Above all, BE HEARD.

Mattapan Environmental Action Network (M.E.A.N.) will soon launch a platform to crowdsource "quality of life" problems (like the one shown here).  

The City's neighborhood response team is now accessible in real-time via the Mayor's Hotline (dial 311) or via Twitter @BOS311; and generally does a good job following up.   

This is especially critical as external forces enter our community acting as if they'd like to drive us out.  Resist the inclination to feel like you can't win.  Focus on the way it should be, and forge ahead.  

Always remember, you are not alone. Bring your issue(s) to Mattapan United's monthly community assemblies. Above all, BE HEARD.
  

Clean Air Matters in Mattapan

Hard to believe it's been five years since Mattapan Environmental Action Network (M.E.A.N.) featured this video to launch its quest for ongoing assessments of the air quality in Mattapan, MA.  

According to the MA Department of Transportation, on average 80,000 cars and trucks blow through Mattapan every day.  Since fewer than 50% of Mattapan residents own a passenger vehicle, the vast majority of these trips are commuters passing through here. Add to that the multiples of MBTA bus lines tripping through Mattapan 20-30 times a day, and you can begin to get a sense of what the air quality must be like here.

Of the 30,000 people who live here, the elderly and children under 18 (the two age cohorts most susceptible to developing respiratory conditions from breathing bad air) together constitute 40% of Mattapan's population.  So the rates of asthma and emphysema have spiked in recent years.

While the volume of traffic continues to build, the number of large trucks-- especially semis with diesel engines--have increased as well.  Some enter, park, and idle here in conjunction with commercial operations or real estate developments; others appear to simply use our streets in ways other than permitted--e.g., an alternative route to an interstate highway connection.  

Whatever the case may be, the emissions make walking down the street or standing at a bus stop untenable for many.  M.E.A.N. hopes to gather air quality data and/or create opportunities for us to crowdsource potential infringements of air quality standards. So HELP!

Transit Woes: Why is it...?

Recent observations while riding the T brought this old track to mind. 
Here are just a few of the questions keep surfacing while riding the T:  

1. Are MBTA buses exempt for having to comply with Boston's anti-idly law, the Clean Air Act, etc.?
2. Why is it that...MBTA fares are structured so Mattapan commuters have to pay more to get around the city?
3. Why does dollars on a Charlie Card go farther than the same amount of dollars on a paper ticket?
4. What's the justification for honoring transfers in some instances, but not in others?
5. Why are outbound trips between downtown and JP less expensive than outbound trips between downtown and Mattapan, for example?

The list could go on, but enough said for now.  We're interested in crowdsourcing other "questions" Mattapan commuters might have as a result of their experiences using the MBTA, so feel free to comment here.

Future posts will seek to explore the answers to such questions.

MBTA Public Information Meeting: Blue Hill Ave Station

At the outset, I should acknowledge two things that surprised, and irritated me throughout this meeting: first, the Community Room at the Mattapan Branch Library functioned (for the first time, to my knowledge) as intended (respond if you'd like me to say more about this); second, the ratio of bureaucrats to community residents seemed skewed to me. 

Even though there was 'standing-room' only, that is, by the time MBTA's General Manager, Dr. Beverly Scott rose to frame the issue, 'the die was [already] cast,' so to speak.  

Dr. Scott spoke eloquently (I thought) about the need: 50% of Mattapan residents depend on public transit systems; it takes, at minimum, 45 minutes-- including transfers and wait times, to get from Mattapan Square to downtown Boston; so providing access to the commuter rail is critical so Mattapan residents can have greater access to economic opportunities.

Needs Assessment: Executive Summary

  Fairmount Corridor Improvements Project

In sum, then, a "one seat ride to downtown Boston,"  a direct "[c]onnection to other neighborhoods along the Fairmount Corridor" coupled with a new (reduced) Zone 1A fare structure would bring ridership in line with access to the commuter rail via the proposed Blue Hill Ave Station. (Public Meeting, MassDot/MBTA handout, 9.15.2014)

This then set the stage for presentations by the Blue Hill Ave. Station Project Team; most notably, Jacobs Engineering's Mark Thompson. He explained why, 

after considering alternative sites for the proposed station, the Project Team settled on situating it at Blue Hill Ave.  Mr. Thompson also described how the Team had come up with a redesign to accommodate abutters' concerns about construction: 

Sierra Khan @iBizZee · Sep 15

Design charette is adapting as community concerns are absorbed. Current design anticipates a neutral platform @ BlueHill Av/Cummings Hwy.

A few members of the audience expressed relief that the proposed station redesign kept access for the 'differently-abled' in mind. While others took a more dismissive tact, complaining that access is meaningless if it's blocked when snow isn't removed.

Wrapping up his presentation, Mr. Thompson noted the following:

Sierra Khan @iBizZee · Sep 15 

Pre-construction survey re: current design concept for the Fairmount-Indigo line is due @MBTA this October. Concerns abound.

The Team's management of the meeting appeared to break down somewhat when the Q & A Session came around. After some back & forth about how it would be handled, we were 'off to the races.'  
The abutters reiterated concerns about what impact station construction would have on the quiet enjoyment, and the foundations of their homes. The Project Team gave assurances: 

1. contractors will comply with all noise ordinances;
2. noise and vibration levels are expected to decrease, not increase, once the station is completed;
3. the center island platform re/design will reduce construction-related impacts; and,
4. pre-construction video surveys will provide before/after documentation to better assess liability, in the event damage occurs in the interim.

