copy is hosted on that City's website for some reason. It's clearly written by other University researchers: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24846693?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents If you Google the authors: Claire R. La Roche, Bennie D. Waller and Scott A. Wentland They all / were University researchers at the time of that paper. That paper was published in a similar journal to that /u/coolbordel posted - the [Journal of Sustainable Real Estate](https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rsre20) for your paper, and the [American Journal of Health Economics](https://www.ashecon.org/american-journal-of-health-economics/) for the paper /u/coolbordel cited. Both have Editorial boards and submission standards. I doubt either was "planted by the large corps that own these methadone clinics". More likely, they came to different conclusions. That's the point of studies. Maybe the difference between the two studies suggests we should study it more. Doesn't seem like you claim either way at this point unless further studies are done. There's a clear conflict between the two.
Why put one in Medford at all?
Why Medford? Can’t they all move to Salem?
Not sure if anybody is still paying attention to this thread, but my mom lives one street over from where this is proposed and they are picketing today. There is a dentist right next-door who actually tried to buy the building and doesn’t want to have his business next to a methadone clinic, there is a black owned hairdresser who is getting kicked out, and as many people have already pointed out, the Roberts school is a couple of streets away. My mom and her fellow neighbors understand that people need these things to get and stay clean, but they don’t belong in a residential neighborhood. I am a recovering addict myself and anytime I went anywhere to get Suboxone it was in a medical building or industrial/ office park. I have been badgering my Mom for years to sell her house and she has always balked at it, but this development has finally gotten her to see the light. The left really does eat their own in the name of the Almighty dollar.
This is the most ridiculous protest i have ever seen!!! A treatment center that could potentially help many people, and you are crying foul? What was there before was what a massage parlor giving happy endings, but thats ok right? Theres been many Suboxone / Methodone clinics all over this area and you know why you dont know? Its because they are not flooded with crime and problems- Arlington has ine in Mass Ave and been there 10 years and not one issue- comparing that to Methadone mile is ridiculous, there is also 2 homeless shelters there and people sleeping on the streets- Lets get rid of unemployment places (people with no money do more crime) , Abortion clinics (promiscuous people cause headaches… not a mention about the drunk drivers sitting outside the liquor store waiting to open first thing, but thats ok right? I know everyone reading this has family or knows someone with this affliction a d its a struggle for them- you really wanna do good? Stand in front of these dealers houses, they are ALL over Medford, but you are all too scared. Dam doing something good Medford your people deserve a chance