Today we sent a comment letter to the BPDA concerning a proposed development at 18-22 Arboretum Road. We support the project overall, and offer comments on affordable units, pedestrian access, and community benefits. Our full letter is below, also available as a PDF.
BTD Better Bike Lanes PLUS: Engagement Opportunities for Poplar Street Improvements (with Spanish translation)
The Boston Transportation Department is seeking feedback on design and implementation of new street safety infrastructure, including a contraflow bike lane on the close-in portion of Poplar Street from Washington Street to Sycamore Street and speed humps from there out to Canterbury Street. See the flyer below. Thanks!
Comments on Roslindale Parking and Curb Use Plan
Over the past two years, the City has conducted a study of parking and curb use in and around the Roslindale central business district. It recently published a proposed plan for comment coming out of that study. Our comments are below (also available as PDF), and we encourage everyone to submit comments by the April 7, 2023 deadline. We generally support the proposed changes, and offer pedestrian safety improvements and other changes we hope will be implemented in connection with the new plan.
Comment Letter on Community Benefits for 18-22 Arboretum Road Development
Last week, we joined with several community partners to send a letter to the BPDA requesting community benefits to accompany the 18-22 Arboretum Road Development, a proposed 230-apartment development just off Washington Street abutting the Arboretum. Our joint letter focuses on funding for the Gateway Path and food pantry certification for an Archdale food distribution site. The full letter is reproduced below.
Public Meeting 5 Days Right Ahead – Thursday, 9 March 2023 – Return of 4198 Washington Street
As those who follow this weblog know, WalkUP Roslindale followed this project closely through the public process that unfortunately resulted in an effective ZBA denial in the fall of 2021. (See 2 of our posts below). Now, the owners of the property are thankfully back with a renewed push on redevelopment of this 8,982 square foot site at 4198 – 4206 Washington Street in Roslindale Square. Physically, their proposal hasn’t changed: in place of the existing one-story retail structure, it still calls for construction of a new five (5)-story, mixed-use building containing approximately thirty-one (31) residential units, approximately 6,800 square feet of retail/community theater space, and approximately thirty-eight (38) bicycle storage spaces. The sole change, and it is significant, is that the owners have increased the share of income-restricted residential units from 42% to 61%, such that 19 of the 31 units are committed to be affordable to households earning between 60% and 100% of area median income. Not only is this substantively good on its own and makes an already great project that much better, it is also puts the project into the category of affordable residential developments that the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Executive Order of last fall expressly wants to advance more quickly and efficiently in light of the long-standing housing crisis in our city. In other words, this is exactly the kind of project that the Wu Administration wants to see a lot more of. Its time has come.
You can visit the project’s page on the BPDA website for more information. Most importantly, you can find information on the upcoming public meeting over zoom that is scheduled for this coming Thursday, 9 March 2023, at 6:00 pm. We urge supporters of this worthy proposal to attend the meeting and make your voices heard in support. You can register here.
361 Belgrade – Supplemental Filing Comment Period Ends Tomorrow – 3 March 2023 – Show your support!
WalkUP Roslindale previously indicated our support for this long-time-coming redevelopment of the former Clay Chevrolet property back in the fall – Comment Letter in Support of 361 Belgrade Avenue Housing Proposal – and we’re happy to see that the proposal has improved in the interim, especially including a better design and increased affordability. Complete information on the supplemental filing, including the presentation from a recent community meeting on the filing, can be found at the Boston Planning & Development Agency’s 361 Belgrade Project Page.
The comment period on this supplemental filing expires tomorrow, 3 March 2023. We urge our followers to support this project and its continued progress toward becoming reality by sending a brief support email to the BPDA project manager, Quinn Valcich, at quinn.w.valcich@nullboston.gov.
Hyde Park Ave Safety Walk – January 28 at 1pm (Forest Hills Station)
We’re happy to see City Councillors Kendra Lara and Ricardo Arroyo, along with the Boston Transportation Department and neighborhood resident Nathan Eckstrom, are leading a safety walk on January 28th at 1pm, focusing on road safety issues along Hyde Park Avenue. The walk will meet at Forest Hills Station (Upper Level). Advance registration is recommended. More details here:
Some early 2023 news from Roslindale Square – A reopening and an opening!
