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From YouTube: Blue Hill Avenue Transportation - Historic Overview
Description
Allentza Michel from Powerful Pathways delivers a presentation on the history of transportation along Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. This presentation was given as part of the Blue Hill Avenue Transportation Action Plan public engagement process.
A
All
right
good
evening,
everyone,
so
my
name
is
Alyssa
Michelle
and
I
am
the
founder
and
principal
of
powerful
Pathways
I'm,
an
urban
planner,
an
artist,
a
community
organizer
and
I
am
a
resident
of
this
community.
I
grew
up
in
Mattapan
and
Dorchester
I
spent
many
years
working
in
rock
deeply
in
Roxbury
and
I,
currently
live
on
Morton
Street
and
Blue
Hill
Avenue,
where
I've
been
living
for
the
past
12
years.
So
this
work
is
very
deeply
important
to
me
before
I
begin.
A
My
presentation
I
want
to
have
a
share,
a
quick
disclaimer,
which
is
that
what
I'm
about
to
present
to
you
is
a
brief
historic
overview.
It's
not
going
to
be
a
complete
history.
We
don't
have
enough
time
for
that,
but
I
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
covered
the
gamut
around.
What
got
us
to
this
moment
today,
so
I'm
going
to
ask
folks
to
hold
your
questions.
We
will
have
time
later
on
to
discuss
it.
A
We
have
dedicated
time
in
the
agenda
to
discuss
what's
being
presented,
but
it's
a
little
hard
to
focus
when
you
know
things
get
popped
up
in
the
chat
box.
So
please
hold
your
questions
until
then.
There
will
be
also
an
opportunity
for
us
to
kind
of
talk
through
some
of
the
data
that
I'll
be
sharing
and
I'll,
be
sharing
links
to
those
reports
and
all
those
materials
at
the
end
as
well.
A
Last
thing
I
want
to
say,
is
I'm
going
to
be
speaking
somewhat
slowly,
but
also
trying
to
manage
a
pace,
because
there
is
a
lot
of
content.
I
anticipate
we're
going
to
be
at
least
for
this
section
of
the
agenda
for
18
to
20
minutes.
A
So
I
just
want
to
give
you
all
a
heads
up
so
that
you're
monitoring
your
time
and
also
monitoring
your
energy
during
that
period
as
well,
but
because
we
have
interpreters
who
are
interpreting
in
other
languages,
we're
going
to
try
to
keep
up
a
steady,
Pace,
okay,
all
right.
So
that
being
said,
let's
dive
into
it.
A
So
what
you
see
before
you
is
in
the
image
of
a
horse,
car
and
buggy
on
this
right
side,
a
horse
car
buggy
from
the
mid
1850s.
The
1850s
was
an
interesting
time
during
the
Greater
Boston
Region's
development,
particularly
in
Boston,
because
many
of
the
neighborhoods
that
we
know
of
today
were
their
own.
They
had
were
their
own
municipalities
and
they
were
annexed
to
Boston
between
the
late
1930s
to
the
early
late
1830s.
Excuse
me
to
the
late
1880s.
A
So,
while
these
cities
and
towns
were
starting
to
become
part
of
Boston's
expansion,
we
also
were
beginning
to
get
engaged
in
different
Innovations
and
transits.
So
we're
moving
from
the
horse
car
buggies
by
the
late
1800s
streetcars
began
to
dominate
the
way
of
travel
and
transportation,
and
there
were
a
number
of
private
Transportation
companies
that
popped
up
during
that
time,
and
actually
the
mbta's
origin
has
a
lot
to
do
with
the
overcrowding
of
those
streetcars
in
an
attempt
to
consolidate
them.
A
A
In
fact,
Route
28,
as
we
as
we
know,
the
bus
is
actually
it's
because
it's
part
of
Route
28
and
it's
State
Road
a
state
operated
world
that
goes
through
multiple
cities
and
towns
throughout,
not
just
through
the
region,
but
also
connecting
North
and
Southern
Massachusetts.
A
Another
way
to
look
at
it.
If
you
look
at
this
1902
Bromley
map,
this
is
Blue
Hill
Avenue
here
this
is
Franklin
Field,
which
we
you
know
can
associate
now
with
the
Franklin
Field
projects
and
this
area
here.
A
Some
of
you
may
might
not
recognize
this,
but
the
history
of
the
streetcars
that
used
to
run
along
gruja
Avenue
there's
a
lot
of
actually
historic
sites
that
still
speak
to
that
history.
