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This is the stuff Boston has to go through to get liquor licenses for Black restaurants/lounges. We have to petition the state to raise their cap on Boston LQ licenses...smh
"The City Council will consider a proposal to seek permission from the state legislature to give Boston four new liquor licenses that would be restricted to use in the Bolling Building in Nubian Square, as a way to help stimulate economic activity there and help ease the historic disparity between wealthy Boston Proper areas and the city's Black and Brown neighborhoods when it comes to liquor licenses.
Although the building is mainly used as the Boston Public Schools headquarters, its ground floor has restaurant and community space."
And then in true Boston fashion, we have internal Black community disagreement:
"However, Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who represents Nubian Square and the rest of Roxbury, said she opposes the proposal. She said she recognizes the argument that liquor licenses can help restaurants thrive and can boost a neighborhood's economy, but said that her Muslim faith teaches her that alcohol is "detrimental to health and well being: and that there are "healthier, more appropriate ways to grow an economy."
So because she's Muslim we shouldn't want liquor licenses for Roxbury restaurants.. .$100 says she never mentioned this while campaigning. We have 10 full-service liquor licenses for black onwed businesses in this city of 173k black people, 10...and she is opposed to even asking for 4 more. Amazing.
I've been thinking about the retail development in Boston's Black neighborhoods compared to DC's Black neighborhoods east of the river recently. We have spoken about the difference in the amount of current retail in Nubian Square and other Black Boston neighborhoods compared to Black neighborhoods in Ward 7 in DC, but we have never talked about why that is the case. Would you say the distance to downtown Boston plays a role?
Nubian Square is about 2.85 sq. miles from the center of downtown Boston using the measure distance tool on google maps. Downtown Ward 7 in DC is around 4.80 sq. miles from the center of downtown DC. Ward 7 had retail saturation historically, but suffered massive loss after the 1968 riots and it never returned until this recent effort by the city. Even the Deanwood neighborhood had tons of grocery stores and food businesses in the early 1920's-1950's.
So my question is do you think the distance to the urban core played a role in Nubian Square having the level of retail it has sustained? Also, what kind of damage did it sustain, if any, during the MLK riots?
On a side note, I think it's amazing so many Black restaurants in Boston have been successful without liquor license. Would you say because they are mainly West Indian or African cuisine which is usually carryout, they don't require the sale of alcohol to survive in their current format?
I've been thinking about the retail development in Boston's Black neighborhoods compared to DC's Black neighborhoods east of the river recently. We have spoken about the difference in the amount of current retail in Nubian Square and other Black Boston neighborhoods compared to Black neighborhoods in Ward 7 in DC, but we have never talked about why that is the case. Would you say the distance to downtown Boston plays a role?
Nubian Square is about 2.85 sq. miles from the center of downtown Boston using the measure distance tool on google maps. Downtown Ward 7 in DC is around 4.80 sq. miles from the center of downtown DC. Ward 7 had retail saturation historically, but suffered massive loss after the 1968 riots and it never returned until this recent effort by the city. Even the Deanwood neighborhood had tons of grocery stores and food businesses in the early 1920's-1950's.
So my question is do you think the distance to the urban core played a role in Nubian Square having the level of retail it has sustained? Also, what kind of damage did it sustain, if any, during the MLK riots?
Distance has nothing to do with it, I'm quite certain actually.
Unlike a typical American city and DC Boston doesn't have a grid that radiates out from downtown. In fact Downtown is mostly cut off from the rest of the city to the Southby the Massachusetts Turnpike. T
Boston is built in a way where its meant to be very balkanized and extremely neighborhood oriented. its built around squares and former town centers that eventually got annexed into Boston. As a result, these areas were buitl to be self-sufficient and contained and their politics, business climate and identities reflect that. When my mother grew up they considered Nubian Square then Dudley Square "going down Dudley" she legitimately and truly believed that was downtown until she got her first job at age 15. Due to redlining and de facto balkanization to this day you still don't see the diversity of the city reflected in its downtown retail areas apart from Downtown Crossing. There's simply not much of a need for it.
During the MLK riots there was some rioting but there's the famous story of how James Brown saved Boston by allowing the mayor to haveWGBH to agree to broadcast his performance at the Boston Garden live for an additional $60,000 paid to James Brown. Apart from many of the black youth gathering in the Boston Garden to watch him perform, they were also watching a free telecast at home. The idea for the telecast was thought of by a Black Boston City Councilman, Tom Atkins. James Brown also calmed rowdy youth at the concert after they rushed his stage.
