Category: Paths

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.

And one more thing today on transportation projects in our neighborhood – District 5 City Councilor Pepen Letter

Matt Lawlor

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:

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!

City Council hearing on snow clearance tomorrow – 2 pm Boston City Hall – Tuesday, 3 March 2026

Matt Lawlor
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.

WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative, Version 8.6 – Another big one!

Matt Lawlor
The Boston Yeti is back at it again (even he is shocked at this point)! Photo Credit: abc15 (27 Jan 2015).

We’re looking at a snowfall total on the order of at least 18″ (45.7 cm) from this significant northeaster, which is several multiples over our 4″ (10 cm) benchmark. Once again, each of us knows our part of the neighborhood and where the worst pinch points are likely to be found after a snowfall, so, once it is safe to do so, let’s take care of our neighbors by digging them out and providing safe paths of travel wherever and whenever we can. As always, anyone sending in a before-and-after set of pictures of a curb ramp, bus stop, or stretch of sidewalk or bike lane they’ve cleared will receive a $10 reward as a small expression of our deepest thanks (note: spending of these funds at a neighborhood business of your choice strongly encouraged) (those pix can be sent to matthew.j.lawlor@gmail.com). Be well everyone!

10 years in and still at it!

Matt Lawlor

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:

Welcome to WalkUP Rosindale!

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:

Housing Needed!

Rozzie Bike Corral Meeting June 10

First Official WalkUP Roslindale Comment Letter – 100 Weld Street

Boston’s Vision Zero Action Plan and sharing the Arboretum Gateway Path with our friends at LivableStreets’ 10-in-1 Street Talk

WalkUP Comment Letter on Washington Street Bus Lane

Open Letter in Support of Squares + Streets

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!

 

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!

Soft Open Alert – Roslindale Gateway Path Phase 1!

Matt Lawlor
Roslindale Gateway Path at Arboretum Road Entrance.
The newly opened entrance at Arboretum Rd.
Arboretum Map showing the new entrance and a view toward the Blackwell Path connection.
Updated Arboretum Map & Blackwell Path connection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We here at WalkUP Roslindale have been advocating and organizing around the Roslindale Gateway Path since our inception almost a decade ago and, thanks to the sustained leadership and partnership of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the Arboretum Park Conservancy, LivableStreets Alliance, the Tufts University Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, Rozzie Bikes, Hubluv, the Solomon Foundation, and of course the City of Boston (especially the leadership of Mayor Michelle Wu as well as the Parks and Recreation Department, the Department of Public Works, and the Transportation Department), we now have the first tangible result of those efforts – the Phase 1 extension from the terminus of the Blackwell Path at South Street alongside and then under the MBTA Needham Line tracks to a brand new and fully fledged Arboretum entrance on Arboretum Road. This is a great step forward in providing better access to this Emerald Necklace jewel to/from this part of Roslindale. It’s long overdue and very welcome, and we will continue to advocate for the rest of the path going forward, so that improved access can be achieved at Archdale Road and at the Roslindale Village Commuter Rail Station. We also urge everyone to mark your calendars for Saturday, 19 July 2025, when the formal grand opening celebration will be held. We’ll share details on that as they become available. Many thanks to all of the players who made this possible!

Our most recent summary piece on the full path can be found here: Roslindale Gateway Path.

 

Grand Opening of Walter Street Path Saturday, 6/22/2024 at 1pm

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Celebrating New Beginnings Walter Street EventThis coming Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 1pm, the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association and the Roslindale Wetlands Task Force are hosting Celebrating New Beginnings for 104-108 Walter Street with the grand opening of the new Walter Street Path to the Roslindale Wetlands Urban Wild area and its ecological restoration along with the start of the renovation/construction phase creating four units of affordable home ownership with Habitat for Humanity. We supported this project, which advances equity as well as climate resiliency, and encourage other supporters to attend this opening event. There will be fun, snacks, wetlands walks, info tables, and of course, a ribbon-cutting.

Flyer available here.

Spread the word!