Join your Roslindale neighbors and City Council President Michelle Wu for a screening of “This Changes Everything” — a documentary film about the effects that climate change is having on real people, in real places, today. Following the film will be a brief conversation about how to get take action for climate resiliency and adaptation in Boston, including efforts to stop the high pressure natural gas pipeline being constructed in neighboring West Roxbury.
WalkUP Roslindale is joining with all of its allies in the Vision Zero Coalition to encourage everyone to turn out for a major Rally for Safer Streets. We will gather at City Hall Plaza on September 29, 2016, from 6pm-7pm to demand meaningful steps toward the Vision Zero goal of truly safe streets. Recent crashes and fatalities in Roslindale illustrate that progress has been much too slow and it’s time to turbocharge the movement. Facebook RSVP here, more details below. Spread the word! Read More
We (your co-hosts, Alan Wright and Matt Lawlor) were honored with the presence and commentary of Nina Brown from the Arboretum Park Conservancy, who spoke about APC’s efforts on extending the Blackwell Path, and from Matthew Jordan (Director of Finance) and Andrew Gapinski (Manager of Horticulture) from the Arnold Arboretum, who gave us a sense of the Arboretum’s perspective and continued support for the RAGP concept. Peter Sutton, from MassDOT Planning, represented the LandLine Coalition.
We started at the northern end of the Blackwell Path, across from Forest Hills station, and wound our way down the Blackwell Path, its proposed extension route, and then up Peters Hill and into the densely-wooded MBTA property adjacent to the Needham Line tracks to the shelter at the southern end. We owe special thanks to Peter and key MBTA staff, especially Mark Boyle (Director of Real Estate), for allowing us to access this portion of the route on very short notice. We concluded our tour at the recently-installed bike corral on Cohasset Street in Roslindale Square, which is getting brisk use along with the adjacent parklet. We look forward to more opportunities to walk/bike the proposed Gateway Path route with neighbors and friends from Roslindale and around the region.
After many months of effort and advocacy, Roslindale is finally getting its first bicycle corral, to be installed near Fornax Bakery at 27 Corinth Street. The corral is fashioned out of recycled shipping pallets and steel pipe and will be stationed alongside the Fornax parklet. It will be dedicated to Roslindale resident and prolific bicycle advocate George Ulrich, who passed away earlier this year. George was a stalwart of Rozzie Bikes and frequently staffed the free bike repair and bike information tent at the RVMS Farmers Market.
Aside from bringing much-needed bike parking to the village, the corral will also send a message to everyone that bikes are welcome, and that we are willing to put our money where our mouth is and start investing in real infrastructure for active transportation. This is one step of many that are needed to achieve our vision of making Roslindale the most walkable neighborhood in Boston.
To achieve our goal of making Rozzie the most walkable neighborhood in Boston, we need to seize every opportunity to speak up. We are leading some efforts ourselves (such as the Gateway Path initiative) but others require attention, leadership, and vision from our Mayor and City Councilors. Two upcoming events present opportunities to be heard on important walkability issues:
Mayor Walsh recently announced the dates for his 2016 “coffee hour” series, where the Mayor will visit each neighborhood to hear from residents. All participants will enjoy coffee[1] and breakfast provided by Dunkin’ Donuts and fresh fruit from Whole Foods. In addition, each family in attendance will receive a flowering plant grown in the city’s greenhouses and a raffle prize from Dunkin. The Roslindale event is this coming Wednesday, May 18 at Adams Park, from 9:30am-10:30am. Show up and tell the Mayor we need safer streets for walkers, better transit and bicycle infrastructure, improved parks, and the like!
The City Council hearing on the city’s Vision Zero efforts is scheduled for this coming Monday, May 16th, at 3pm in the Iannella Chamber, 5th Floor, City Hall. The order for hearing was sponsored by Councilor Matt O’Malley. The docket to be discussed is item 0509, “order for a hearing regarding traffic calming measures and the Vision Zero Boston program.” Show up to testify if you can; written comments may also be made part of the record and available to all councilors by sending them to ccc.prt@nullboston.gov and daniel.shea@nullboston.gov.
Footnotes (↵ returns to text)
Speaking of coffee: Roslindale just took a big step up, going from zero to two full-blown coffee shops. Both P.S. Gourmet Coffee and the Green T Coffee Shop opened in the past week or so. Be sure to visit both by foot or bicycle and welcome them to the neighborhood!↵
We’re now ready for the fourth installment in The Roslindale Village (Walkable) Film Series. Next up is Burning Greed: Arson, Profit and Murder in the Fenway. This film is about greed, corruption, and the brave group of community activists determined to save their neighborhood and themselves..
Tonight’s Roslindale Gateway Path Visioning session was a smashing success. The turnout was extraordinary, filling the large double-room meeting space in the Roslindale Community Center just about to capacity. In addition to many people who live, work, and play in Roslindale and adjacent neighborhoods (including notably JP and West Roxbury), several city councilors, state legislators, and state agencies (including the MBTA and MassDOT) sent representatives who actively participated in the event. The meeting reflected tremendous energy and enthusiasm for the project, and sparked many new ideas and concepts that we and our collaborators at Tufts and the Livable Streets Alliance will be synthesizing over the coming weeks.
In the meantime, a snapshot from the beginning of the meeting, as people were still streaming in:
Attendees at Gateway Path Visioning Meeting
And now that we’ve had the world premier at tonight’s session, a special feature: drone footage of the first segment of the proposed route, starting at the Roslindale Village Commuter Rail station. Thanks to Larry McInnes for shooting, directing, and cinematography, and Alan Wright for starring in this motion picture:
Finally, the event was well covered on social media. Sampling of recent tweets below.
Tweets about Gateway Path Visioning Session
Finally, an after-event photo of many of the organizers, presenters, facilitators, along with some WalkUP Roslindale Steering Committee members:
Gateway Path Visioning Session Organizers, Presenters, and Facilitators
WalkUP Roslindale ally Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association is hosting a visioning session regarding the South and Walter Street Corridor on Thursday, April 7, 2016 from 7pm-9pm at the Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre Street. South and Walter Streets connect Centre Street near Bellevue, West Roxbury at one end back to Centre Street adjacent the Arboretum and Faulkner Hospital at the other end, cutting through one of a densely populated, mostly residential, area of our neighborhood. These streets were historically designed (or more likely re-designed in the car era) to move cars quickly with little concern for pedestrian safety, walkability, and quality of life. There have been some small recent improvements but much remains to be done to reclaim this important corridor. Please show up and share your views!
Join your Roslindale neighbors and City Council President Michelle Wu for a screening of “This Changes Everything” — a documentary film about the effects that climate change is having on real people, in real places, today. Following the film will be a brief conversation about how to get take action for climate resiliency and adaptation in Boston, including efforts to stop the high pressure natural gas pipeline being constructed in neighboring West Roxbury.