So
you
might
not
recognize
this
right
now.
This
is
the
former
Comfort
station,
which
was
Mattapan
station.
Initially,
during
the
time
of
the
streetcars,
and
today
it
still
stands,
and
it's
actually
now
a
Haitian
restaurant.
A
Going
back
in
time,
the
streetcars
were
were
expanded,
in
particular,
to
accommodate
the
growing
amount
of
immigrant
communities,
populations
that
were
moving
to
the
Southern
areas
of
Boston.
After
those
cities
and
towns
became
neighborhoods
of
Boston,
we
saw
a
huge
influx
of
Irish
Jewish
and
Italian
immigrants
in
particular
that
were
expanding
into
these
neighborhoods.
Many
of
the
Irish
and
Jewish
Legacy
is
still
present
today
in
some
of
the
churches
that
we
see,
along
with
Avenue,
that
were
synagogues,
but
are
now
different
denominations
of
faith-based
groups.
A
So
if
you
look
at
this
image
here,
this
is
folks
waiting
to
board
the
the
then
matapan
streetcar
at
the
intersection
of
Blue
Hill,
Ave
and
Arbor.
The
street.
A
So
we're
now
looking
at
the
early
1930s
to
the
ninth,
the
early
1900s
to
the
late
1930s,
as
these
working
class
immigrant
families
were
moving
into
the
areas.
This
was
also
what
sparked
the
development
of
the
triple
Deckers.
It's
the
iconic
three-story
poems
that
Mark
much
of
Mattapan,
Dorchester
and
Roxbury.
A
There
was
a
reason
why
this
particular
style
was
being
created,
because
at
the
time
it
was
very
easy
and
quick
to
make.
It
was
that
there
largely
wood
wood-based
developments
and
they
were
big
enough
to
house
these
large
working-class
families,
because
again,
this
is
why
the
history
is
important,
because
these
cities
and
towns
like
Mattapan,
was
that
at
the
time
part
of
Dorchester
and
Roxy
with
their
own
town,
they
were
also
Mill
towns,
meaning
they
were
huge
places
for
factories.
A
We
still
have
a
lot
of
zoning
that
reflects
that
today,
even
though
those
Industries
have
left
a
long
time
ago,
and
so
the
triple
Deckers
were
built
specifically
centered
around
the
radius,
in
other
words,
the
mileage.
You
know
a
quarter
mile
to
a
mile
around
Blue
Hill
Avenue,
so
that
it
was
easy
for
those
workers
to
be
able
to
transit
to
and
from
their
jobs.
So
much
of
the
way
in
which
the
land
was
being
planned
and
developed
was
really
around
trying
to
increase
the
workers
to
get
to
the
factories.
A
At
one
point,
a
lot
of
the
you
know:
Greater
Boston
Elite,
started
to
actually
turn
against
the
idea
of
the
triple
Deckers,
because
there
was
resistance
against
these
opportunities
for
folks
who
now
who
were
working
class
and
now
have
access
to
home
ownership,
and
so
it
was
thanks
to
several
political
fights
and
including
putting
it
on
a
ballot
question
that
all
basically
all
of
the
triple
Deckers
the
construction
of
triple
directors,
basically
cease
by
the
end
of
the
1930s.
A
What's
interesting
today
is
that,
while
these
you
know,
institutions
have
created
a
lot
of
onto
growing
opportunities
for
different
ethnic
groups
that
have
come
in
since
the
time
of
white
flight.
A
The
these
units
tend
to
be
in
Decline
in
Decay,
because
they're
so
old,
and
they
need
a
lot
of
upkeep
and
still
because
of
the
hot
Market
that
is
the
housing
market
in
the
Boston
area.
Some
of
these
triple
Deckers
are
upwards
of
900
000
to
even
over
a
million
dollars
today
and
of
their
work
today.
A
Okay,
again
we're
talking
about
the
1930s
there's
a
lot
of
things
that
were
happening
back
then
that
still
affect
us
today,
in
particular
the
homeowners
loan
corporation,
which
was
a
federal
lending
corporation
that
was
established
during
the
time
of
the
new
deal.
So
this
we're
talking
about
still
we're
talking
about
the
late
1930s,
a
federally
funded
Housing
Development
projects,
so
moving
away
from
the
triple
Deckers.
Now
there
was
all
this
investment
in
developing
building
these
housing
projects.
