Category: Parks

A Blanket Shadow Law Would Put Transit-Accessible Housing at Risk

Ben Bruno

A petition is circulating calling on the City of Boston and the State Legislature to enact an “ironclad” shadow law for the Arnold Arboretum: a blanket ban on any new shadow falling on the Arboretum’s collection anywhere along its perimeter, modeled on the protections for Boston Common and the Public Garden.

WalkUP Roslindale believes this proposal is misguided and harmful to the public good. A categorical, perimeter‑wide shadow ban is not a reasonable response to any actual threat to the Arboretum’s collection and it would cause serious collateral damage to the city’s ability to add homes in the places where they make the most sense.

Our Position

WalkUP Roslindale supports protections for the Arboretum’s collection (many of us live near its periphery and all of us are regular visitors). These protections should be grounded in project-by-project review using the City’s existing design and permitting processes, which already evaluate shadow impacts, environmental effects, and site-specific conditions.

A perimeter‑wide shadow ban would apply uniformly around the entire boundary regardless of actual impact, scientific relevance, or proximity to sensitive plantings. It would also lock away some of Boston’s most transit‑accessible land at a time when the city urgently needs more homes near reliable transportation.

Boston should not lose future housing opportunities to a rule written to address disputes unfolding elsewhere along the Arboretum’s edge. Thoughtful, evidence‑based review, not categorical prohibition, is the right way to protect the Arboretum while ensuring the city can grow sustainably and equitably.

Building housing in transit‑rich areas should not be made infeasible by fiat

The Arboretum’s southeastern perimeter runs along Washington Street near the Forest Hills Orange Line and Commuter Rail station across the Roslindale/Jamaica Plain boundary. This stretch, home to a working mix of small businesses, light industrial uses, and some vacant and transitional parcels, has real opportunities for a substantial amount of new transit-oriented housing. A blanket rule that treats every parcel along the entire perimeter the same, regardless of a given site’s actual shadow impact, would shut down sensible development before it’s even proposed.

As an example, a proposal for a 165-unit building a short walk from Forest Hills at 3841 Washington Street recently won approval, showing what’s possible here when projects are evaluated on their own merits rather than blocked by a categorical rule. Shadow studies at this location showed minimal early morning shadows only for brief periods of time during the year.

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(Images 1-4 from 3841 Washington St supplemental filing, pp. 49–52.
Zoom in or right click-> open in new tab for maximum readability.)

Shadows from any other proposed developments on this Washington St corridor would also fall on the eastern edge of Bussey Brook Meadow, an urban wild owned by the Arboretum Conservancy that is deliberately managed with minimal intervention. The existing growth in the meadow is either wetlands or trees growing in a steep valley or along the steep slope of the Needham Heights commuter rail tracks. The rail tracks create substantial separation between possible development sites and the Bussey Brook Meadow, limiting shadows to brief early morning periods and only at certain times of year.

Stewardship of public amenities depends on nearby residents

Public amenities benefit from nearby resident stewardship. When a proposed 230-unit development at 18-22 Arboretum Road stalled in 2024, this was not only a significant loss of housing in a transit-rich location, but also a loss of residents who would have cared about the newly opened Arboretum gate and Roslindale Gateway Path. The new gate has been a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, but graffiti, litter, and illegal dumping still persist there, on Arboretum Rd, and on the adjoining Kitson Rd.

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Green spaces can be greatly enhanced and stewarded by the people who live nearby, use them, and care for them. Blocking new housing along this corridor keeps potential stewards from ever moving in, deepening the city’s worsening housing shortage in the process.

Boston needs both a healthy Arboretum and more homes near transit. We urge the City and the Legislature to reject a perimeter-wide ban so Roslindale and Jamaica Plain can keep adding the transit-accessible housing this corridor is so well suited for.

Arboretum Road Cleanup – 14 March 2026 – 10 am to 12 pm

Matt Lawlor
Photo of the new Arboretum Road Gate and southern end of the Roslindale Gateway Path
Photo Credit: Mike Mejia, City of Boston, Mayor’s Office.

We here at WalkUP Roslindale remain delighted at last fall’s completion and opening of the initial phase of the Roslindale Gateway Path from the end of the Blackwell Path to the new Arboretum Road entrance. We would like to start a tradition of spring and fall cleanups and so are kicking off with a community cleanup next Saturday, 14 March 2026, from 10 am to 12 pm. We will meet at the entrance. Please bring yourself, comfortable clothes that can get messy, gloves, and whatever cleanup implement works best for you. We will have water, light snacks, and some extra implements (likely a couple of brooms/rakes and a shovel) on hand. Hope to see you then and there!

Walk Audit #2: Adams Park + Roslindale Square Area – Wed 9/17, 3:30-5pm

Ben Bruno

The 2nd walk audit of our 2025 walk audit series is coming up next week! In this, audit we’ll be examining the heart of our Roslindale community. We’ll begin in Adams Park and walk around the Roslindale Square area, observing and documenting how safe, accessible, and welcoming the streets and sidewalks are for people of all ages and abilities. Together, we can identify opportunities for improvement.

