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This is a nice documentary! Very informative and told through the residents eyes. I especially liked the line by one of the women being interviewed where she said we need to tell our own story instead of letting other people tell our story through their eyes (well, something like that), but she is so right. Too often, we allow people outside of Black neighborhoods to paint a negative narrative of what it's like to live in a Black neighborhood, but this documentary showed the culture, community, and goodwill like the community coming together for the families that lost their homes during the fire.
I wish Black neighborhoods in cities all over America could have similar documentaries done showing the culture and community in a positive light instead of the negative media that is shown all the time. If I moved to Boston, this is probably the neighborhood I would choose to live in. Black is beautiful and powerful. I love us. Thanks for posting!
You may have seen Deatrich Wise from the patriots in the Mattapan Teen Center there. He was just up to something in Mattapan, here’s a link that adds some backstory to his presence and to the documentary itself.
Deatrich Wise Jr. knew he found something special when he visited the Josh Kraft Mattapan Teen Center for the first time.
The kids were passionate, creative, and technologically savvy, and the New England Patriots defensive end wanted to find a way to celebrate them. There, the idea for his annual block party began, but he never imagined how much it could evolve four years later.
"Everybody is always looking forward to this event now," Wise Jr. said. "This started off as a thought to help shine a light on the Mattapan Teen Center and what those kids do, and it became a platform for them. I remember coming back for the second (block party) and it was just different. The atmosphere was so joyous. Everyone said it was something they'd never seen before."
The fourth annual block party is on Saturday, Oct. 22, rain or shine, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mattapan Teen Center.
The event will feature food trucks, cooking demonstrations, art, a pop-up barbershop, hair braiding, a free farmers market, music, and other activities to bring people together.
By Wise Jr.'s logic, you can't go wrong with food, music and sports. The block party boasts that trifecta, and the turnout gets better every year.
It's really a hidden gem," Wise Jr. said about the Mattapan community. "I think it's overshadowed by all the negative connotations that people make with Mattapan, but once you peel back a layer and go into Mattapan and see the people – they're full of love and full of light."
The neighborhood will be represented well at the block party.
Fresh Food Generation, Gourmet Kreyol, Sweet Tee z Bakery and the Commonwealth Kitchen will offer food to the public, with Joselyn Ortega of ByJawz coordinating the babers and braiders. Muralist GoFive (Genaro Ortega), who also works as an art teacher in Roxbury, will be painting live, and Jeff 2Timez, a longtime Dorchester DJ and radio host, will set the day's soundtrack.
Of course, the kids from the Mattapan Teen Center will steal the show.
There will be a screening of the documentary "Mattapan," which was written, directed, and produced by 14-year-old Moses Sibley. His older brother King David Sibley, also a member of the program, will MC the stage show from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
In the documentary, we have Afro-Latinos, Cape Verdean, Haitians, African Americans all is one United Mattapan community. But it’s all under an underlying Black American foundation/background. And the fact that many do the residents chose “vibrant” or “cultural” if they had to choose one word to describe Mattapan. Deatrich Wise chose the one word as “culture”…All different types of food. I hope you enjoyed the tour of Almont Park, in particular.
This is an area that diversified in the mid-late 80s-late 1990s. It’s been stable ever since, it’s very much the border of Dorchester and Mattapan, note it’s like 1.5 blocks from Dorchester Ave.
My Antiguan-Jamaican bro lives right near that part in a two family house on pleasant hill ave. He went to a suburban school via METCO. https://maps.app.goo.gl/vM4HemTMJtWKFiGE8?g_st=ic We used to play ball with ex Providence Friar and Gonzaga Billdog Gerald Coleman at Walsh Park. Growing up it was a place for middle class black kids and their little brothers. We set fireworks off here, hang out, shoot dice...
The far southern part of this census tract has some white families that spillover and are more open minded than those a mile or two east of them at the same latitutde. Virtually of them are Jewish or Irish American. https://maps.app.goo.gl/VfyWJUeL1poJtqCa8?g_st=ic
Also coming down Washington Street you can catch Brockton Area Transit 1 or 12 bus down to Brockton (103k people 50% Black incl. those in combo). https://www.ridebat.com/routes/route-12/
The city council district is District 5 (70%+ black, 10% white) they’re are represented by Brian Worrell a 2nd generation Jamaican-Barbadian man born and raised in the district. He narrowly defeated William Dickerson (ADOS) and Evandro Carvalho (CV)) in the council race: https://www.boston.gov/departments/c.../brian-worrell
I see so many opportunities for invest in Mattapan. Especially in Southern Mattapan where the subway stop is. It reminds me of so many other Black neighborhoods in American cities that have potential to be a Black city within a city. Diverse housing stock and commercial corridors that could be an anchor for Black people in the region.