A
I
mentioned
Franklin
Field
in
particular,
because,
notably
that
project
was
developed
and
completed
by
1954,
and
this
also,
this
is
important
to
note
that
this
was
the
same
year
that
Brown
versus
Board
of
Education
passed.
So
there
was
a
lot
of
policies
and
practices
that
were
really
focused
on
redlining
and
segregating
the
communities
separating
low-income
people
of
color
from
middle
class
and
upper
class
longtime
bostonians
and
the
inte
intent
was
to
try
to
identify
different
neighborhoods.
As
you
can
see
in
this
map,
the
different
color
coding
represents,
the
green
is
was
considered.
A
A
flourished
area
red
is,
is
considered
an
area
that
needs
a
lot
of
work
or
where
people
need
to
be
placed
who
are
considered
lesser
class,
and
so
that
history
of
racism
is
something
that
we've
inherited
in
the
planning
field
today
that
we
we
still
are
are
dealing
with,
and
it
affects
how
we
even
look
at
housing
today.
A
The
reason
why
I
say
this
timeline
is
significant
is
because,
while
the
triple
Deckers
were
building
were
being
built
around
access
to
the
streetcars
by
the
time
most
of
these
housing
projects,
which
low-income
people
of
color
like
African
Americans,
who
were
moving
into
the
neighborhoods
after
being
pushed
out
of
Beacon
Hill
and
coming
in
from
the
south
and
many
other
places
by
the
time
that
they
were
able
to
move
into
these
neighborhoods.
A
The
streetcars
were
already
being
replaced
by
buses
as
a
matter
of
fact,
the
28
bus
route,
the
bus
that
replaced
the
streetcar
that
ran
around
Blue
Hill
Avenue
was
one
of
the
last
street
cars
to
be
removed
and
transferred
to
a
bus,
because
there
was
so
much
high
traffic
in
High
ridership
on
that
route,
in
particular.
Here's
another
image
to
look
at
some
different
angles.
If
you
see
here,
this
is
a
streetcar
coming
from
Columbia
Road.
Some
of
you
may
recognize
this.
A
This
is
an
image
from
that
right.
If
you
can
read
here,
April
24th
1949
and
here's
one
coming
in
from
the
opposite
direction,
headed
towards
Roll,
Hall,.
A
That
is
the
former
shelter
station
at
Franklin,
Park
Zoo,
which
is
still
there.
This
here
actually
was
his
Jewish
synagogue.
That
is
now
a
Baptist,
Church
I
believe
here's
another
end
of
Blue
Hill
Avenue
recognize
this
furniture
store.
I,
wonder
if
folks
can
guess
what
this
is.
A
A
This
is
actually
really
interesting
image,
because
I
took
some
shots
of
this
area
over
time.
This
image
is
from
2012..
This
one
is
from
1955.
and
if
you
notice
this
brings
us
to
another
topic
about
the
changes
happening
along
Blue
Hill
Avenue,
which
is
that
we
are
seeing
a
decline
in
the
infrastructure.
There's
been
very
little
work
done,
and
while
there
have
been
a
number
of
studies,
there
really
has
not
been
much
done
to
improve
or
to
upkeep
Blue
Hill
Avenue.
A
Since
those
three
cars
were
removed,
and
we
even
see
that,
despite
efforts
to
like
plant
more
trees
along
the
city
where
the
tree
numbers
are
actually
an
unsteady
decline
along
Louisville
Avenue,
here's
an
example,
another
example
of
that
this
is
headed
into
this-
is
the
direction
heading
into
matapan
square
notice,
all
the
trees
that
are
lined
along
these
arches
of
the
storefront.
A
A
My
colleague
and
I
actually
did
a
study.
While
we
were
doing
walks
along
Blue
Hill
Avenue
earlier
this
year,
and
we
counted
132
trees
from
Mattapan
Square
to
Morton,
Street
and
we'll
be
conducting
more
counts
in
the
future,
and
now
132
may
sound
like
a
lot
but
give
considering
the
mileage
that
makes
up
blue
Avenue.
It's
actually
not
much.
A
Here's
another
historical
tidbit.
Some
of
you
may
remember
the
Oriental
Theater
in
Mattapan
Square.
You
can
see
the
top
of
Saint
Angeles
Church,
now
Mount
Carmel,
here's
what
Mattapan
Square
looks
like
today,
there's
the
the
top
of
the
church.
