 |
The Boston Connection Newspaper will hold a Multi-cultural Festival /Community Recognition Awards, to celebrate its 4th anniversary. Call (617) 722-9422 to sponsor this event. |
Roxbury, Mass Is Sold Out, Now The Developers Are Pushing To Take Over Mattapan
By Jacques Dady Jean
Last month the residents of Regis Road, a residential zone of Mattapan, were met head-on with the disturbing news that a huge automotive mall is coming soon to their neighborhood. A representative of Webster Engineering unveiled the plans after being confronted by angry residents. And the worst part is his claim that several local elected officials and city employees are involved in the planning of this maliciously conceived project aimed at expelling these long-time residents from their neighborhood.
Mattapan is located between Hyde Park, Milton and Jamaica Plain and was annexed to Boston in 1870 as part of Dorchester. Like other neighborhoods during that time, Mattapan became more developed as the railroads and streetcars made downtown Boston more accessible. Predominately residential, Mattapan is home to a mix of single homes as well as two and three family houses. Mattapan Square, where Blue Hill Avenue, River Street and Cummins Highway meet, is the commercial heart of the neighborhood. Just steps from the square is the suburbs.
According to a draft drawn by Primary Group, Inc., a downtown firm located on Chauncy Street, the new Cummins Plaza project will be developed on 2.38 acres of land and will include four commercial garages, as well as an MBTA Commuter Rail Stop, a gas station, an auto parts store, and an auto service center. The project will expand from Cummins’ Highway through the residential area up to # 30 Regis Road. More than twenty homes will be directly affected, and at least two houses will be barricaded in the middle of this monstrous automotive strip. These commercial garages will specialize in repairing heavy equipment such as cranes, diggers, tractors etc. This community currently has the highest levels of reported cases of asthma, especially among young children and the elderly. The pollution that will be created by this project will certainly aggravate the condition of the individuals who suffer from asthma already and increase the risk of more of our community’s children and elders to acquire this disease. The fact that Webster Engineering is an African American owned company it does not give them any authority to step on the rights of the residents of Mattapan. This automotive mall belongs in an industrial Park but not in a residential area.
The homeowners are outraged by this project on their street and vowed not to rest until they stop it. Several tenants have expressed their preference to find new apartments to avoid dealing with noise and air pollution, and other disturbances that this project will trigger on the street. Landlords who rely on tenants to cover part of their mortgage payments are already beginning to feel the consequences of this upcoming project in the neighborhood. "This is scary," said Jim Wilson, the owner of one of the two-family houses that will be barricaded in the middle of this project.
While representatives of Webster Engineering suspiciously alleged that they have collected signatures from the residents of the neighborhood, the Regis Road homeowners have denied that they have signed any documents endorsing such a project. Webster Engineering seems to undervalue the ability of blacks and foreign-born landlords to protect their real estate assets. If Webster Engineering believes that it was important to inform a few elected officials about this project, the homeowners whose property is threatened by this revolting initiative, have not been contacted.
Webster Engineering also alleged that State Senator Dianne Wilkerson was a team player in this vindictive venture, the residents of Regis Road were very disappointed by this news. However, when the Senator was contacted by The Boston Connection on this issue she denied that allegation. Contrary to Thomas Finneran, the representative of this part of Mattapan who denied any knowledge of the project, Senator Wilkerson agreed that she has been informed about the plans by Webster Engineering. There are also allegations that Eric Hill, the Mattapan Liaison to the Mayor’s Office is heavily engaged in this deceitful endeavor; he has not returned phone calls pertaining to this matter, leaving the residents with the impression that he has something to hide. Although he does not seem to return calls on any issue. This project is another insult to the Black community.
Regis Road is a quiet residential street inhabited by Caribbean and Latinos. This might be one of the reasons inspiring the representatives of Webster Engineering to underestimate the political potential of this small community. This property, presently occupied by Webster Engineering as the result of an alleged court order, belongs to Rubin Richard HTS of Rockville, Maryland. There is no indication that Webster Engineering has obtained any kind of legal ownership rights on this property. It is more likely that the Boston Fire Department has received a court authorization to clean the property after the residents complained to the city about the risk of fire resulting from the materials stored inside these buildings. Hopefully, more investigation will further explain how Webster Engineering got into the picture. The City of Boston also stated that Webster Engineering has not requested any authorization to perform any work on this property.
This commercial structure was previously used as a parking garage for school buses. In 1992, the residents of Regis Road objected to this operation on their street because of noise and heavy traffic disquieting the peaceful enjoyment of their homes. They successfully convinced the City of Boston Neighborhood Service to relocate the garage and in 1993 the buses were put somewhere else. Actually, this was Flynn Time in the city of Boston. Ever since, the residents of Regis Road have continued to get pleasure from enjoying the peaceful and safe livelihood of their homes. According to what is being said, Webster Engineering is being kicked out of a white
Dorchester neighborhood where the company has caused some serious disturbances. They must leave Dorchester, and their industry is not attractive to any other community, they are running out of time to find another place to repair their commercial automotive equipment involved in the Big Dig and Regis Road has become their primary target. No matter what they might think or how many big shots support their project, Webster Engineering will face the toughest opposition in Mattapan.
During the past few years, in the name of urban development, greedy developers with complicity with a few local politicians are building anything in any place without regard to the negative social and economic impacts that those so called development projects may have on the citizens of any given community. Some of the new development projects, particularly the ones in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan are not in full compliance with the housing and zoning regulations. Urban planning must also be considered as the preservation of the historic appearance of a neighborhood. Considering the new gingerbread houses being built on Dudley Street, these wooden houses are located in a neighborhood where most of the buildings were constructed in brick and carefully designed to enhance the appearance of the area.
