Jaw-dropping development, here.

A tentative agreement disclosed yesterday between developers and a community group could end nearly a decade of dispute and allow construction of an Ikea furniture store and an ambitious mixed-use project consisting of office space, a hotel, and more than 2,100 rental apartments and residential condominiums near Somerville's Assembly Square.

In my opinion, the neighbors were being unreasonable, and it didn't seem as though anything would get them to drop their opposition.

I found it hard to sympathize with the neighbors, seeing as they already lived across the street from an existing mall. Pretty much, it sounded like they just wanted the land to remain undeveloped, and in disrepair.

That's not a logical solution.

Anyway, sounds like a win-win-win. The neighbors get promises of a future Orange Line stop, behind the mall, lessening the amount of traffic going in and out of the area (I guess ...). Also, the developer promises to include more office space, and less retail, lessening traffic, as well. The developer gets to build what they want. And, we all get cheap, crappy Ikea furniture that is a bitch to put together, mostly because there aren't any written instructions, just weird diagrams.

Source: Pact could end row over project near Assembly Square - By Chris Reidy, The Boston Globe