Hyde/Jackson Square

Boston’s Latin Quarter Is Here
Hyde Jackson Square Main Streets is excited to officially announce the naming of its commercial area as “Boston’s Latin Quarter,” as well as the launch of a new map and directory. This marks the beginning of a major effort to market the district in a new way. The goal is to bring more customers to the area, and increase the success of local stores.

By marketing Hyde/Jackson Square as Boston’s Latin Quarter, we are giving the public a clear image of the district, and what they can expect to find when they visit. The district has long been known as the heart of Latino life in Boston. The majority of businesses have Latino owners, and Latinos come from all of New England to shop here. Even Big Papi and other Latino baseball players shop here regularly.

Like Chinatown and the North End, Boston’s Latin Quarter is for everyone who wants to explore a neighborhood, in this case, one that offers a distinctly Latino flavor, with restaurants and other specialty products and services. In 2005, we conducted a survey of people who come to our district’s restaurants, and 55 percent were not Latino. At El Oriental de Cuba, the customers were 50/50 Latino and non-Latino. At La Pupusa Guanaca, it was 45/55. Our district is a great place to come for a meal or to shop, for Latinos and non-Latinos alike.

Hyde/Jackson Square, like JP, is very diverse, and we celebrate that diversity. In addition to being the place to go for Latino food, music and more, we also want our district to be known as a great place to bowl, get an independent video, find great restaurants and much more. Our goal is to be sure that people from JP, Boston and beyond know all that Hyde/Jackson Square has to offer.

A New Directory & Map
Included in this week’s Gazette is a copy of the new Boston Latin Quarter map/directory. It has a categorized list of businesses by type and by location, and includes each store’s phone number. Post it on your refrigerator, and use it when you are looking for a good restaurant, a place to shop or to find services locally.

The map is the cornerstone of our marketing effort. It will be available in all of our businesses, to help shoppers who come to one store learn about all that is available throughout the area.

We also plan to put up poster-sized copies of the map and logo on bus stops and other places throughout the district, and on the streets leading to the district. It includes the new logo for the district, created to reflect its Latino character.

JP prides itself on the support of local, independently owned businesses. With so much new retail coming, from the Jackson Square development to Blessed Sacrament and 319 Centre St., not only do we want to support our existing small businesses, but we also want to make sure that, in this time of exciting change, we hold onto what makes us unique.

We are asking people to help us get the word out about Boston’s Latin Quarter—to pass out the directory to all their friends and let them know all that the district has to offer. We appreciate the community’s support in this effort. Together we will build on the strength and vibrancy of Boston’s Latin Quarter.

For more information about Hyde Jackson Square Main Street call 522-3694 or see www.hydejacksonsquare.org.

The writer is on the board of directors of Hyde Jackson Square Main Streets.