Author: Matt Lawlor

Join WalkUP Roslindale at Undesign the Red line – Boston City Hall – 8:30 am on July 18, 2019

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Undesign the Red line is a collaboration between designing the WE and Enterprise Community Partners that uses an exhaustively annotated and illustrated timeline to take attendees through several decades of housing segregation by race and class across the United States. July 18th will be the last day that the exhibit will be available for public view at Boston City Hall and WalkUP Roslindale wants to make sure we don’t miss this opportunity to learn much more about the origins, practice, and continued effects of redlining in our city. Details for the morning of Thursday, July 18, are as follows:

  • Meet in Adams Park at 7:15 am
  • Walk as a group to Forest Hills Station on the Orange Line
  • Board the Orange Line approx. 7:50 am
  • Arrive at Boston City Hall approx. 8:20 am
  • All interested attendees to meet at the Bill Russell statue on City Hall Plaza at 8:30 am
  • We will then view the exhibit inside City Hall. Plan for an hour to do so.
  • Thanks!

WUR’s Preview of Issues on the 43 Lochdale Road Proposal

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The rescheduled BPDA-hosted community meeting for this 36-unit residential development is coming up on Tuesday evening, May 28, at 6:30 pm at the Menino Community Center, 125 Brookway Road.

We encourage attendance at this meeting. This will be a consequential development, located under half a mile from the end of the Orange Line, and as of now we at WalkUP Roslindale have the following concerns that we intend to raise on Tuesday evening:

1.     Parking

  • As proposed, this project is overparked. The parking ratio should be reduced from 1:1.28 to 1:1 (or less). Zero parking projects have recently been allowed in Roslindale Square, and this location is under a half mile (<10 minute walk) from Forest Hills Station (Orange Line) and steps from bus stops serviced by a dozen bus routes. Excessive parking will induce car ownership and car use, moving our neighborhood and our city away from the mode shift and greenhouse gas reduction goals to which we have committed. Reducing the amount of parking also has direct implications for the next issue.

2.     Affordability

  • The space saved from the above parking recommendations should be used to increase overall unit count and the number of affordable units.
  • Parking should be unbundled from the residential units to increase affordability.
  • We are aware that RISE’s Housing Justice group will be particularly focused on pushing the developer to increase both the percentage of affordable units and the level of affordability offered. We support RISE Housing Justice on these related issues and will make our views known at the meeting.

3.     Environment

  • Environmental cleanup/remediation appears to be needed on the proposed project site. While we recognize that environmental cleanup is not specifically a zoning issue, we do want to hear what the developer has to say both about what they have found and how they intend to deal with it.
  • Although the project has dropped below the Large Project Review threshold and is technically required to meet only building code-based green building requirements, we would support a call for this project to exceed those standards and approach Net Zero/Zero Plus/LEED standards.

4.     Surrounding Neighborhood

  • The developer should assist financially with ongoing efforts around the Roslindale Gateway Path/Arboretum Road Entrance as this will be a significant amenity for residents of the development and the broader surrounding neighborhood.
  • The developer should provide support for the overall improvement of Lochdale Rd, Arboretum Rd and Kitson Rd (the private way running along the site, parallel to Washington St). The developer’s application mentions a “9-foot walkway/bike path to be created as part of the project” on Kitson Rd. We would like to hear more about what is contemplated here.

Birch Street Pop-Up Plaza This Week – Runs Tuesday through Sunday (30 April-3 May 2019)

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We here at WalkUP Roslindale are just simply awed at the progress that RVMS and the Birch Street merchants have been making on seeing what can be made of the one-block section of Birch between Corinth and Belgrade. Following up on last year’s series of Open Birch Saturdays during June, they’re plunging even further ahead and, as part of the city’s new pilot program for tactical public realm interventions and in cooperation with A Better City and architects Merritt Chase, we will see the first fruits of their labor this week. Check out the facebook page and let the world (or at least the world on facebook) know that you’ll be stopping by to enjoy a little bit more of our city that is being repurposed for people instead of vehicles. It’ll be worth your while — and remember, we’re not closing this part of Birch to anyone, we’re opening it fully to everyone — so, feel free to walk around, sit, read, enjoy, converse in this bit of our neighborhood, and, if you like it, support making it permanent.