This area right here which is anchored by Mattapan T subway station could be a major mixed-use development. It is close enough to Hyde Park that Black professionals would rent the new apartments built over retail. I could easily see 4-6 story buildings here with first floor retail. It's also far enough south that most of the demand would come from Black professionals instead of every race except Black people which is the biggest complaint for new developments around the country. Rents would be more affordable too! I wonder if anyone has approached the mayor of Boston about investing in this corridor? I know she is for that type of investment, right?
When we talk about investment in Black communities and what that looks like in 2022 to keep our community together, I think a mixture of housing types for everyone is the solution. We need to provide an urban and suburban experience for Black families to stay in place. This is the answer. We need apartments, condos, rowhouses, and detached single family houses with a yard in the same community. Mattapan can be all those things and more anchored by a T subway station.
These census Block groups are ground zero for where the Boston city government should put their money to anchor a mixed-use Black high-density downtown neighborhood anchored by Mattapan T subway station and Blue Hill Boston T commuter rail station.
One of these block groups has a median income of $112,000 with a 71% Black population. Another has a $70,000 median income with a 90% Black population. It's the perfect candidate.
After furthur research, it looks like the Boston planners have the same idea:
City planners hope to turn Mattapan into a “10-minute neighborhood” by allowing the construction of up to 2,400 additional homes, encouraging a more diverse mix of retail along its major corridors - from bodegas to daycares - and installing street improvements to create safer crossings for pedestrians.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 10-24-2022 at 11:26 AM..
I see so many opportunities for invest in Mattapan. Especially in Southern Mattapan where the subway stop is. It reminds me of so many other Black neighborhoods in American cities that have potential to be a Black city within a city. Diverse housing stock and commercial corridors that could be an anchor for Black people in the region.
This area right here which is anchored by Mattapan T subway station could be a major mixed-use development. It is close enough to Hyde Park that Black professionals would rent the new apartments built over retail. I could easily see 4-6 story buildings here with first floor retail. It's also far enough south that most of the demand would come from Black professionals instead of every race except Black people which is the biggest complaint for new developments around the country. Rents would be more affordable too! I wonder if anyone has approached the mayor of Boston about investing in this corridor? I know she is for that type of investment, right?
When we talk about investment in Black communities and what that looks like in 2022 to keep our community together, I think a mixture of housing types for everyone is the solution. We need to provide an urban and suburban experience for Black families to stay in place. This is the answer. We need apartments, condos, rowhouses, and detached single family houses with a yard in the same community. Mattapan can be all those things and more anchored by a T subway station.
Yea they're aready building otu that area with quite a fee proposal, some of them black led.
A new proposal could bring more than 150 apartments and a restaurant to Mattapan’s Blue Hill Avenue.
A letter of intent was filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency May 10 on behalf of the developer for a mixed-use development project at 1590 Blue Hill Ave. It would be designed by local architect Jonathan C. Garland.
According to the filing, the project “contemplates” the construction of two buildings on the site that spans from Blue Hill Avenue to River Street. Building A would be a six-story building along Blue Hill Avenue with 65 residential units and 4,475 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Building B would front River Street and would also be six stories but would house 100 units and 44 garage parking spaces. There would also be ample visitor and bicycle parking, as well as a BlueBikes station in front of the site on Blue Hill Avenue.
The project would be within walking distance of the MBTA’s Mattapan light rail station in Mattapan Square.
While the number of affordable units was not specifically outlined, the filing does note the developer is “committed to exceeding” the requirements of Boston’s Inclusion Development Policy for creating affordable housing at the site.
I see so many opportunities for invest in Mattapan. Especially in Southern Mattapan where the subway stop is. It reminds me of so many other Black neighborhoods in American cities that have potential to be a Black city within a city. Diverse housing stock and commercial corridors that could be an anchor for Black people in the region.
This area right here which is anchored by Mattapan T subway station could be a major mixed-use development. It is close enough to Hyde Park that Black professionals would rent the new apartments built over retail. I could easily see 4-6 story buildings here with first floor retail. It's also far enough south that most of the demand would come from Black professionals instead of every race except Black people which is the biggest complaint for new developments around the country. Rents would be more affordable too! I wonder if anyone has approached the mayor of Boston about investing in this corridor? I know she is for that type of investment, right?
