Author: Ben Bruno

Safe Streets Rally and Hearing this Wednesday 4/22

Ben Bruno

As the Globe has reported, safe streets projects across the city have been halted with no clear explanation, even losing existing funding. Please join WalkUP Roslindale along with other advocates, city councilors, and fellow residents for a rally and coordinated presence at the City Council hearing this Wednesday, April 22 at 2:00 pm. Boston’s street safety and transportation projects are stalled, and we need a strong public turnout.

Rally at 1:15 pm

@ City Hall Plaza at the Government Center entrance preceding the hearing

Our asks to the City are clear:

  • Provide real, time bound updates on all transportation projects and identify which ones are moving, paused, or at risk.
  • Restart the speed hump safety surge and commit to installation numbers and timing for this year.
  • Give advance notice of barrier removals and specify replacement materials, with durable options prioritized.
  • Reestablish regular engagement with residents and advocates.
  • Fill permanent leadership and staffing roles in the Streets Cabinet.

 

City Council Hearing at 2:00pm

Three ways to weigh in:

All enter the record, though in person is the most effective (but written or virtual is better than nothing).

1. In person: Arrive by 1:55 PM at Iannella Chamber, 5th Floor, Boston City Hall. Prepare a 2 mins testimony sharing your own personal experience and support for safe streets. Details matter.

2. Via Zoom: Email shane.pac@boston.gov in advance to sign up and get the link. You’ll get two minutes on a video call.

3. Written testimony: Email ccc.plandev@boston.gov and shane.pac@boston.gov. A few personal sentences about Hyde Park Ave or other corridors go a long way — please don’t just copy-paste generic text.

 

If you care about safe, walkable, neighborhoods, now is the time to show up and speak up. See you Wednesday.

Comment Letter on 4301 Washington Street

Ben Bruno

Today, we submitted a comment letter supporting the proposed development at 4301 Washington Street in Roslindale. The Proposed Project strongly aligns with the objectives of the Squares + Streets rezoning initiative. Replacing a vacant building with 16 new dwelling units, three of which will be IDP units, on a transit-served parcel within walking distance of a broad variety of retail and service uses in the immediate vicinity, as well as Roslindale Square represents an appropriate and beneficial use of land. This project will help address the city’s acute housing shortage while welcoming new neighbors who can support nearby small businesses and contribute to the vitality of the nearby square.

Read our full letter.

Comments from the public are due today (4/9), so please submit your comments right away!

Comment letter on 3841 Washington Street

Ben Bruno

Yesterday, we submitted our comment letter in support of a proposed development at 3841 Washington Street. We believe that this building will be a positive addition to the Roslindale community and will contribute to the supply of both affordable and market rate housing in the area. We appreciate the thoughtful sustainable design and improvement of Washington Streets’s streetscape through the addition of much needed shade trees and greenery, as well as the expansion of the sidewalk which includes desirable amenities for the public. Taking this large, asphalted area and converting it to a mixed-use building with a pocket park will allow the community to engage with this space in a very different way.

Read our full letter here.

TONIGHT: 3841 Washington St Public Meeting

Ben Bruno

rendering of proposed building at 3841 Washington StreetThis evening there is a public meeting for a proposed seven-story mixed-use development near Forest Hills Station and the Roslindale/Jamaica Plain border 3841 Washington St. The proposed project contains approximately 165 dwelling units, including Inclusionary Zoning units.

📅Join the Public Zoom Meeting — Tonight, Tuesday January 13th at 6:00 PM

✍️ Send a Written Comment by the January 19th deadline

Comment letter on 4487 Washington Street

Ben Bruno

We submitted our comment letter in support of a proposed development at 4487 Washington Street in Roslindale that we believe strongly aligns with the objectives of the Squares + Streets rezoning initiative. Replacing a single-family use with 28 new dwelling units on a transit-served parcel within walking distance of a broad variety of retail and service uses in the immediate vicinity as well as Roslindale Square represents an appropriate and beneficial use of land. This project will help address the city’s housing shortage while welcoming new neighbors who can support nearby small businesses and contribute to the vitality of the nearby square.

Read our full letter here.  Today is the comment deadline to submit your own comments.

4487 Washington St Public Meeting Wed 12/17 6pm

Ben Bruno

The Planning Department is hosting a Virtual Public Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday 12/17, 6:00-8:00pm for the proposed project at 4487 Washington Street, a new five-story 28-unit residential building with 12 off-street vehicle parking spaces. The site is on the southern tip of one of the new S2 zones established in Roslindale’s Squares and Streets process.

Walk Audit Series Community Meeting Wed 11/19 6:30-8pm

Ben Bruno

Please join us for our community meeting to wrap up our walk audit series! We’ll report back, discuss our findings and improvements that have already been made, and talk about next steps.

BCYF Community Center
6 Cummins Hwy, Boston, MA 02131
📅 Wednesday, November 19
🕞 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM

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.

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.