Show Support for Affordable Senior Housing Tonight!

Ben Bruno

rendering of 4259-4267 Washington St developmentTonight at 6 PM, there’s a public meeting about B’nai B’rith’s proposal for a 6-story, PassiveHouse-certifiable building with 41 affordable senior homes and new retail — including a new home for the Thrift Shop — on the former Bank of America parking lot on Washington St (between Chilacates and the recycling center).

This is exactly the kind of thoughtful, sustainable development that many Roslindale residents hoped would come out of the Squares + Streets rezoning. Let’s show up and show support!

Here are two quick ways to help Roslindale say YES to more affordable homes:

📅Join the Public Zoom Meeting — Tonight, Monday October 20th at 6:00 PM
Register here: bosplans.org/4259Washington-1015

✍️ Send a Written Comment of Support
Use this tool to write and submit a public letter in under 2 minutes.

Cummins Highway Walk Audit – Wed Oct 15, 3:30 – 5:00 PM

Ben Bruno

Join us on our third and final walk audit in this year’s series this coming Wednesday! We’ll meet in Adams Park and depart by 3:35 to observe and document how safe, accessible, and welcoming the street and sidewalks are for people of all ages and abilities.  We will not be entering the Sarah Roberts school grounds so as not to interfere with school dismissal and buses, but we will observe and document the issues and challenges on this busy corridor at rush hour / school dismissal time from the opposite site of Cummins Highway.

Cummins Highway (Adams Park to Sarah Roberts Elementary School)
📅 Wednesday, October 15th
🕞 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

👉 RSVP here to let us know you plan to join. While RSVPs aren’t required, they’ll help us prepare enough materials for everyone.

Hope you can join us!

 

Our 2025 walk audit series is made possible by the AARP Community Challenge, a grant program that funds quick-action projects to help communities become more livable for people of all ages. It’s part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative. Learn more at AARP.org/Livable.

Speak Up for a Safer Hyde Park Ave: City Council Hearing Oct. 6

Ben Bruno

Early Monday morning, yet another serious crash on Hyde Park Avenue left a pedestrian critically injured near American Legion Highway. Streetsblog MASS reports that Boston EMS transported the victim to the hospital after being struck by a driver — the latest in a long line of preventable tragedies on this corridor.

For years, residents have pushed for long‑promised safety improvements along Hyde Park Avenue. Despite hundreds of people participating in meetings and engagement processes, the City has delayed action — most recently stalling traffic‑calming measures tied to repaving near Forest Hills. As Streetsblog has noted, the administration has cited the need for “more feedback,” even as the corridor project remains without funding or a timeline. Residents living near Hyde Park have organized the Boston Better Streets Coalition to push for change.

Now, the City Council’s Planning, Development, and Transportation Committee is holding a public hearing to focus on the northern stretch of Hyde Park Ave, from Walk Hill Street to the Arborway. This is our chance to make sure the community’s voice is heard.

👉 How you can help:

  • Arrive by 5:55 pm on this coming Monday, Oct. 6 at the BTU School gym (25 Walk Hill St.) to get on the speaker list.
  • Share your own travel story — whether you walk, use a wheelchair, push a stroller, bike, take the bus, or drive.
  • Highlight the safety challenges you face and how better infrastructure could make the corridor safer and more accessible.
  • Keep it short: just 2 minutes is enough to make an impact.

If you sign up here beforehand, the Better Streets Coalition will help coordinate and offer tips on effective testimony!

If you can’t attend, you can still send written comments to the Council by email, but a strong in‑person showing is the most powerful way to push for change.

4259-4267 Washington Street (Phase 1 of the former BofA site redevelopment) – Public Meeting on Monday, 20 October 2025

Matt Lawlor

Just a quick note for interested and supportive folks in our neighborhood that the Small Project Review public meeting on the BBH proposal has been announced by the Boston Planning Department for Monday, 20 October 2025, at 6 pm. It will be over zoom and you can get information on the meeting and register HERE. Hope to see you there to support this ground-floor commercial and certificated, fast-track all-affordable residential proposal that represents the first phase of B’nai B’rith Housing’s redevelopment of the former Bank of America site and requires no zoning relief.

Boston Climate Action Plan – Draft 2 – Feedback period ends 30 September 2025 (this Tuesday)!

Matt Lawlor

The second draft of the city’s Climate Action Plan 2025 – which will guide the City through the next 5 years of efforts to reduce our collective carbon emissions and keep on track to hit a 50% drop from 2005 levels for community-wide emissions by 2030 (60% for municipal government emissions) and full carbon neutrality at a 100% drop from those levels by 2050 – has been available since the summer and the feedback period closes on this coming Tuesday, 30 September 2025. You can offer feedback by going HERE. The final draft is expected to be released in early 2026 with adoption/effectiveness in the spring. So, check out the plan and offer your feedback on what our city will be doing in the next 5 years to combat what is and remains the environmental challenge on this and at least the next several generations.

Given our twin focuses of being pro-housing and pro-walk, -bike, and -transit, we would direct your attention to the building and transportation sections of the plan.

For example, in the building section, steps such as streamlining permitting for de-carbonization of buildings, supporting housing stability through building upgrades, and support for affordable housing decarbonization are among what the city is considering.

For transportation, the actions include steps such a broad range of transit improvements (including Zone 1A regional rail citywide), encouraging safer walking and biking through infrastructure improvements that improve connections and reducing motor vehicle driving speeding (continuing the city’s mission toward Vision Zero by 2030), and planning for density and zoning for walkability (we have some recent experience on that here in Roslindale). Have at it by Tuesday!

