The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) held a community meeting to update the public about the urban renewal plans for the Downtown Waterfront-Faneuil Hall area on Thursday evening. In August 2016, the Boston Redevelopment Agency (BRA) received a six-year extension of the urban renewal powers with the conditions that the agency provide more financial Read More…
The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA, formerly known as the BRA) recently shared with the Boston City Council that it will be holding sixteen community meetings about the different urban renewal areas. In August 2016, the Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) approved BRA’s request for a six-year extension of urban renewal powers, Read More…
Prior to the demolition of Boston’s old West End, another vibrant, multi-ethnic neighborhood of tenement houses and mom-and-pop shops fell victim to so-called ‘urban renewal.’ From February 21 through Fall 2017, The West End Museum hosts The New York Streets: Boston’s First Urban Renewal Project, a new exhibit that tells the story of this lost Read More…
In its recent approval of the 6-year extension of Urban Renewal powers by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) imposed conditions to address lingering concerns related to the extension. In particular, the review process by the Boston City Council become more important. The first BRA oversight hearing Read More…
Victor Brogna, Chair of the Zoning, Licensing & Construction Committee for the North End / Waterfront Residents’ Association (NEWRA), reports on Friday’s hearing by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) on the proposed six-year extension of special Urban Renewal powers by Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA). The hearing was conducted by Christine A. McClave, Deputy General Read More…
The Boston City Council voted 10-3 this week to approve a six-year extension of controversial urban renewal powers by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The special authority covers 14 districts throughout the city, including the Downtown Waterfront, West End, Government Center and North Station area. The length of the extension was reduced from the ten years the Read More…
North End / Waterfront Residents’ Association (NEWRA) hosted a letter writing discussion to oppose the proposed extension of Urban Renewal Zone powers by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA). The BRA has asked for 10-year extensions for 14 Urban Renewal Zones, covering a large percentage of the land in the downtown area including the southern and waterfront Read More…
The Alliance of Downtown Civic Organizations (ADCO) has issued a letter, representing seven neighborhood groups, requesting a delay of the 10-year reauthorization for the urban renewal powers in certain city areas by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Associations joining in this letter are Bay Village Neighborhood Association, the Beacon Hill Civic Association, the Boston Chinatown Residents’ Association, Read More…
At the October 8th meeting of the North End / Waterfront Residents’ Association (NEWRA), President Ford Cavallari led a follow-up discussion regarding the pending 10-year extension of urban renewal powers by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. At its September 2015 meeting, NEWRA voted unanimously against the extension, joining with the Alliance of Downtown Civic Organizations (ADCO) in signing Read More…
This is the second of a two-part series on the destruction of the old West End in the name of urban renewal. Catch up with Part 1 here. For over thirty years Felicia Solimine was a North End institution. In 1958 she opened Felicia’s on Richmond St. and it immediately became one of the North Read More…
In a unanimous vote of 26-0, North End / Waterfront Residents’ Association (NEWRA) voted to oppose the proposed 10-year extension of urban renewal powers by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. [See BRA Seeks to Extend Urban Renewal Powers]. Joining with the Alliance of Downtown Civic Organizations (ADCO), NEWRA President Ford Cavallari presented an anti-urban renewal letter that will Read More…
There are still a few of us left who remember when the West End was demolished and replaced with Charles River Park. It’s a sad story and one that has always been of particular interest to me because my wife was born there and because so many West Enders moved to the North End. One Read More…