Rebutting "AdvanceMattapan: The (Under)Development of Mattapan"

A few years ago the Mattapan Environmental Action Network clearly agreed with AdvanceMattapan's critique of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the (now defunct) Mattapan Community Development Corporation (MCDC). It was all too easy then. 

The BRA’s big show in Mattapan—namely, the Mattapan Economic Development Initiative (MEDI)—had brought a great deal of hope that the City of Boston was ready to make Mattapan a priority.  Perhaps this was true, once upon a time.

Problem was, the BRA took far too many cues from the (now defunct?) MCDC; the primary one being, resurrecting a Main Streets initiative in Mattapan.  Since Mattapan has two competing 'main streets,' this meant choosing between Morton Village and Mattapan Square—reifying a di/vision antithetical to a "united" Mattapan.  It also meant, apparently, that the BRA no longer had a need for the MEDI’s Community Working Group, which dissolved as the Mattapan Square Main Streets initiative took hold.

While the Mattapan Square Main Streets initiative is still ‘in the air,’ it’s not at all clear how its activities constitute a “driving force in rejuvenating the communities [sic] passion in transforming Mattapan square into a thriving and robust commercial district” (http://www.mattapansquaremainstreets.org/).  

All to say, Mattapan Environmental Action Network is less than impressed that Mattapan Square Main Streets will, actually, bring Mattapan Square “into the 21^st century” (ibid).  Mattapan Square property owners have not 'greened' their buildings, for example; and WiFi hotspots are nowhere to be found there.

Mattapan Environmental Action Network calls upon AdvanceMattapan for programming related to dis/covering why Mattapan doesn't see developments comparable to other Boston neighborhoods. After years of watching Mattapan
residents resist change, we're ready for a 'sea change.' 

Last night's MBTA Public Information Meeting regarding its proposed Blue Hill Ave Station construction was an eye-opener--about which we'll have more to say in the next blogpost.