Walk Audit #2: Adams Park + Roslindale Square Area
📅 Wednesday, September 17th
🕞 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM

map of walk audit area- Adams Park (meet here) and Roslindale Square area

👉 RSVP here to let us know if you’ll be joining us – while not required, this will help us prepare enough materials for everyone and know to expect you.

 

This initiative 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.

Arboretum Block Party this Saturday 7/19 11am-2pm!

Ben Bruno

Flyer with details about the Arboretum Rd Block Party on July 19, 2025Join the Arnold Arboretum for a Block Party on Arboretum Road this Saturday, July 19 from 11am-2pm to celebrate the new entrance to the Arboretum (Phase 1 of the Roslindale Gateway Path)! Free pizza, face painting, and more!

View the flyer in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.

Please stop by our community table to chat with us about the Roslindale Gateway Path, pedestrian improvements we’re advocating for in and around the Arboretum, and more.

Hope to see you there!

 

New City Initiative Alert – “Spaces for You”

Matt Lawlor
Visual images of use of public spaces in Boston.
Source: Boston Planning Department.

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!

Roslindale Squares & Streets – Boston Zoning Commission Hearing on Deck – Wednesday, 21 May 2025, at 9:00 am – ADOPTED! UPDATE BELOW

Matt Lawlor

Roslindale Square - Squares + Streets | Bostonplans.org

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!

Revised Squares + Streets Roslindale Square Schedule Announced!

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

As some of our readers may have heard, the City’s Planning Department are now projecting the following milestone dates on the Squares  + Streets Roslindale Square small area planning process based on current progress:

  1. Mid-October: Draft Small Area Plan for Roslindale Square study area will be released for public review (45-day comment period). The small area plan is expected to include revised recommendations that integrate public input from the Ideas Reception Survey under the following five categories: Housing+Real Estate, Small Business, Arts+Culture, Open Space, Transportation, and Land Use Framework and Design.
  2. Early November – Draft Zoning Map Amendment released for public review (30-day comment period). The map, which will be drawn based on the public input on the Land Use Framework, will illustrate parcels recommended for rezoning, and the specific Squares+Streets zoning categories recommended to be applied to those parcels.
  3. Early December –  Public comment periods end.
  4. January – BPDA Board votes on the adoption of the Plan and Zoning Map Amendment. 
  5. February/March – (Depending on the outcome of the BPDA Board vote) Zoning Commission votes to add the Zoning Map Amendment into the zoning map for Roslindale.

Here’s a helpful timeline graphic that was provided with the revised schedule:

Virtual Visioning Session for Squares + Streets – Tomorrow – 7 May 2024 @ 6-8 pm

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

The BPDA will be hosting a virtual visioning session tomorrow night, 7 May 2024, from 6 to 8 pm (Register here). The session parallels last week’s in-person session. BPDA staff describe the session as an opportunity “to collaborate with the community on generating ideas for potential planning and zoning recommendations for the Roslindale Square Squares + Streets Plan. This session will include a summary of existing conditions analysis, feedback received to-date and community visions for different topic areas, as well as hands-on activities to contribute your ideas for potential recommendations.”

More information about the session can be found here.

ATTENTION: Mayor’s Neighborhood Coffee Hour – 25 April 2024 – 9:30 am to 10:30 am in Adams Park

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

This one snuck up on us, but very much worth attending to connect with the Mayor and City staff and our neighbors. Here’s the official write-up from the city’s website:

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE HOUR – ROSLINDALE

Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department host the 2024 Neighborhood Coffee Hour Series in local parks citywide from April 22 to June 26.

Mayor Wu’s Neighborhood Coffee Hours are a unique opportunity to speak directly with the Mayor and staff from City departments about open space and their neighborhoods. Dunkin’ will be on-site to fuel the local community with freshly brewed Iced Coffee and Donuts. Dunkin’ will brew up even more fun with gift card giveaways. Residents at each event will also be eligible to win a raffle prize from Dunkin’. In addition, each family in attendance will receive a free flowering plant provided by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, while supplies last. Fresh fruit will be provided by Star Market. Additional support by City Express.

For more information and updates on possible weather cancellations, please contact the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at 617-635-4505, on our social channels @bostonparksdept on X, Facebook, and Instagram, or by visiting the Parks Department website.

One day left – Take the Squares + Streets Survey by no later than tomorrow, 29 March 2024!

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment
Squares + Streets | Boston Planning & Development Agency
Image credit: BPDA.

SURVEY LINK HERE.

Your correspondent just completed it, it’s super easy, offered in Spanish and Haitian Creole as well as English, and well worth about 5 to 10 minutes of your time. Thanks!