When we talk about investment in Black communities and what that looks like in 2022 to keep our community together, I think a mixture of housing types for everyone is the solution. We need to provide an urban and suburban experience for Black families to stay in place. This is the answer. We need apartments, condos, rowhouses, and detached single family houses with a yard in the same community. Mattapan can be all those things and more anchored by a T subway station.
These census Block groups are ground zero for where the Boston city government should put their money to anchor a mixed-use Black high-density downtown neighborhood anchored by Mattapan T subway station and Blue Hill Boston T commuter rail station.
One of these block groups has a median income of $112,000 with a 71% Black population. Another has a $70,000 median income with a 90% Black population. It's the perfect candidate.
The issue is Roxbury has much more connectivity to downtown, much more density as is, and a longer and more established black legacy. And much more political clout. Its also more unstable and lower income so it's easier to steamroll your way through.
The Black emphasis si put in Roxbury which ultimately is whiter and more susceptible to gentrification. But even in the black community its more famous/infamous and desirable.
The issue is Roxbury has much more connectivity to downtown, much more density as is, and a longer and more established black legacy. And much more political clout. Its also more unstable and lower income so it's easier to steamroll your way through.
The Black emphasis si put in Roxbury which ultimately is whiter and more susceptible to gentrification. But even in the black community its more famous/infamous and desirable.
This is an interesting debate when it comes to where should investment be placed. I don't think cities should put their dollars in neighborhoods that are lost. I think the investment should go to neighborhoods that can still be saved. We aren't trying to connect neighborhoods to downtown Boston. That type of investment is for the people that are moving slowly neighborhood-by-neighborhood gentrifying the Black people out in the process. We have to place our dollars in areas where Black people and culture is still the strongest.
Roxbury and Dorchester are lost if we are being honest. They are pretty much mixed neighborhoods now. Mattapan still has neighborhoods in the 70-90% Black range. That is where the dollars need to go so people that look like them move into the new residential buildings and patronize the restaurants and stores. Boston has enough Black people moving there making good money that Mattapan could absorb those that have a desire to live among their own. The city just needs to provide market rate or workforce housing in a downtown urban setting to attract them. That area around the T station is perfect for that. Housing over retail in those blocks could create a Black city within a city.
With investment, many times the government has to be first which signals to the private sector that they should put their money there. You mentioned there are alcohol licenses for Black people now right? Many of those should only be made available in that corridor. I'm sure it is an opportunity zone so that helps too. Maybe Boston needs to move some city agencies to that area to provide the daytime foot traffic needed to make it successful.
Do you think the community would want new retail options and restaurants for Black people and owned by Black people?
Last edited by MDAllstar; 10-24-2022 at 01:06 PM..
A new proposal could bring more than 150 apartments and a restaurant to Mattapan’s Blue Hill Avenue.
A letter of intent was filed with the Boston Planning & Development Agency May 10 on behalf of the developer for a mixed-use development project at 1590 Blue Hill Ave. It would be designed by local architect Jonathan C. Garland.
According to the filing, the project “contemplates” the construction of two buildings on the site that spans from Blue Hill Avenue to River Street. Building A would be a six-story building along Blue Hill Avenue with 65 residential units and 4,475 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Building B would front River Street and would also be six stories but would house 100 units and 44 garage parking spaces. There would also be ample visitor and bicycle parking, as well as a BlueBikes station in front of the site on Blue Hill Avenue.
The project would be within walking distance of the MBTA’s Mattapan light rail station in Mattapan Square.
While the number of affordable units was not specifically outlined, the filing does note the developer is “committed to exceeding” the requirements of Boston’s Inclusion Development Policy for creating affordable housing at the site.
Nice! Who is moving into these buildings? Is it Black people mainly?
This is an interesting debate when it comes to where should investment be placed. I don't think cities should put their dollars in neighborhoods that are lost. I think the investment should go to neighborhoods that can still be saved. We aren't trying to connect neighborhoods to downtown Boston. That type of investment is for the people that are moving slowly neighborhood-by-neighborhood gentrifying the Black people out in the process. We have to place our dollars in areas where Black people and culture is still the strongest.
Roxbury and Dorchester are lost if we are being honest. They are pretty much mixed neighborhoods now. Mattapan still has neighborhoods in the 70-90% Black range. That is where the dollars need to go so people that look like them move into the new residential buildings and patronize the restaurants and stores. Boston has enough Black people moving there making good money that Mattapan could absorb those that have a desire to live among their own. The city just needs to provide market rate or workforce housing in a downtown urban setting to attract them. That area around the T station is perfect for that. Housing over retail in those blocks could create a Black city within a city.
