Wellington-Harrington Painters — Inman Square to the Grand Junction tracks

The city’s 1996 neighborhood study says this corner between Hampshire Street, the Grand Junction railroad and the Somerville line grew slowly until after the Civil War. The railroad brought soap works, woodworking shops and food processors, then metal and musical-instrument factories, and residential construction grew quickly along with the population. The study describes the result as a fully developed working-class residential and industrial district. Roosevelt Towers came later, built in 1950 as state-aided housing for veterans.

Most of the neighborhood is zoned Residence C-1, which caps buildings at three stories and allows single-family, two-family, triple-decker and apartment buildings.

The city's 2023 profile shows how the stock breaks down. Buildings with two to four units account for 64.5% of dwellings and 69.0% of residential properties; single-family houses are 26.0% of properties but only 7.4% of units. Density works out to 20.2 dwellings per acre, and 24.9% of homes are owner-occupied. In census tract 3526, which takes in Berkshire Street, Webster Avenue and Willow Street, 63.4% of housing units date from 1939 or earlier.

Shared walls, shared decisions

When a two- or three-unit building is a condo and its exterior is common area, colors, budget and timing have to be agreed among the owners before any paint is bought, and the association should be named on the contractor’s certificate of insurance. Where one landlord owns the whole building, that planning falls to a single owner.

Tenants at home during the work

With 70.8% of dwellings renter-occupied, many buildings will have tenants living in them while the outside is painted. Windows that must stay closed while sash is scraped, porches out of use while floors cure, and notice for households with small children all belong in the schedule.

Lead rules where children live

Massachusetts requires deleading of any home where a child under six lives, and the federal RRP rule covers work that disturbs paint in pre-1978 housing beyond small exempt areas. In tract 3526, 73.4% of units predate 1980, so plan on lead-safe methods for sash, porch rails and door casings.

Narrow side yards

The 1996 study found almost twice the city’s average number of housing units per acre. At that density, painting a side wall can mean setting ladders or staging on the neighbor’s ground, so access permission is worth arranging before the start date.