Senator Will Brownsberger and Representative Mike Moran will co-host a community meeting on Wednesday, April 5 from 7 – 8:30 PM at the Fiorentino Community Center, regarding the future of a land parcel on Birmingham Parkway in Brighton owned by the Department of Conservation & Recreation. The meeting will discuss the potential for affordable workforce housing and roadway improvements, and will provide area residents the opportunity to weigh in on possible directions.
The Josephine A. Fiorentino Community Center is located at 123 Antwerp Street in Allston.
Senator,
How would this comply with the State’s “no net loss” policy described at http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/mepa/about-mepa/eea-policies/eea-article-97-land-disposition-policy.html?
Also, this site is in a designated Environmental Justice area. How does that factor in to your thinking on the subject?
Thank you,
Harry
Birmingham Parkway has great potential to be a green link between the Charles River and the booming New Balance area. Certainly there is a need for more housing in Boston and the current condition of this parkland leaves much to be desired, but hopefully any development that happens here can also be a net improvement for the environment.
This would be a great opportunity to improve Birmingham Pkwy, which is very overbuilt for the amount of typical traffic.
I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize that affordable housing should always be paired with good bicycle accessibility, which is a low-cost form of transportation.
My ideas include:
– reduction of the roadway to two vehicle lanes with separated bike lanes to improve neighborhood feel
– build bicycle and pedestrian access to the business area on Soldier’s Field Road
– add a contraflow bike lane to the end of Lincoln Street, which is a low stress alternative to Western Ave