With investment, many times the government has to be first which signals to the private sector that they should put their money there. You mentioned there are alcohol licenses for Black people now right? Many of those should only be made available in that corridor. I'm sure it is an opportunity zone so that helps too. Maybe Boston needs to move some city agencies to that area to provide the daytime foot traffic needed to make it successful.
Do you think the community would want new retail options and restaurants for Black people and owned by Black people?
I’m not arguing but I think the reality is a little more complex- do people, especially black people, in Boston really feel like Roxbury and Dorchester are mixed neighborhoods right now? probably not.
The reality is Dorchester is so large that the Black sections west of Dorchester Avenue (W.O.W., Codman Square, Bowdoin-Geneva, Franklin Field, Franklin Hill, Four Corners, Ashmont, Meeting House Hill are mostly what anyone who is black knows of Dorchester and is referring to when they report to Dorchester. In combination, those are solidly black areas. Locally- we just call a good chunk of it “white Dorchester” Neponset or “near Southie” Also Dot has always been a mixed neighborhood if demographics today are basically identical to that of 2000 actually the neighborhood is less white today than it was then even in 1990 it was 49% white and 32% black so to be 22% white now… it’s always been a mixed neighborhood basically. But in reality, it’s segregated with Franklin Hill being basically all black and Port Norfolk being all white. Much like how Grove Hall in Roxbury is way blacker than Fort Hill in Roxbury.
And while Roxbury is 13% white that’s mostly on the northern and western boundaries of places that I’ve always been arguably Roxbury Boston has long had a population of low income Asians (they have lower incomes than black in Boston) many of whom have been gentrified out of Chinatown or the housing subsidized housing the South End or even the fields corner section of Dorchester from a young age seeing lower income southeast Asians and Cantonese on the bus and the train in Roxbury was never too out of the ordinary additionally Roxbury has been over 30% Hispanic since 2000 I know it’s not the case in DC but in Boston people aren’t going to necessarily look at a black and Latino neighborhood has one that is “mixed” The Asians are mostly unnoticed I’ve never seen them come up in a conversation regarding Roxbury.
Keep in mind that the mixed race category is full of Cape Verdeans who have never been considered mixed race aim Roxbury and Dorchester for all practical purposes but The census has recategorized Cape Verdeans and that’s one of the things - depending on how you measure it there have never been more Black people living in Boston. Mattapan has *far* fewer Cape Verdeans than Roxbury or Dorchester because the Cape Verdean community is headquarters in Upham corner on the Roxbury/Dorchester boundary. They are there as we saw in the documentary and as evidenced by Dana Barros. In Boston, for us- those are just black people.
Most Black people of means are going to have a car and are going to prefer Hyde Park and general they already do especially many of the more prominent African-Americans in the professional world are in the academic world many of them tend to choose to live and die in Hyde Park over Mattapan. The inclusion of the red line isn’t really a draw especially when the redline also goes into Milton And in Hyde Park you have three commuter rail stations. Then you have those like the Boston College Professor I know who moves to Roxbury from Jackson MS because she could be near the city and her job and be in a black area. It’s a bit harder in Mattapan. I know a private school headmistress who has lived in Boston her whole life- lived the last 30 years in Milton and when her daughter (my friend) went to Spelman she leapfrogged over Mattapan into Roxbury. The buppies that move here really like Roxbury because it’s got the cache (for Boston) and it’s got more beautiful architecture and closeness to the city and more bars/restaurants.
Mattapan faces competition from more urban places like Nubian Square, similar “nicer” places like Hyde Park, and cheaper black-ish suburban locales nearby like Randolph or Stoughton. It’s not so easy, especially when Mattapan residents are anti-development and “Roxbury” is still a code word/euphemism for “black” across Massachusetts: Add to this the city has spent some real $$$ on marketing Robxury as the black cultural hub, and its actually pretty important to the city's image and future plans. However, FWIW i do see a Challenger here at Cote Village with New York plates lol..
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 10-24-2022 at 02:22 PM..
Nice! Who is moving into these buildings? Is it Black people mainly?
Oh yeah, absolutely. White people are not messing with Mattapan like that, too far from the colleges/bars/high-paying jobs/white neighborhoods. When I was there a 2 months ago it was all black people at Cote Village I didn't see anyone white in Mattapan whatsoever. Not the case in Roxbury.
I’m not arguing but I think the reality is a little more complex- do people, especially black people, in Boston really feel like Roxbury and Dorchester are mixed neighborhoods right now? probably not.
