Somerville Youth Discuss the Future with the Mayor

On Tuesday, May 25 at 6pm in the back room at The Burren (247 Elm St), dozens of Somerville residents, most of whom appeared to be in their mid 20s, came to see a presentation called “The State of Young Somerville” given by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Young Somerville Advisory Group.

For the most part, the presentation was similar to last month’s business town meeting — and even included some of the same slides. “This is a very active, engaged, and cerebral population,” Curtatone said.

And the meeting’s tenor matched that sentiment. Many  Somervilleans focused on the idea of creating an ideal community. At least one person was worried about immigration and naturalization and possible police profiling. The mayor stated that profiling is not tolerated, and later voiced his opposition to the Arizona immigration legislation that has caused such a stir in national politics. (As it happens, he has an op-ed about that topic in the Wednesday, May 26 Boston Herald.)

Another resident spoke about a lack of legal skateboarding territory. There were other practical concerns like affordability and sidewalk reconstruction, but there were also more complex issues like the lack of collaboration between communities all over Massachusetts.

Jared Worful, 26, who works at the Community Growing Center, was pleased to see so many 20-somethings in attendance. “It’s easy to get younger kids and high schoolers involved [in the community] because they’re trapped,” he said. “But it’s harder to get people our age involved because a lot of nights you’ve got music shows and friends to hang out with, or you just want to stay in and watch Lost.”