Robert Street Bridge Meeting TOMORROW (Monday, 29 April 2019)

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We encourage everyone to attend the Robert Street Bridge replacement project’s public meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, 29 April 2019, at 6:30 pm at the Roslindale Community Center (6 Cummins Highway). There should be an opportunity to influence the final design of the project as well as learn more about what the MBTA has planned for the construction period and how it will affect both access to Robert Street and Roslindale Square as well as service on the Needham Line. [NOTE: Photo courtesy Universal Hub.]

Organizing Meeting for West Roxbury Walking Advocacy Group Scheduled – April 30, 2019

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In the wake of the driver-on-pedestrian crash on Centre Street in West Roxbury that took the life of neighborhood resident Marilyn Wentworth, there has been a renewed focus on how to make West Roxbury safer for the most vulnerable users of its streets. While much of this focus will be on addressing Centre Street and its manifest problems in the near-term, this is really a neighborhood-wide (indeed, a city-wide) problem. To that end, working with our friends at WalkBoston and walking safety advocates in West Roxbury convened by West Roxbury Main Streets, we’re happy to spread word of a “Ped 101” training and organizing meeting to be held at the Area E-5 Police Station’s community room on Tuesday, April 30, at 6:30 pm. Details can be found at the event’s facebook page. We hope to see you and many of our friends from West Roxbury there and then!!

*** UPDATED *** WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative – Session 3 – ACTIVATED for 4 March 2019

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This one seems to have been more along the lines of 10-12″ (25-30cm). This morning’s locations are done (thanks!). Here are the ones for this afternoon:

HP Avenue/Cummins Highway (NE corner) – Monday, 4 March 2019, 2:00 pm (Organizer: Nick Ward).

Washington Street/Cornell Street – Monday, 4 March 2019, 5:00 pm (Organizer: Sarah Kurpiel Lee)

Washington Street/Blue Ledge – Monday, 4 March 2019, 5:00 pm (Organizer: Rob Orthman)

Participation Guidelines – Bring your own equipment (shovels, spades) and materials (ice melt) if you feel healthy and up to it. Find the organizers at the above locations at the stipulated dates/times and make sure to give them your name and email address so we can log you in for RVMS Rozzie Bucks for taking part. Thanks!!!

WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative is ON – See below re dates/times/locations [UPDATE RE CUMMINS/HP AV.]

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With 4″ (10cm) + of fluffy snow having fallen with this storm, we are hereby activating the Collaborative. Note the principal locations/organizers/dates/times below. Thanks!

Washington & Cornell Streets – Friday, 1 March 2019, 12:00 pm (Organizer: Sarah Kurpiel Lee)

Roslindale Community Center (Washington & Cummins) – Friday, 1 March 2019, 7:00 am (Organizer: Steve Gag)

Hyde Park Avenue/Cummins Highway – Thursday, 28 February 2019, 12:30 pm (Organizer: Nick Ward)

Walter & South Streets (front of Green T) – Friday, 1 March 2019, 7:00 am (Organizer: Matt Lawlor)

Participation Guidelines – Bring your own equipment (shovels, spades) and materials (ice melt) if you feel healthy and up to it. Find the organizers at the above locations at the stipulated dates/times and make sure to give them your name and email address so we can log you in for RVMS Rozzie Bucks for taking part. Thanks!!!

Stand by for the go/no go on the Roslindale Snow Collaborative – We will post tomorrow morning (28 Feb 2019) at 8 am.

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Most likely gathering times will be either tomorrow evening or Friday. Stay tuned. Thanks!

No activation of the WUR Snow Clearance Collaborative Today (18 Feb 2019) – Snowfall not sufficient

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This snowfall was again under the 4″ (10 cm) mark, so we’re not going to activate the SCC. We still encourage everyone to pitch in and help where and how you can!

More of this please: District 6 Councilor Matt O’Malley to hold MBTA office hours – 19 Feb 2019

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This is a welcome new way to communicate with constituents that we hope catches on for all of our councilors (also recognizing that Councilor Wu has been directly communicating through social media about her personal MBTA experiences for some time now). According to Go Boston 2030, the transit mode share for Roslindale residents’ work trips exceeds 25%, so this appears to be a great investment of the councilor’s time and a way to meet and take the pulse of this substantial slice of the neighborhood (a portion of which Councilor O’Malley does represent). We encourage everyone to attend, and tell us how it went in the comments!