The reality is Dorchester is so large that the Black sections west of Dorchester Avenue (W.O.W., Codman Square, Bowdoin-Geneva, Franklin Field, Franklin Hill, Four Corners, Ashmont, Meeting House Hill are mostly what anyone who is black knows of Dorchester and is referring to when they report to Dorchester. In combination, those are solidly black areas. Locally- we just call a good chunk of it “white Dorchester” Neponset or “near Southie” Also Dot has always been a mixed neighborhood if demographics today are basically identical to that of 2000 actually the neighborhood is less white today than it was then even in 1990 it was 49% white and 32% black so to be 22% white now… it’s always been a mixed neighborhood basically. But in reality, it’s segregated with Franklin Hill being basically all black and Port Norfolk being all white. Much like how Grove Hall in Roxbury is way blacker than Fort Hill in Roxbury.
And while Roxbury is 13% white that’s mostly on the northern and western boundaries of places that I’ve always been arguably Roxbury Boston has long had a population of low income Asians (they have lower incomes than black in Boston) many of whom have been gentrified out of Chinatown or the housing subsidized housing the South End or even the fields corner section of Dorchester from a young age seeing lower income southeast Asians and Cantonese on the bus and the train in Roxbury was never too out of the ordinary additionally Roxbury has been over 30% Hispanic since 2000 I know it’s not the case in DC but in Boston people aren’t going to necessarily look at a black and Latino neighborhood has one that is “mixed” The Asians are mostly unnoticed I’ve never seen them come up in a conversation regarding Roxbury.
Keep in mind that the mixed race category is full of Cape Verdeans who have never been considered mixed race aim Roxbury and Dorchester for all practical purposes but The census has recategorized Cape Verdeans and that’s one of the things - depending on how you measure it there have never been more Black people living in Boston. Mattapan has *far* fewer Cape Verdeans than Roxbury or Dorchester because the Cape Verdean community is headquarters in Upham corner on the Roxbury/Dorchester boundary. They are there as we saw in the documentary and as evidenced by Dana Barros. In Boston, for us- those are just black people.
Most Black people of means are going to have a car and are going to prefer Hyde Park and general they already do especially many of the more prominent African-Americans in the professional world are in the academic world many of them tend to choose to live and die in Hyde Park over Mattapan. The inclusion of the red line isn’t really a draw especially when the redline also goes into Milton And in Hyde Park you have three commuter rail stations. Then you have those like the Boston College Professor I know who moves to Roxbury from Jackson MS because she could be near the city and her job and be in a black area. It’s a bit harder in Mattapan. I know a private school headmistress who has lived in Boston her whole life- lived the last 30 years in Milton and when her daughter (my friend) went to Spelman she leapfrogged over Mattapan into Roxbury. The buppies that move here really like Roxbury because it’s got the cache (for Boston) and it’s got more beautiful architecture and closeness to the city and more bars/restaurants.
Mattapan faces competition from more urban places like Nubian Square, similar “nicer” places like Hyde Park, and cheaper black-ish suburban locales nearby like Randolph or Stoughton. It’s not so easy, especially when Mattapan residents are anti-development and “Roxbury” is still a code word/euphemism for “black” across Massachusetts: Add to this the city has spent some real $$$ on marketing Robxury as the black cultural hub, and its actually pretty important to the city's image and future plans. However, FWIW i do see a Challenger here at Cote Village with New York plates lol..
So which neighborhood has the same potential as Mattapan with Black demographics in the 70-90% range? Is Hype Park in that range? I know it too has a T station. I guess it is a better candidate maybe? That would be interesting because that neighborhood is even further than Mattapan so the city would have to skip over Mattapan to get there.
Also, perception changes in neighborhoods over time. Professional Black people didn’t move east of the river before 2005 in large numbers.
So which neighborhood has the same potential as Mattapan with Black demographics in the 70-90% range? Is Hype Park in that range?
None technically. Because IRL the 80%+ black census tracts are basically all in Roxbury and Dorchester but they’re in smaller subsections of those areas.
The blacker subsections at that 70%+ range at probably
Roxbury
-Nubian Square
-Dudley-Brunswick-King
-Magnolia-Intervale-Columbia (kind of the same as DBK)
-Upper Roxbury
-Grove Hall
-Elm Hill
-Orchard Gardens
-Madison Park
Dorchester:
-Four Corners
-Frankie Hill
-Franklin Field
-West of Washington
-Codman Square
-Bowdoin-Geneva
Hyde Park:
-RiverWood
Mattapan:
-all of it
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