At least a couple of abutters requested an insurance binder be purchased to cover such contingencies, but the $500,000 - $1,000,000 coverage amount was so excessive (none of the abutting homes have property values even close to these amounts) the requests were effectively dismissed.

Sierra Khan @iBizZee · Sep 15

Construction schedule for proposed Fairmount-Indigo line expects a Sept 2015 start date; with new station coming online in 2017.

Presidential Primaries, Local Elections

Next Tuesday the Boston Elections Commission will once again oversee the conduct of the Presidential primary elections.  Of course Boston's Election Department does the actual work of managing 254 polling locations throughout the City on election day.


This means the Election Department hires people to work on a per diem basis.  Even at this late date it might not be too late to get hired as a poll worker, especially if you are bi-lingual.  The application can be submitted electronically as well.


If you get hired as an Elections Officer in time for Tuesday's Presidential primaries (not very 'presidential,' actually), other than the early call (6 AM), it's likely to be easy day-work.  


Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, is considered the inevitable winner of the Republican primary; and Barack Obama, current President of the United States, is running unopposed for the Democrats.  So turnout will be low.  


Certainly this comes as no surprise, however.  Mattapan voters must be used to an 'air of inevitability' hoovering over local elections by now.  Most of our local elections afford an opportunity to cast a vote; but more often than not, candidates running for office in Mattapan are running unopposed.


There's so little real choice that's it's no wonder so few register to vote, and so many registered voters don't bother showing up at the polls.  


This suggests a call to action--something for our working group to consider going forward.  


If we want people to get involved--to register to vote, and vote on election day, then our elections should offer them viable options from which to choose.  

Key Organizing Principles

Think  GLOBALly

Act            Locally.

Action    

is (far) better than 

inaction.  

Why We Sing, Why We Cry

Mattapan. The neighborhood conjures up mixed feelings.... It is an absolutely beautiful place to live (quiet, even). There are great places to explore the outdoors (if you don't mind getting your shoes dirty); and public parks provide opportunities for outdoor recreation.  Yet Mattapan has the highest obesity rate in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Why?


Although FLOTUS' Let's Move initiative is building steam, a Mattapan-based food and fitness coalition has sponsored an annual event for the past several years called "Mattapan Moving for Life."  It's not exactly creating a groundswell among Mattapan's 25,000 residents, however, especially given two key factors:

1. 26% of Mattapan residents are between 5 and 18 years old;  
2. living in 2800 Mattapan households.

In other words, this annual "family-friendly" event doesn't reach the vast majority of Mattapan households with children. Why not?


The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) treats Mattapan like it's a "food desert."  But is it?  The USDA obviously doesn't consider it so.  Mattapan is not color-coded pink on its "Food Desert Locator."  Still the W. K. Kellogg Foundation has funneled money through BPHC into Mattapan for years now; ostensibly to redress the lack of access to healthy foods there.  While a cornerstore initiative--called "Healthy on the Block"--has gained some traction, its too new to point to measurable outcomes; and too fragile because its funding raises questions about its sustainability.  


Mattapan is a relatively stable community: where forty-two percent (42%) of its housing stock are single-family homes; where thirty-four percent (34%) of households are owner-occupied.  Even though 54% of households are apartment dwellers, people 'check in,' but are slow to 'check out.'  


True to it's name, perhaps Mattapan is "a good place to be."  Contrary to this particular Native American translation (citation pending), a more sinister one posits that "Mattapan" means "evil is spread about the place" (Saugus Public Schools). Any wonder, then, that some refer to Mattapan pejoratively as "murder pan?" 


At the time of this writing, a trial is underway for a 2010 quadruple murder on Sutton Street: a drug robbery already wrong; horrified all of greater Boston when it resulted in the death of a babe in the arms of its mother. Sadly, crime will always haunt the 'hood' so long as those who would bear witness against such acts are characterized as "rat," "snitch," etc.  Cowering in fear is not freedom.  Silence is, in fact, a form of social death. 


So Mattapan has become a harbor, of sorts-- where Boston's criminal mischief often comes ashore.  Though it's painful to admit it, criminals do roam freely here; and with the Commonwealth's blessings.  


Several years ago, a "prisoner reentry center" was established right in the heart of Mattapan Square--the neighborhood's primary commercial center; over, and against the expressed wishes of community residents, in fact. 

Instead of representing the will of the community, with the lone exception of then State Rep. Shirley Owens-Hicks, most public officials took to the task of bringing the community along (for the ride). This was not the first, nor would it be, the last time.

Mattapan.  As if in the movies, a river runs right through it.  This river, named Neponset, is now thoroughly polluted; after a very long period of paper mills dotting its shores, dumping chemical contaminants into it, the Neponset River can no longer sustain life.  


All to say, the need for urgent action is great.  The Neponset River rushes on; a metaphor for the experience of living, working, and playing in Mattapan today.  Like the river, Mattapan can be a lure, but it can make you sick if you 'drink the water.'

Future posts will draw out, and on, this metaphor; as we look for action steps to advance Mattapan.