The City of Boston recently launched the Squares + Streets initiative to focus on activity-rich neighborhood centers along main streets across Boston. We encourage all WalkUP followers to complete the initiative’s survey by December 1. The survey is brief and you’ll be entered into a raffle for $100 Boston Public Market gift cards for filling it out. Please spread the word!
Like pretty much everyone these days, WalkUP Roslindale has been preoccupied over the last couple of weeks with responding to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic sweeping our city, commonwealth, and country. As we pull together and do what must be done to protect our families, friends, and neighbors, we have effectively put our ongoing advocacy initiatives on hold. For now, this is as it should be. As we continue to move forward, a couple of items to consider:
The Boston City Council held a hearing today on Vision Zero and traffic calming in the city. WalkUP Roslindale attended and submitted testimony, reproduced below and available as an official PDF. The preliminary take-home is it’s going to take a lot of work and pushing our officials zealously to really turn the ship in the right direction.
Update 1: Video of the hearing now available.
Update 2: Check out this comment letter from our friends at the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association.
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The city recently rolled out BOS:311, the latest attempt to provide a single coordinated interface for citizens to report non-emergency issues. BOS:311 replaces the old “Citizen’s Connect” app. You can install the app for free on your iPhone or Android device; or if you don’t have a smartphone, use the web interface or just call 311 from a land line.
While we’re not convinced that bad sidewalks and crosswalks should count as “non-emergency”, BOS:311 is an excellent way to report and track pedestrian infrastructure issues that should be addressed with a relatively quick fix. You can also use your BOS:311 report as a pointer when asking your elected representatives to demand that the relevant city departments take action. We urge all WalkUP supporters to install the app and report problems with our walking environment.
Below are a couple of examples we reported this week. The first one has oddly been marked as “case resolved,” which in this case appears to mean “this is scheduled to be fixed” (we hope!). Click on either image to get the full report and status.
Just a quick note: the bike corral meeting that had been set for tomorrow (Wednesday 6/10) has been postponed to Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 6pm-7pm, at the Roslindale Community Center (6 Cummins Highway). We’ll post more details/thoughts regarding the proposal closer to the date.
In honor of Roslindale hero Steve Gag, Roslindale Village Main Streets supporters raised several thousands dollars to kick off a campaign to install a bike corral in Rozzie Square. The proposal is to replace one car parking space with ten bike spaces (note the ratio!). This investment in infrastructure is important both for the direct utility it brings and for the message it sends–better bike and ped infrastructure changes mindsets, bringing people out on foot and bike, resulting in a virtuous self-reinforcing circle.
The City of Boston is hosting a public meeting on June 10, 6pm-7pm, at the Roslindale Community Center, to present the city’s plan. If you share the WalkUP vision, come to learn more about the project and support this step in the right direction.