The
Capital
Electric
building
is
now
where
the
theater
once
stood.
But
if
you
take
a
moment-
and
we
look
at
this
image-
there's
a
lot
going
on
in
this
there's
a
lot
of
Chaos
in
this
image
alone,
a
lot
of
jaywalking
there's
a
lot
of
combust
congestion.
A
A
Now,
I
want
folks
to
kind
of
really
think
about
this,
because
oftentimes
we
hear
that
this
project
is
being
associated
with
the
28x,
which
was
a
very
different
project
that
was
terminated
right
and
the
the
short
of
what
could
be
a
long
history
and
I
know
some
of
you
who
are
in
this
meeting
actually
had
but
had
been
involved
in
that
process
in
some
respect.
So,
basically
back
in
2009
there
was
some
American
Recovery
and
reinvestment
act.
A
Funds
available,
also
known
as
the
Obama
stimulus
funding,
the
remaining
funds
that
were
allocated
to
Massachusetts
at
the
time.
These
were
like
post-recession
recovery
money
right.
There
was
some
leftover
money,
it
was
kind
of
a
use
it
or
lose
it
situation,
and
so
the
Patrick
Administration
decided
that
they
were
going
to
take
the
28x
and
transform
it
take
to
28
bus
and
transform
into
a
28x
converting
it
essentially
to
a
silver
line.
A
The
28x
was
not
supported
by
the
community
and
largely
because
there
was
not
a
strong
Community
engagement
in
the
process.
It
was
kind
of
like
this
is
what's
going
to
happen
and
people
did
not
support
it,
and
so
the
project
was
eventually
scrapped
after
lawmakers,
who
listened
to
the
public,
put
pressure
on
the
state
to
withdraw
The
Proposal
because
of
what
happened
with
the
28x
that
led
to
what
is
known
as
the
RDM
study,
the
Rocksmith
Dorchester
Mattapan
study.
A
This
was
a
study
that
was
led
by
Mass,
DOT
and
MBTA,
and
there
was
a
community
Advisory
Group
that
was
involved
with
the
that
was
a
part
of
this
process.
There
were
a
number
of
recommendations
that
came
out
of
the
RDM
study
and
I
will
link
the
the
report
once
I'm
wrapped
up,
but
some
of
the
issues
that
were
named
in
the
report
at
the
time
was
that
there
was
a
number
of
issues
related
to
service
reliability.
A
There
was
a
need
for
more
improved
service
planning,
a
desire
to
reduce
Fair
box
loading
time,
in
other
words,
when
people
are
getting
on
the
bus
and
loading
their
money
onto
the
fare
box
as
they
get
on
the
bus,
a
desire
for
more
technology
enhancements
and
also
one
of
the
issues.
One
of
the
core
issues
that
was
named
was
the
lack
of
public
Trust.
A
Among
the
recommendations
for
that
report
were
to
create
a
more
streamlined
service
system
to
consolidate
some
of
the
bus
stops
that
were
too
close
together
to
reduce
Fair
loading
times
on
the
buses
to
upgrade
traffic
signals
and
add
more
bus
shelters,
as
well
as
creating
more
real-time
technology
like
a
Time
ticketed
system.
So
people
can
know
how
long
it
takes
before
their
bus
arrives.
A
Some
of
these
things
we've
actually
seen
like
there
has
been
a
recent
installation
of
at
some
of
the
bus
stops
of
the
the
time
ticketed
system
using
solar
panels,
but
most
of
those
changes
have
yet
to
happen
or
in
process.
So
what
what
28x
process
happened?
That
also
was
was
information
that
fed
into
go
Boston
2030.
the
city's
first
ever
city-wide
Transportation
Planning
process
that
was
merged
under
imagine,
Boston,
2030.
A
and
imagine.
Boston
2030
was
released
in
2017
and
in
2018
the
first
stage
of
the
Blue
Hill
Avenue
transportation
action
plan
began.
So
that
is
why
there
were
these
proposals
for
Center
running
bus
lanes
now.
I
know
that's
really
controversial
and
believe
me
as
someone
who
lives
here
as
well.
It
made
me
nervous
as
well,
but
here's
the
thing
about
the
center
running
bus
lanes
and
then
I
have
an
update
to
share
so
with
Center
running
bus
lanes.
A
The
reason
why
that
proposal
has
come
up
and
and
I
want
to
stress
that
it's
been
a
proposal.
