We’d like to take this opportunity to promote the annual “Empty Bowls” event, this Sunday, March 24, from 3pm-7pm at the Roslindale Substation. All proceeds go to local food banks. Come for live music, friends, delicious soup, and take home a handmade bowl. You can also purchase a craft beer from 67 Degrees Brewing. The Boston Latin School Jazz Combo will begin at 3 pm, Bookmatch Ramblers starting at 4pm, and a classical music jam session hosted by Boston Public Quartet starting at 5 pm. Advance tickets and more details are available at this event page. Please spread the word!
In contrast to the full shutdown back in 2022 that, in hindsight, was sadly much less than met the eye, the MBTA are doing a partial shutdown of the line from Jackson Square to North Station for the next four days – Monday through Thursday, the 18th through the 21st of March 2024. Our friends over at Streetsblog MASS have the details, emphasizing that this is part of the ongoing, largely successful thus far, year-long effort to eliminate all slow zones on the core rail transit system. The major highlights are as follows:
There will be free shuttle bus service that will make stops at all of the stations between Jackson Square and Back Bay, so that riders can take the Commuter Rail toward South Station.
Shuttles will also stop at Copley station so that riders can take the Green Line toward North Station.
The fare gates will be open at both Jackson Square and Back Bay stations, signifying free fare. There will also be free fares at Copley station heading inbound/eastbound.
The Commuter Rail will be free between Forest Hills, Ruggles, Back Bay, and South Station.
Plan extra time in commutes to anticipate longer than normal wait times for trains.
We’ve bolded the free Commuter Rail option because Ruggles is ideally situated right in the middle of the shuttle portion of the closure and it’ll be a free ride from Forest Hills all the way into South Station for the period of the shutdown. That really looks like the best overall alternative transit-based travel option. We also want to note that Boston Bikes have been leading bike commuting convoys on the Mondays of this month, starting at 8:00 am at Adams Park in Roslindale Square with stops at Green Street (8:20 am) and Jackson Square (8:30 am) before ending at City Hall Plaza. The return trip in the afternoon starts at 5:15 pm from City Hall Plaza and retraces the morning’s inbound route in reverse. So, see you all there at 8:00 am tomorrow at Adams Park and we’ll see if we can get Boston Bikes to sponsor convoys for the following 3 days of the shutdown. Stay tuned! UPDATE: Boston Bikes have agreed to lead the convoy again tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th, but that will be it for this week.
The BPDA is hosting an open house to officially kick off the 6-9 month planning and engagement process for the Roslindale Square Squares + Streets plan! At this event, community members can learn more about the Squares + Streets planning & zoning processes while helping us understand their priorities, history, and hopes for Roslindale Square.
Childcare, translation services in Haitian Creole and Spanish, and light refreshments will be provided for meeting attendees. Please note that on-site childcare will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis with limited capacity.
Pre-registration is encouraged (especially important if weather causes this in-person event to be shifted to zoom since the link will be provided to registered attendees).
We encourage attendance by anyone interested in making Roslindale Square a more welcoming, connected, and active place while helping to combat the housing crisis in our neighborhood, city, and region. We hope to see you there!
If you support the program’s goals and objectives and want to see it move forward and succeed as it proceeds through initial floating zone adoption to small area planning efforts and then action plans and targeted rezoning, we encourage you to attend, in person (the only option we’re aware of right now), and make your support known.
Well, another year has come and gone and we here at WalkUP Roslindale thought we should pause as the new year gets underway to look back at what seem to us to be major stories/events/improvements to our neighborhood and/or city that would be worth remembering, so:
In May, along with everyone else in Boston, we welcomed the Boston Transportation Department’s “safety surge”as they declared the end of eye-droppering street improvements and, among other things, marked the end of the Hunger Games-like Neighborhood Slow Streets program and pointed to a massive, city-wide program to install 500 speed humps per year for the foreseeable future. This was and is a big deal.
In July, we co-hosted a District 5 City Council Candidate Forum with Progressive West Roxbury/Roslindale, the Forum for Racial Equity via Educational Experiences in Hyde Park, Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, Keep Hyde Park Beautiful, Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association, RozzieBikes, and the Ward 18 Democratic Committee.
We’re pleased to announce that, on Sunday, 10 December 2023, at 5 pm at the Substation (Upstairs) in Roslindale Square, we will be hosting a presentation from representatives of the Boston Planning & Development Agency on their recently-launched Squares + Streets planning and zoning initiative. The top-line description of the initiative from the BPDA webpage reads as follows:
Squares + Streets, a new planning and zoning initiative that will focus on housing, public space, arts and culture, and transit in neighborhood centers and along main streets.
We are looking to enhance small areas that are near transit and already provide essential goods and services for local residents, businesses, and visitors.
Squares + Streets will:
Focus on housing, public space, cultural amenities, transit assets etc. that reflect the unique needs of each area
Develop a number of Small Area Plans in 6–9 month timeframes that are shorter, more intentional, more transparent, and more predictable
This project is meant to complement and support Design Vision and Zoning Reform work.
What are Squares + Streets?
Squares + Streets are centers for activity within a neighborhood. They are often important places of gathering that connect residents to essential goods, transit options, services, and job opportunities.
Planning for Squares + Streets is one of the first steps towards what citywide zoning reform might look like. By focusing on key squares and streets across the city, our goal is to develop high-impact, short-term recommendations for areas that can be implemented through zoning.
Squares + Streets will focus on centers of activity in neighborhoods.
What are small area plans?
Small Area Plans will zoom in on specific squares and streets throughout Boston’s neighborhoods to make detailed, action-oriented plans. They will focus on the local level and are not neighborhood wide.
Small Area Plans will support housing growth, and provide investment opportunities supported by city services in our neighborhoods.
Once completed, each Small Area Plan will outline near-term implementation actions such as:
Modified zoning to support housing and healthy business districts
Infrastructure projects to address transportation and public space needs
Programs and funding to promote small businesses and arts and culture
At our annual meeting a week ago Sunday, 17 September 2023, we were pleased to elect 2 new board members, return several other existing board members for full 3-year terms and re-appoint our executive committee team for another year, such that the full board and EC team for the next year is as follows:
Ricardo Austrich – 2024
Lisa Beatman – 2026
Benjamin Bruno – 2025
Jason Bylsma – 2026
Devin Cole – 2025
Steven Gag – 2026
Elizabeth Graham-Meredith – 2024
James Guerrier – 2026 (NEW MEMBER)
Adam Kessel – 2024 (Vice President)
Nikki Kong – 2024 (NEW MEMBER)
Matthew Lawlor – 2026 (President)
Sarah Kurpiel Lee – 2025
Margaux Leonard – 2024
Elvira Mora – 2025
Mandana Moshtaghi – 2024 (Treasurer)
Robert Orthman – 2024
Kathryn Ostrofsky – 2026 (Clerk)
Courtney Pong – 2026
Adam Rogoff – 2025
Adam Shutes – 2025
Mark Tedrow – 2025
Marc Theiss – 2026
Greg Tobin – 2024
Muge Undemir – 2025
Alan Wright – 2026
As always, our corporate formation documentation and our 2023 annual report to the MA Secretary of the Commonwealth’s corporations division can be found on their website HERE. Note that we are officially incorporated as “Walkable Urban Place Roslindale, Inc.,” with a d/b/a of WalkUP Roslindale. Thanks all!
