Stories We’re Following
Three proposals to activate the Charlestown Navy Yard approved by the BPDA
The proposals include free public programming which will open up the Navy Yard and waterfront for residents and visitors from across Boston. The BPDA received a total of six proposals in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) released last year. After a thorough review that included significant community engagement, three proposals have been offered temporary licensing agreements for operation in summer 2019.
→Source: Boston Planning & Development AgencyUS sues Quincy for sewage discharges into Dorchester Bay, Boston Harbor
The federal government is suing the the City of Quincy for allegedly discharging sewage and untreated wastewater into the Boston Harbor, Dorchester Bay, Quincy Bay and other waterways from the City’s sanitary sewer and storm drain systems.
→Source: Dorchester ReporterVideo: North End/Downtown Neighborhood Climate Planning Kicks Off With High Resident Engagement
The City of Boston hosted a poster session to introduce the Climate Ready North End and Downtown projects at a March 12th meeting. Residents filled the Pilot House venue to capacity to hear from city officials and take part in the planning exercise.
→Source: North End WaterfrontCalls Build For Ferry Service On ‘Underutilized’ Columbia Point
Academic and business leaders in Dorchester’s Columbia Point are looking to increase transportation options by adding a ferry stop in the quickly developing neighborhood that borders Boston Harbor.
→Source: WBURPort of Boston needs (regulatory) attention
Kudos to Boston Harbor Now’s Jill Valdes Horwood and James Aloisi from TransitMatters for highlighting the need to rethink industrial ports like Boston (“Boston’s Port Needs Attention”). While their insights and observations were spot-on, they left me wanting to read more and get into the seaweed on how to implement their vision. Here’s one possible approach.
→Source: CommonWealth MagazineKnight Foundation Announces $1 Million in New Fellowships to Support Innovative Use of Public Spaces to Transform Communities
Knight Foundation is inviting nominations for the inaugural Knight Public Spaces Fellowship, intended to recognize leading civic innovators who have created or influenced great public spaces that have transformed communities across America. A small group of selected fellows will share up to $1 million in grants to continue their work.
→Source: Knight FoundationFidelity would create large waterfront space at revamped World Trade Center in Seaport
The most dramatic changes would occur on the front side of the complex, closest to Seaport Boulevard: The Commonwealth Hall exhibition space will be shuttered for good next year and replaced in part by a 25,000-square-foot waterfront courtyard that will feature small outdoor events and markets throughout the year.
→Source: The Boston GlobeMassport is unloading another acre of its South Boston real estate holdings
The site on Congress Street, behind John Hancock’s previous glass-enclosed home and next to the Silver Line Way MBTA stop, could accommodate up to 400,000 square feet of mixed-use development, with the potential to increase that amount to 600,000 if the developer also opts to procure an acre-plus of air rights over the Silver Line right-of-way.
→Source: The Boston GlobeOfficials seek more protections for city wetlands to counter effects of climate change
Boston has wetlands areas scattered across the city that have long been cherished for their beauty and environmental benefits. But environmental advocates say the city has few tools to protect these spaces from climate change and the secondary effects of development, such as shifts in flood patterns; the city is one of only three along the Massachusetts coastline that does not have local laws protecting wetlands.
→Source: The Boston GlobeWhy Inclusive Design Matters
Whether we realize it or not, the design process decides who benefits, who participates, and who counts. When that process is intended to be inclusive of everyone in society, we get places that welcome all, products that work for everyone, and services and systems that benefit each of us.
→Source: Meeting of the MindsRecurring events
- Friends of the East Boston Greenway: →Monthly Meeting
- Friends of the Boston HarborWalk: →Monthly Meeting