The letter pretty much speaks for itself and puts several points out there demonstrating that we really can’t wait any longer for progress on major projects in our neighborhood:
Category: Government
Concerns mounting at the Boston Globe (!) on where the city is (or isn’t) heading on street safety – with feedback solicited…
Monday really was quite the day in the regional paper of record when it comes to safety on this city’s streets:
To begin with, the Boston Globe’s editorial board took formal notice of what has definitely been apparent for some time – the entire street safety agenda in the city of Boston was put on hold over a year ago and, despite some highly isolated movement (on Rutherford Avenue, for example and for very specific reasons), there is no indication on the ground that that hold is being lifted: Wu backed off bike lanes last year. Now what?
And then, the Globe’s deputy editor Alan Wirzbicki drove the point home and actually openly solicited direct email feedback to alan.wirzbicki@globe.com on whether the mayor “overcorrected” on the deep freeze of the last year: Wu isn’t the bike lane mayor anymore, but what about the rest of the safe streets agenda?
Far be it from us to nod our heads with the Globe too often, but they have put their finger on a real concern about what is, or more plainly, isn’t happening in this city to make our streets safer for everyone who needs or wants to use them. We accordingly encourage our supporters to reach out to Alan and give him your feedback. It should of course surprise no one, but your correspondent is firmly in the “overcorrected” camp and hopes fervently that the freeze thaws quickly this spring. The best time to make our streets safer and more welcoming to everyone was yesterday; the next best time is today, and to answer Alan briefly here, I would absolutely expect speed humps to be first on the list of what starts up again. I too want one speed hump (two really) on my short block in Roslindale and know that many, many of my neighbors feel the same. I mean, in all candor, what’s the substantive issue on speed humps? They’re inexpensive, easily installed, don’t remove any parking spaces, and are simply very, very effective at getting drivers to avoid dangerous speeding, which is the absolute key to safety for everyone outside a motor vehicle, as you can see from the above chart – slow the vehicles down, and everybody has a much higher chance of survival no matter what happens. Speaking only for myself, I’d really like my city to take demonstrably effective steps to improve everyone’s chances of getting around and getting home every day safely. If we can’t find a way to implement speed humps again, one has to wonder how we can expect to get anything done.
City Council hearing on snow clearance tomorrow – 2 pm Boston City Hall – Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Tomorrow afternoon, 3rd March 2026, at 2:00 pm, the City Council’s Committee on Public Services will hold a hearing in the Iannella Chamber, 5th Floor, Boston City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts 02201, on snow removal relief, the creation of a snow corps, and the purchasing of snow melters. Information on attending the hearing and testifying in person as well as submitting written testimony can be found HERE. It’s been the snowiest winter in a decade and we’ve all seen how difficult the snowfall and the largely auto-focused clearance thereafter has made getting around on foot, by bike, and on transit that much harder than it normally is. Our snow clearance collaborative has tried to shine an active, lead-by-example light on the issues, but tomorrow’s offers a chance to tell the city what you really think. Don’t pass up the chance to talk about your experience over the last month-plus of blocked intersection/crosswalk ramps and plowed in bus stop and bike lanes.
10 years in and still at it!
Yes, you read that right. WalkUP Roslindale are now in our eleventh year of pro-housing and pro-walk, -bike, and -transit advocacy. We announced this venture, which started out as the brainchild of Adam Kessel and your correspondent, in the spring of 2015 with the following post:
We were simply a group of neighbors who came together to try to make, as Adam indicated, Roslindale “the most walkable neighborhood in all of Boston.” We’ve come quite a way over the last decade, including formally incorporating as a non-profit in the fall of 2021 and availing ourselves of the generous fiscal sponsorship of Roslindale Village Main Street in the process. According to wordpress, we’ve also posted a total of 517 times in those years (this post will be #518). The principal through-lines have, at least from my perspective, been (1) comment letters on new projects in the neighborhood, whether focused on new development or supportive infrastructure for walking, cycling, and transit; (2) support for planning, seeking funding, and implementing the Roslindale Gateway Path with collaborative support from, among many others, the Arnold Arboretum, the Arboretum Park Conservancy, the Solomon Foundation, LivableStreets Alliance, and the City of Boston’s Parks and Transportation Departments; and (3) supporting the fundamental restructuring of the city’s regulatory system to get way from our decades-old, painfully slow development by variance approach to reform-based, pro-housing approaches such as Squares + Streets. Herewith the first or most emblematic post from this website in each of those areas:
First Official WalkUP Roslindale Comment Letter – 100 Weld Street
We’re grateful for all of the support we’ve seen along the way so far and look forward to the next decade of advocating for a better, safer, and more welcoming neighborhood!