In Boston, the planning of the Urban Development Project is the exception rather than the rule, though there are still some outstanding neighborhoods where any small improvement is still examined and circumspectly calculated from their beginnings. Those areas include Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and Louisburg Square on the slopes of Beacon Hill. These areas look much as they did in the early 19th century. Rows of majestic Georgian brick houses, with white doorways and lacy wrought-iron balconies line the brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets. Because they are the sections where the wealthiest and Yankee descendants live, politicians and developers show extreme caution when dealing with urbanization issues around these places.
Since Boston’s African American community, who make up 25.6 percent of the population (1990 census), are concentrated in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan, city planning does not seem to be the leading concern when it comes to these communities. Another aberration is the new housing development projects scattered throughout Roxbury, Mass, such as the gingerbread houses of Orchard Garden Estates. These new apartments are disgustingly made with cardboard and wood, with no trees, no green areas, no scenic view, not enough street space, multicolored paint with the appearance of a third world country slum. This is what is widely publicized as successful urban development. While in the South End, a few miles away, the government and developers are building brick apartments and just to install a cable or to put a nail in a wall, a contractor must request the approval of the city, the tenant’s association and the Board of Historic Preservation and perhaps many other organizations. The so-called developers are taking advantage of the hassled condition of the African-American community and the neglectful attitude of the black leaders to make more money and are in fact destroying the appearance of the neighborhoods and lessening the real estate values.
Besides, who cares since a few black men can put some crumbs on their table and our black leaders can get a few seconds from prime time television crowding around their most powerful Mayor cutting a red ribbon. What the heck, at least they have another line to add in their accomplishment list for the next election.
Boston is not alone, with the fast growth of the U.S. population, most cities in America are obligated to increase the amount of housing units, schools, health centers accordingly. But the expansion of a city cannot be accidental and haphazard it must be planned. The big cities in North America mushroomed rapidly in size and became congested and slum-ridden in part because thousands of people continue to arrive in United States every day and many of them are likely to remain here in search of freedom, a better education or simply a better life.
Brother Leonard Alkins, the president of the NAACP Boston Branch, has expressed his frustration about these outgoing circumstances, however what can he do when most of the black leaders turn a blind eye on their community. Many blacks folks are deliberately participating in the destruction of their neighborhood by taking the advantage to fill their pockets with a few nickels made from this project, despite the outcome, and the big bucks go to the account of the white men hidden behind the scenes. The black folks have been driven into such a critical condition, they are forced to accept white turds for eggs. They have been stripped of their right to get a good education and a good job during most of their existence, while they have not lost their sense of responsibility toward their wives and children. They want to work, they want a place for their family to live, so they jump on any opportunity, allowing politicians to justify their reckless attitude. Many wary citizens are beginning to question whether or not the city officials consider the total design of the city. Since the early 1990s there has been another type of urban development prompted instead by political stratagem.
The redevelopment and revitalization of the Boston neighborhoods appeared to be more likely a political strategy rather than urban development . Truthfully the Boston neighborhoods underwent major redevelopment. Expressways were cut through them modifying old neighborhoods. Slums were cleared and replaced by high-rise public housing complexes. Old downtown office buildings were torn down to make room for new office towers. Other housing projects have been the emergence of urban villages in areas where it is politically necessary to alleviate the condition of a certain disadvantaged group. On the other hand, if the number of apartments has increased, the number of jobs in these urban villages has not exceeded those in nearby localities. To quote Lenny Alkins, "There are no economic infrastructure to back up these new urban expansions".
Modern urban planning is not new; it is a conception of the late 19th century. The first planners, unhappy with the way cities were decaying under the influence of industrialization, wanted to use master plans to overhaul them. One example is the industrial city plan in 1904 by French Architect Tony Garnier. A few years later, Daniel Burnham presented his plan for Chicago. Philadelphia, Pa., designed by William Penn in the 1680s, is an early example of an American planned city. Washington, D.C., also originated as a thoroughly planned capital city.
To some people the city represents humanity's triumph over nature. Certainly it is a fairly radical change of nature. What was once field and forest is covered with pavement and a large variety of buildings. The very existence of large cities, in addition to all the activities that go on in them, has perhaps permanently altered the very environment in which they thrive. For any enterprise as large as a city to work properly, there must be organization. One of the most useful means for improving modern cities has been city planning. The main question, however, is whether its housing needs are being met at a rate which its own people consider reasonable. Also important is whether each family has at least the minimum quality of housing necessary for health, comfort, and self-respect.
The redesign of cities cannot be successful, unless the planners and politicians are focussed on the social and economic improvement of the city rather than demagoguery . Instead of trying to create unsuitable housing projects that will only sparkle in the eyes of a long time under-served community, they should have focused as an alternative on a few attainable goals. These include the orderly arrangement of all parts of a city so each can function with a minimum of interference from the others; efficient means of local transportation and circulation of traffic; the development of each part of the city, with adequate residential space, parking facilities, outdoor recreational areas, and businesses; provision of an adequate water supply, sewerage system, utilities, garbage pickup, and public services; provision of schools and other community services; and the construction of housing to meet the needs of all segments of a city's population. ¨
Have a comment about this article? click here
Materials from this documentation were used in this articleForbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain (ABC-CLIO, 1987).
Forbes, Esther. Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (Houghton, 1987).
Freely, John. Blue Guide Series: Boston and Cambridge (Norton, 1984).
Handlin, Oscar. Boston's Immigrants, 1790-1880 (Atheneum, 1968).
Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Museum of Fine
Arts, 1984).
Phelan, M.K. The Story of the Boston Massacre (Crowell, 1976).
Vanderwarker, Peter. Boston Then and Now (Dover, 1982).
You are reader #