Month: March 2018

New Hubway (“Blue Bike”) Locations Announced in Roslindale

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The Boston area’s bike share program (which will soon be known as Blue Bike) just published its proposed locations for its upcoming expansion. We are delighted to see several spots in and around Roslindale Village. Importantly, this infrastructure investment will allow people who live nearby to get to and from the shopping district, the commuter rail, and bus stops, with a 5 minute bike ride who might previously have driven. It should also increase access to and from the neighbor from nearby areas, especially Forest Hills which will soon have thousands of new residents. When paired with the Gateway Path, the new bike share locations will greatly improve our connections with our neighbors.

Be sure to take the survey (once it becomes available–at the time of this posting Survey F is marked as “coming soon”) to provide your feedback, and leave comments on the post. The Roslindale locations are shown below — an “a” and “b” spot number reflect alternatives, click through for a larger version:

Proposed Roslindale Bikeshare Locations
Proposed Roslindale Bikeshare Locations

And here’s the whole map of proposed locations:

A short video on how municipalities should manage their central asset – land

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

Offered essentially without commentary, other than to say that a central city like ours has what amounts to both a moral and fiscal obligation to its citizens to plan, regulate for, and choose more intense, higher return use of its land base every time the opportunity arises unless there is an overriding, demonstrable ecological or social reason not to do so. This is another reason to YIMBY/QIMBY.

WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative Version 1.5 – It may well happen!

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

Friends,based on Boston Yeti’s latest observed movements, it looks like we will be called once more to rise up and clear snow for our neighbors come Thursday morning. Stay tuned here for more details as the storm event unfolds in the next 24+ hours. In the meantime, be safe and keep on keeping on, just like the Yeti.

Yours truly, The WUR Management.

“Kids need safe streets” – Video from Brooklyn Rally

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

Powerful video here on a well-attended march to protest traffic violence from Brooklyn, where 2 young children were killed last week while walking in a crosswalk with their mothers by a reckless driver with a long history of moving violations, including speeding in school zones, though this crash occurred at a regular crosswalk. Considering what has happened in our city and region recently, we need to consider, seriously and candidly, whether we are doing enough to stop traffic violence and protect everyone on our streets – every senior, every child, every person with mobility issues, and, really, every single one of us – who isn’t in a motor vehicle. I’m afraid that the answer is no. We must do more and we most do it more quickly. I’m with the commenter who says they don’t want safety changes to wait until the next tragedy. We need them everywhere now. Now. NOW.

Two personal notes: (1) Park Slope, where the most recent tragedy occurred, happens to be the neighborhood I grew up in; and (2) folks who have worked with LivableStreets Alliance over the last couple of years will recognize Nidhi Gulati, who recently relocated to NY, at about the 4:00 mark in the video.

Next “Blue Bikes” (f/k/a Hubway) Roslindale Meeting set for April 12, 2018 6pm-8pm at RCC

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Hubway LogoIn case you missed it, Boston’s trusty Hubway bike share program is getting a new name, a makeover, and (hopefully) a substantial expansion. The City of Boston has partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts for the rebranding (and sponsorship). Of particular interest to WalkUP Roslindale folks should be the upcoming “open house” to discuss the planned bike share location(s) in Roslindale, set for Thursday, April 12, 2018, 6pm-8pm at the Roslindale Community Center, 6 Cummins Highway. Hope to see you there!

IT IS ON: WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative Version 1.4

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

We have already exceeded the 4″ (10.2 cm) benchmark for being called into action, so WURSCC v. 1. 4 is very much on for this evening and we will be looking to clear key bus stops at HP/Cummins and in/around Roslindale Square in anticipation of getting back to business and school tomorrow.

Accordingly: Meet either

(i) Rob Guptill TONIGHT, March 13 @ 7:30 pm, at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Cummins Highway (RCC); or

(ii) Matt Lawlor TONIGHT, March 13 @ 7:30 pm, at the northwest corner of Hyde Park Avenue and Cummins Highway (Atlas Liquors).

Please dress warmly and bring your own snow/ice clearance equipment and supplies (shovels, picks, icemelt, etc.) to the extent you can. Thanks and hope to see you there tomorrow morning to do some more community service this winter.

UPDATED: WE ARE A GO – WalkUP Roslindale Key Bus Stop Clearance Version 1.3 (Ros Sq TONIGHT 7 pm, HP/Cummins TOMORROW 7 am)

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

Snowfall from last night/this morning’s storm has exceeded our 4″ (10.2 cm) benchmark, so we are going to check on and, if necessary, clear our identified key bus stops:

Accordingly: Meet either

(i) Rob Guptill TONIGHT, March 8 @ 7:00 pm, at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Cummins Highway (RCC).

(ii) Matt Lawlor TOMORROW, March 9 @ 7:00 am, at the northwest corner of Hyde Park Avenue and Cummins Highway (Atlas Liquors); or

Please dress warmly and bring your own snow/ice clearance equipment and supplies (shovels, picks, icemelt, etc.) to the extent you can. Thanks and hope to see you there tomorrow morning to do some more community service this winter!