Speak Up for a Safer Hyde Park Ave: City Council Hearing Oct. 6
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.
4259-4267 Washington Street (Phase 1 of the former BofA site redevelopment) – Public Meeting on Monday, 20 October 2025
Just a quick note for interested and supportive folks in our neighborhood that the Small Project Review public meeting on the BBH proposal has been announced by the Boston Planning Department for Monday, 20 October 2025, at 6 pm. It will be over zoom and you can get information on the meeting and register HERE. Hope to see you there to support this ground-floor commercial and certificated, fast-track all-affordable residential proposal that represents the first phase of B’nai B’rith Housing’s redevelopment of the former Bank of America site and requires no zoning relief.
Boston Climate Action Plan – Draft 2 – Feedback period ends 30 September 2025 (this Tuesday)!
The second draft of the city’s Climate Action Plan 2025 – which will guide the City through the next 5 years of efforts to reduce our collective carbon emissions and keep on track to hit a 50% drop from 2005 levels for community-wide emissions by 2030 (60% for municipal government emissions) and full carbon neutrality at a 100% drop from those levels by 2050 – has been available since the summer and the feedback period closes on this coming Tuesday, 30 September 2025. You can offer feedback by going HERE. The final draft is expected to be released in early 2026 with adoption/effectiveness in the spring. So, check out the plan and offer your feedback on what our city will be doing in the next 5 years to combat what is and remains the environmental challenge on this and at least the next several generations.
Given our twin focuses of being pro-housing and pro-walk, -bike, and -transit, we would direct your attention to the building and transportation sections of the plan.
For example, in the building section, steps such as streamlining permitting for de-carbonization of buildings, supporting housing stability through building upgrades, and support for affordable housing decarbonization are among what the city is considering.
For transportation, the actions include steps such a broad range of transit improvements (including Zone 1A regional rail citywide), encouraging safer walking and biking through infrastructure improvements that improve connections and reducing motor vehicle driving speeding (continuing the city’s mission toward Vision Zero by 2030), and planning for density and zoning for walkability (we have some recent experience on that here in Roslindale). Have at it by Tuesday!
New City Initiative Alert – “Spaces for You”
In line with the way the Wu Administration has been seeking to emphasize systemic planning instead of project-based development review, they’re now out with a new initiative on public spaces they’re calling “Spaces for You” and which they describe at a very high level as follows:
Spaces For You is a collaborative and proactive initiative by the City of Boston to co-create, enhance, and celebrate public outdoor spaces that foster joy, belonging, and well-being for all residents. It seeks to bridge the gap between community needs and city resources, knitting together public and privately generated open spaces to create vibrant social places for all.
The project page can be found here and note that there’s a brief survey in which they’re seeking some initial feedback. Go ahead and let them know what you think!
District 5 City Council Candidate Forum – 8 July 2025 – 7 pm – Via Zoom
We’re happy to be among the co-sponsors for the upcoming District 5 City Council Candidates Forum to be held a week from tomorrow via zoom. The registration link can be found HERE. We’d be delighted if you could attend. Thanks!
Roslindale Squares & Streets – Boston Zoning Commission Hearing on Deck – Wednesday, 21 May 2025, at 9:00 am – ADOPTED! UPDATE BELOW
The Boston Zoning Commission is set to hold their public hearing starting at about 9 am on this coming Wednesday, 21 May 2025, on the zoning text and map amendments developed through the small area planning process here in Roslindale Square over the course of the last year-plus.
LINK HERE: BZC agenda and information on how to register.
We encourage supporters of the proposed zoning changes to attend and offer testimony at the hearing, which will be over zoom, if at all possible. Whether you can make it or not, we also encourage you to submit supportive written comments to the Boston Zoning Commission’s Secretary, Jeffrey Hampton, at their official email address of zoningcommission@boston.gov. We’re going to submit our WalkUP Roslindale comment letter around the time of the BPDA Board vote last month. Hope to see many supporters on hand on Wednesday morning and here’s a LINK to a helpful tool that was put together for the BPDA Board meeting, but is also very helpful for preparing for the hearing and submitting your written support in advance!
UPDATE:
As first reported by Universal Hub (“Denser zoning approved for Roslindale Square”), the Roslindale Squares & Streets zoning amendments – both text and map – were adopted by the Boston Zoning Commission at their hearing this past Wednesday morning by a unanimous vote of 11 in favor, 0 against. As we have said many times, deep thanks go to the mayor and her administration, especially the folks at the Boston Planning Department, who worked tirelessly over the last 15 months to solicit feedback, develop the small area plan, and then craft zoning amendments to meet this moment in our neighborhood and city. Now we will all get to see what kinds of improvements and projects the new zoning will engender. Onward!