From Audit to Action: Washington St. Sidewalks Repaired!

Ben Bruno

We are happy to report that our walk audit of Washington St on August 23rd has already yielded meaningful results – the Public Works Department was out on the sidewalks yesterday repairing the biggest sidewalk issues we identified!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Enrique José Pepén (@enriquepepen)


Thank you to Councilor Pepén’s staff for elevating these concerns, and to the Disabilities Commission, the Parks Department, and the Public Works Department for their work, and finally all of you who participated in our walk audits and helped bring these changes about!

 

Want to be a part of this kind of change in our neighborhood?

Join us on our third and final walk audit in this year’s series!

#3: Cummins Highway (Adams Park to Sarah Roberts Elementary School)
📅 Wednesday, October 15th
🕞 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

👉 RSVP here to let us know you plan to join. While RSVPs aren’t required, they’ll help us prepare enough materials for everyone.

Hope you can join us – see you around Rozzie!

 

Our 2025 walk audit series is made possible by the AARP Community Challenge, a grant program that funds quick-action projects to help communities become more livable for people of all ages. It’s part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative. Learn more at AARP.org/Livable.

First fruits for Squares & Streets in Roslindale look really promising – 4259-4267 Washington Street come on down!

Matt Lawlor

The first project to file for approval under the new zoning is the mixed-use ground-floor commercial/all-affordable residential phase 1 of B’nai B’rith Housing’s 2-phase redevelopment of the former Bank of America property (which now houses only the thrift shop) and parking area wrapping around from Corinth along Cohasset to Washington. [SEE the image above, pulled from the Small Project Review filing.] If you take a look at the small project review filing at the link, you’ll note that WalkUP Roslindale have already indicated our support, but we will definitely also comment now that the filing has been made, we can see the design and program in more detail, and there’s a comment period extending to October 17, 2025. We’ll post that comment letter when we submit it. We also encourage everyone reading this to weigh in with your thoughts on the project and its merits. For those of us at WUR who have advocated for many years for a better set of zoning requirements that would enable, in a streamlined fashion, development that we want to see, the fact that this project appears to require no variances is a massive bit of validation. More to come!

Walk Audit #2: Adams Park + Roslindale Square Area – Wed 9/17, 3:30-5pm

Ben Bruno

The 2nd walk audit of our 2025 walk audit series is coming up next week! In this, audit we’ll be examining the heart of our Roslindale community. We’ll begin in Adams Park and walk around the Roslindale Square area, observing and documenting how safe, accessible, and welcoming the streets and sidewalks are for people of all ages and abilities. Together, we can identify opportunities for improvement.

Walk Audit #2: Adams Park + Roslindale Square Area
📅 Wednesday, September 17th
🕞 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

map of walk audit area- Adams Park (meet here) and Roslindale Square area

👉 RSVP here to let us know if you’ll be joining us – while not required, this will help us prepare enough materials for everyone and know to expect you.

 

This initiative is made possible by the AARP Community Challenge, a grant program that funds quick-action projects to help communities become more livable for people of all ages. It’s part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative. Learn more at AARP.org/Livable.

Walk Audit this Saturday 10:30am – Washington St from Basile to Archdale

Ben Bruno

📅 Saturday, August 23rd
🕥 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Our first in a series of three walk audits is this Saturday – please join us! We’ll be meeting at the corner of South St and Taft Hill Terrace and departing shortly after 10:30am. We’ll walk north to Washington Street and begin in earnest at Basile St, cross to the other side of Washington St at Healy Field and continue to Archdale Rd. We’ll observe and document how safe, accessible, and welcoming our streets and sidewalks are for people of all ages and abilities. Together, we’ll identify opportunities for improvement.

Walk Audit #1 Map - Washington St - route from mtg point to Basile to Archdale

Please note that it will be farmer’s market day, so the area is sure to be busy. Consider walking/biking/taking the bus if possible and look for our sign at the meeting spot! If you are running late, we’ll be moving slow so you can catch up with us along the route (click the route map above to view an enlarged image).

👉 RSVP here to let us know if you’ll be joining us – while not required, this will help us prepare enough materials for everyone and know to expect you. Hope you can join us!

Join the Walk Audit Series!

Ben Bruno

We’re excited to host three walk audits in the coming weeks and months, supported by an AARP Community Challenge microgrant. These events are open to all, and we’d love your input.

A walk audit is a community-led stroll through a neighborhood to observe and document how safe, accessible, and welcoming our streets and sidewalks are for people of all ages and abilities. Together, we’ll identify opportunities for improvement—from crosswalk visibility to sidewalk conditions to traffic calming—and gather insights that can inform future advocacy and planning like the Roslindale Transportation Action Plan.

 

Upcoming Walk Audits

#1: Washington St Corridor (Adams Park to Archdale Rd)
📅 Saturday, August 23rd
🕥 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

 

#2: Adams Park + Roslindale Square Area
📅 Wednesday, September 17th
🕞 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

 

#3: Cummins Highway (Adams Park to Sarah Roberts Elementary School)
📅 Wednesday, October 15th
🕞 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

 

👉 RSVP here to let us know which walk audits you plan to join. While RSVPs aren’t required, they’ll help us prepare enough materials for everyone.

Hope you can join us!

 

This initiative is made possible by the AARP Community Challenge, a grant program that funds quick-action projects to help communities become more livable for people of all ages. It’s part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative. Learn more at AARP.org/Livable.