Hi, thanks for visiting! And thanks so much to the Precinct 7 constituents for electing me to Town Meeting in March 2025. I look forward to continuing to share news here and engage with you on the important topics that affect our neighborhood and town as a whole.
Scroll down to learn more about my background, my perspective on the issues we’re facing, links to other resources and reminders of upcoming events.
If you’d like to be added to my distribution list to receive occasional emails with these types of reminders, please drop me a note at katieblauer@gmail.com.
Hello Katie
Lexington has always been my home. From Hancock Nursery School and Bowman Elementary to Clarke Middle School and Lexington High School, where I met my future husband, Adam Blauer. Adam lived on the other side of town and attended Estabrook and Diamond. After getting married and living in a few other places, we were fortunate enough to purchase our own home here in 2011, just a mile down the road from Adam’s parents.
My dad grew up in Lexington too, and my grandfather not only served as a Town Meeting Member for multiple terms in the 1960s but also as Chairman of the Appropriation Committee and multiple other financial committees over the course of 20 years.
I am proud that our children are 4th generation Lexingtonians, and just the same as anyone, we only want the very best for them. Participating in Town Meeting is one of the ways I can contribute to ensuring Lexington remains a wonderful place to live for generations to come.
LHS Building Project
Second only to our important place in American History, Lexington’s reputation lies in the excellence of its school system. Both quality instruction and quality facilities are needed to uphold this reputation, which also directly correlates with the strength of our property values. Lexington High School – outdated, undersized, and in disrepair – is in critical need of replacement so that we can regain an optimal environment for teaching and learning. With $110M of MSBA reimbursement on the table and millions of dollars already invested in studies and design work, now is the time to move forward with “Bloom” – a thoughtful, elegant and innovative design that Lexington can be proud of.
This upcoming November, Town Meeting will vote to approve the project scope, which will need to pass by a 2/3 majority to move the project forward (I will vote YES). Then on December 8th, voters (YOU) will be asked to vote on the financing of this project, which requires a simple majority to pass.
Recently, the Town released the LHS Project Tax Impact Calculator to help residents understand their individual property tax impact from the upcoming debt exclusion vote. First, look up your home’s assessed value by using Lexington’s Property Database and then plug that info into the calculator. This is a great way to focus on YOUR number and what the years ahead will bring for you and your family instead of the overarching project cost.
You can find more information on the LHS Building Project website, the Yes4Lex website, as well as this one-stop-shop for myth-busting the top 10 misconceptions about this project regarding cost, funding, size and design of Bloom. Scroll down to my Upcoming Dates section below for events, meetings, and voting info!
MBTA Communities Act &
Impact on Precinct 7
As part of the MBTA Communities Act that was passed in 2023, over 60 acres in Precinct 7 were zoned for high-density multi-family development. Already, the construction of 442 dwelling units is underway on 7 of those acres. While Article 2, a community-driven push to scale back these ambitious plans, did remove the Village Overlay zoning, the below list of properties was filed in advance of Article 2’s passage, locking in the by-right development potential for the next 8 years on the balance of these 44 acres along Hartwell Ave.
Based on the density metrics from Lexington’s Enrollment and Housing Update, published 1/27/25, we can determine that the first wave of 442 apartments (at 7 and 17 Hartwell Ave) will bring an average of 211 new students across K-12. 98 of these students will be K-5 aged and districted at Estabrook, which will put us over the 540-capacity of this 11-year-old building. With three more properties having moved to the definitive subdivision stage, we can only expect hundreds more units will be built soon, further crowding Estabrook and inevitably requiring the town to revisit districting.
7 Hartwell Ave – 130 units on 1.61 acres
17 Hartwell Ave – 312 units on 5.26 acres
3 Maguire Ave – preliminary subdivision of 2.69 acres
10 Maguire Ave – definitive subdivision of 16.72 acres
125 Hartwell Ave – preliminary subdivision of 4.02 acres
131 Hartwell Ave – definitive subdivision of 5.01 acres
475 Bedford St – definitive subdivision of 9.01 acres
MBTA Communities Act &
More Cost Implications
Last February, the Appropriation Committee published their MBTA Zoning Impact Memo, highlighting that “The implications of massive development will be far reaching and will touch many aspects of life in Lexington.”
One of the key takeaways from this document is that the town receives much lower property tax revenues from apartments on a per unit basis, compared to single-family homes and condos – yet we still pay an average of $26K per student per year in our school system. Because we expect the multi-family developments to bring a certain amount of new students, “the increase of expenses for the schools will exceed new tax revenues by an amount in the range of $4M-$12M for every 1,000 new dwelling units built in the overlay districts.” With nearly 80% of our town budget allocated to schools, this can only mean that the quality of our school system will suffer as we seek to confront these funding gaps.
This concept is proven by the two Avalon properties, which house 405 students and bring in $2,149,539 in tax revenue, equating to a yearly deficit of 8 million dollars. Add the additional $4-$12 million for every additional 1,000 units (1,100 units are already in the pipeline), and you can imagine the tax burden our town will feel as the 90 acres zoned for by-right high-density housing through Article 2 gets developed over time.
Experience
Design Director, Chuck Taylor Global at Converse
Managing team of 9 employees
Parent of two students in LPS (Estabrook and Diamond)
Ongoing volunteer work for:
Run of the Mill 5K
Estabrook PTO
Lexington Police Department
Estabrook 5th Grade Yearbook Committee
Estabrook Room Parent
Softball Coach for Lexington Little League
Member of Moms on the Mound softball league (2017-present)
LexFUN! Board Member and Graphic Design volunteer (2016-2021)
Mass College of Art, 2004, BFA in Illustration
with high honors and distinction
Lexington High School, Class of 2000
Upcoming Dates
& Other Helpful Resources