Lastly, most of the areas in Boston that are black now weren't black in 1968 when the riots occurred. Or had already been leveled by the Boston Redevelopment Authority for the Southwest Expressway that never materialized. The areas that have many black today: Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan and eastern Roslindale were all Jewish/Irish- Dorchester, Italian-Hyde Park, Jewish-Mattapan, or Greek/Jewsih-Roslindale. Eventually, many (afro) Latinos and black immigrants would take over those storefronts as white flight in extreme earnest occurred immediately after busing (1974) with smaller numbers of Black Americans opening businesses but mostly keeping to Roxbury or North Dorchester which is where Boston's heaviest blight is and was.
Ironically, you mention Nubian Square but compared to Cleary Square and Mattapan Square (46% black and 75% black respectively) its actually a retail dead zone.... and those neighbrohoods are 10+ miles from downtown.
Boston also has 2x as many foreign-born people as Dc in its city limits and probably more foreign black people than DC has in its city limits- certainly a much higher share. They open businesses. at a high rate. They revitalized Boston's black areas in the 1990s during the Boston Miracle/facelift years
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 04-04-2022 at 10:18 AM..
Distance has nothing to do with it, I'm quite certain actually.
Unlike a typical American city and DC Boston doesn't have a grid that radiates out from downtown. In fact Downtown is mostly cut off from the rest of the city to the Southby the Massachusetts Turnpike. T
Boston is built in a way where its meant to be very balkanized and extremely neighborhood oriented. its built around squares and former town centers that eventually got annexed into Boston. As a result, these areas were buitl to be self-sufficient and contained and their politics, business climate and identities reflect that. When my mother grew up they considered Nubian Square then Dudley Square "going down Dudley" she legitimately and truly believed that was downtown until she got her first job at age 15. Due to redlining and de facto balkanization to this day you still don't see the diversity of the city reflected in its downtown retail areas apart from Downtown Crossing. There's simply not much of a need for it.
During the MLK riots there was some rioting but there's the famous story of how James Brown saved Boston by allowing the mayor to haveWGBH to agree to broadcast his performance at the Boston Garden live for an additional $60,000 paid to James Brown. Apart from many of the black youth gathering in the Boston Garden to watch him perform, they were also watching a free telecast at home. The idea for the telecast was thought of by a Black Boston City Councilman, Tom Atkins. James Brown also calmed rowdy youth at the concert after they rushed his stage.
Lastly, most of the areas in Boston that are black now weren't black in 1968 when the riots occurred. Or had already been leveled by the Boston Redevelopment Authority for the Southwest Expressway that never materialized.
Ironically, you mention Nubian Square but compared to Cleary Square and Mattapan Square (46% black and 75% black respectively) its actually a retail dead zone.... and those neighbrohoods are 10+ miles from downtown.
Boston also has 2x as many foreign-born people as Dc in its city limits and probably more foreign black people than DC has in its city limits- certainly a much higher share. They open businesses. at a high rate. They revitalized Boston's black areas in the 1990s during the Boston Miracle/facelift years
That's very interesting and to your point at the end, yes, West Indian and African born people do open businesses. Why do you think they are able to do that? Where do they get the financial capital to open these businesses? Is it family money? I know access to capital is the main reason Black American's struggle to open businesses. Immigrants without the disadvantages of American Slavery seem to be able to open businesses much easier.
As for retail development, Boston has so many single story retail corridors while areas east of the river in DC seem to be residential in comparison with pockets of mixed use. What is interesting is that those retail corridors in Boston don't seem to be mixed use. Do you ever see that changing in Black neighborhoods?
The vacant lot at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Fabyan Street in Mattapan has been an eyesore for 30 years, a magnet for wind-blown trash and empty liquor bottles. Dariela Villón-Maga, who lives only a few blocks away, has passed by the lot practically every week of her life, daydreaming of what could be.
New Options could be new affordable homes, perhaps, for the residents who have been pushed out of the neighborhood by soaring rents; commercial space for a locally owned business, one that focuses on wellness; or a spot for local artists to hang their work, bringing new life to the lot and the neighborhood.
The vacant lot at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Fabyan Street in Mattapan has been an eyesore for 30 years, a magnet for wind-blown trash and empty liquor bottles. Dariela Villón-Maga, who lives only a few blocks away, has passed by the lot practically every week of her life, daydreaming of what could be.