The second half of December was unquestionably consequential for the center of Roslindale as a motor vehicle operator drove into the street level of the building at the corner of Belgrade and Corinth (mostly known these days as The Square Root Building) on the morning of December 18, taking out a support column and parts of 2 store fronts, resulting in structural damage and temporary evacuation of the entire building. We posted about this when it happened and encouraged folks to contribute to the community-based fund that was just then forming to support the businesses that we knew would be forced to leave the building for at least some period of time – potentially months in some cases. We’re happy to circle back now with the news that many of the businesses that had been forced out, including especially The Square Root, are now open again and the remainder have found temporary homes elsewhere in the square. This past Saturday morning found plenty of patronage inside the cafe itself, and, we suspect (based on the photo below), music rehearsal activity upstairs. It’s really good to see activity going on there again, though a discussion about how to make all of the streets in the square safer for everyone outside of motor vehicles is something we think must be on the agenda going forward.
Saturday also saw the official opening of the new brick-and-mortar location at 739 South Street (across from Wallpaper City) for Rozzie Bound Books, which has been the neighborhood’s community-owned virtual bookstore for the last few years. They’ve taken a small, but cozy space on the street level and are selling books and offering order/pickup as well. This promising development represents the presence of a permanent new book-selling location in the square for the first time in more than a decade, since the 2011 demise of Village Books, which had been located in part of the space where 753 South now operates. We hope to see Rozzie Bound thrive and grow in the years ahead!
WalkUP Roslindale – 2022 in Brief
So, 2022 definitely had its share of ups and downs, but in taking stock on the eve of 2023, three posts stand out as particularly worth looking back on and noting (in roughly reverse chronological order):
- Taking first place, after a long, COVID-impacted process, the Lower South Street Neighborhood Slow Streets project obtained its final municipal approval and heads to installation this spring. The comments from Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge at the conclusion of the hearing were especially encouraging. This post also features a major advancement for us that started in the fall of this year – we have started to translate our posts into Spanish.
- In second place, we gave significant attention and sought to provide assistance to Roslindale residents in navigating the Orange Line shutdown from late August to late September in two posts that included links to official guidance as well as our own review of available substitute services, especially Needham Line and other commuter rail trains that made additional stops at Forest Hills and Ruggles during that month-long period.
MBTA adds additional service to Forest Hills starting today – 6 September 2022
- In a 3-way tie for 3rd place, we had Mayor Wu’s inaugural group bike ride into downtown Boston from Roslindale (not officially a WalkUP Roslindale event, but many of us were very involved), plus our support for the successful permitting effort around the redevelopment of the funeral home site at 59-63 Belgrade Avenue, and our Poplar Street Walk Audit report (all from August, though the walk audit itself occurred in May).
Belgrade/Corinth Building Crashed Into – First Order of Business: Help Building’s Occupants Recover
For those who may not have heard yet, a driver crashed their car into the building at the corner of Belgrade Avenue and Corinth Street in Roslindale Square this morning sometime around 8:30-8:45 am. Thankfully, no one inside the building was injured (The Square Root was open, but miraculously missed, and the Sebastian’s space and the adjacent Threading for Beauty business – where the driver actually struck the building – were not open at the time). Per Universal Hub, the driver was taken to the hospital by EMS and the building sustained extensive damage. For now, as UHub reports, the building has been completely evacuated and is off-limits until its overall structural integrity can be confirmed. Whatever happens from here, it seems there will be at least some period where the businesses on both the ground and upper floor will be unable to open and operate. Accordingly, given how respected and appreciated all of the businesses in the building are – especially neighborhood treasure The Square Root – the neighborhood is already coming together and a gofundme to assist all of the building’s businesses in the rebuilding effort has already been created. Just go HERE and give what you can. We’ll circle back as we learn more.