It
has
not
been
set
in
stone,
but
the
reason
why
that
proposal
has
come
up
is
because
it
is
the
best
model
to
address
the
number
of
the
issues
that
have
been
raised.
A
Things
like
ridership
and
Mobility
access
would
be
streamlined,
and
that
also
would
free
up
sidewalks
so
that
there
can
be
more
public
infrastructure
to
support
sidewalks,
like
maybe
adding
some
more
Street,
Furniture
or
other
types
of
beautification
seating
for
restaurants,
because
there
are
a
lot
of
restaurants
that
don't
have
you
know,
access
to
outdoor
seating
and
it
will
be
improved
experience
for
motorists
as
well.
Some
data
that
we
found
around
this
was
one.
The
MBTA
28
bus
route
is
one
of
the
highest
utilized
bus
routes
in
the
system.
A
Still
it
was
back
when
there
were
streetcars,
and
it
is
today
that
being
said,
black
plus
ridership
spends
on
average
64
hours
more
per
year
compared
to
their
fellow
white
counterparts.
According
to
a
state
of
equity
report
from
the
metropolitan
area,
planning
Council
and
in
Rick's
report
found
that
Boston
drivers
lose
on
average
149
hours
a
year
being
stuck
in
traffic
when
the
RDM
study
was
done.
A
A
This
is
compared
to
the
area
median
income
for
the
city
of
Boston
Metro
region,
for
which
the
affordable
housing
rates
are
calculated
because
the
the
median
income
of
the
city
is
not
the
only
media
income.
That's
taken
into
account
when
you
see
like
those
affordability
rates.
That
number
is
more
than
twice
that
at
98
150
dollars.
A
So
that's
why
we're
looking
at
other
things,
instead
of
just
looking
at
Center,
running
bus
lanes
and
I'm,
going
to
pass
it
to
Kirsty
in
a
minute,
we'll
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
the
city's
commitment
about.
If
we,
if
you
all,
do
not
support
center
running
bus
lines,
and
it's
not
going
to
happen,
I
would
not
be
personally
would
not
be
involved
with
this
project
if
everything
was
already
a
done
deal
because
those
don't
align
with
my
values.
A
But
we
need
to
talk
about
the
conversation,
expanding
Beyond,
just
Center,
running
bus
lanes
because
that's
become
a
really
polarized
topic.
When
there
are
so
many
other
things
we
should
be
exploring
when
we
talk
about
how
to
improve
the
experience
or
how
we
live
work
and
play
along
Bruno
Avenue
things
like
laying
with
how
how
do
we
want
to
adjust
because
currently
right
now,
blue
Avenue
is
very
wide,
but
should
we?
How
should
we
change
those
Lanes?
We
want
to
accommodate
bike
Lanes.
A
A
Crosswalks
we've
got
a
number
of
stories
that
we're
hearing
from
residents
who
walk
people
who
persons
with
the
disabilities
who
are
having
difficulty
getting
around
just
the
street
curb
extensions
I
mentioned
Planters
and
other
types
of
beautification.
Should
we
extend
some
of
the
curbs?
A
Also,
shall
we
look
at
even
extending
the
sidewalks
to
accommodate
more
for
sitting
furniture
or
outdoor
furniture
for
eating
other
types
of
creative
Place
making
you
know
like
one
thing,
I
would
love
to
be
able
to
do
is
put
like
a
giant
chess
game
in
Mattapan
Square,
for
example,
or
a
Domino's
game.
You
know
to
accommodate
all
of
our.
You
know
latinx
and
Haitian
brothers
and
sisters
who
want
to
you
know
enjoy
some
play
outside.
A
Let's
think
about
how
we
can
really
utilize
this
process
to
liven
up
our
neighborhoods,
while
also
helping
to
inform
policy
to
also
protect
us
to
stay
in
place.
A
A
Should
the
bus
be
on
the
center
or
stay
on
the
side?
Do
we
want
to
create
things
to
streamline
for
less
traffic
or
more
traffic?
Just
remember,
there
are
pros
and
cons
to
whatever
we
choose
to
do
or
not
choose
to
do
so.
Thank
you
all
for
listening
to
my
presentation.
These
are
some
links
for
more
information.
A
If
you'd
like
to
learn
more
I'm,
also
going
to
pop
these
links
in
the
chat,
as
well
as
links
to
the
reports
and
once
let
me
pass
it
to
Kirsty
now
and
then
we'll
open
it
up
for
a
discussion.