New Options could be new affordable homes, perhaps, for the residents who have been pushed out of the neighborhood by soaring rents; commercial space for a locally owned business, one that focuses on wellness; or a spot for local artists to hang their work, bringing new life to the lot and the neighborhood.
Over the last half century, the corridor has stood as a symbol of neglect and disenfranchisement. Government entities scrapped spending on public programs. Banks refused loans for local residents and merchants. City officials vowed time and again to reinvest in the area; over the decades those efforts invariably stalled.
....
the 30-parcel Blue Hill Ave. Action Plan focuses on partnerships with local developers who share a vision for the community; ideally all the involved developers would be from the neighborhood.
...
“This all gives you a sense of what works for the folks who are there and don’t want to leave,†Dillon said.
Former city councilor Andrea Campbell, when she was on the Council, pushed for the effort to “activate†the vacant lots, as she put it last year. Her vision was to reach out to local developers who may not have had the technical know-how to bid on city land, but wanted to invest in their community.
Fatima Ali-Salaam, chairwoman of the Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council, who was involved in reviewing proposals, said that the process was designed to specifically have community involvement, with a vision of what the community wants — right up until construction begins. She noted, for instance, that Villón-Maga responded to community requests to offer more of the housing units for sale, rather than rentals, creating more homeownership and wealth-building opportunities for residents who already live in Mattapan.
There are a good amount of natural mixed-use areas- not a lot of housing on top of storefronts but some. generally the apartments are just 15 feet around the corner
There are a good amount of natural mixed-use areas- not a lot of housing on top of storefronts but some. generally the apartments are just 15 feet around the corner
When did they build all the single-story retail? Was it a movement? I'm thinking maybe the movement to separate uses in the 1950's-2000 created retail on the main streets and residential on the side streets in Boston proper?
I know in DC, they built suburban shopping centers with surface parking lots. All of those are completely gone in DC's urban core now. The only ones left are on the outskirts of the city east of the river or the Maryland/DC border in upper NW/NE.
When did they build all the single-story retail? Was it a movement? I'm thinking maybe the movement to separate uses in the 1950's-2000 created retail on the main streets and residential on the side streets in Boston proper?
I know in DC, they built suburban shopping centers with surface parking lots. All of those are completely gone in DC's urban core now. The only ones left are on the outskirts of the city east of the river or the Maryland/DC border in upper NW/NE.
In many cases they wer 2-3 story housing above them but it was SRO or boarding homes and they were considered a bight and often times removed from atop the storefronts. There has been a movement to put them back atop the retail. Also, many people don't like living above stores and restaurants.
You can see thtat in one black section of Bostonhere:
As alluded to in the article earleir Boston also has any smal vacants lots in its balck community- noticebaly more than Washington DC due to extreme levels of white flight and arson-for-profit. So theres ample room for new commercial development. However, Boston housing cost are so high often times there is pressure to do only housing to increase supply.
When did they build all the single-story retail? Was it a movement? I'm thinking maybe the movement to separate uses in the 1950's-2000 created retail on the main streets and residential on the side streets in Boston proper?
I know in DC, they built suburban shopping centers with surface parking lots. All of those are completely gone in DC's urban core now. The only ones left are on the outskirts of the city east of the river or the Maryland/DC border in upper NW/NE.
Boston has those too. Not as much in the core of Boston but they exist mostly in black areas or Irish areas of Dorchester:
In many cases they wer 2-3 story housing above them but it was SRO or boarding homes and they were considered a bight and often times removed from atop the storefronts. There has been a movement to put them back atop the retail. Also, many people don't like living above stores and restaurants.
You can see thtat in one black section of Bostonhere:
As alluded to in the article earleir Boston also has any smal vacants lots in its balck community- noticebaly more than Washington DC due to extreme levels of white flight and arson-for-profit. So theres ample room for new commercial development. However, Boston housing cost are so high often times there is pressure to do only housing to increase supply.
Has there been a comprehensive plan update to increase allowable density and height to accommodate larger projects on those corridors? Honestly, those smaller lots are less likely to be developed. The profit margin just isn't large enough for large developers with access to capital. To revitalize those areas, there needs to be multiple parcels assembled for largescale redevelopment. That will attract the private sector.
Boston is a exceptionally varied city in a lot of ways.
Oh wow, that's surprising. DC doesn't have nearly that many. They also aren't large like those. I will tell you the redevelopment potential is massive for those shopping centers you just posted.
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