All the candidates for election this year, no matter their party, seemed to agree on one value: families. Here in Massachusetts, U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican, and Democratic challenger, now Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren, argued fiercely on many topics. But they were both always for families. Scott Brown’s biography at his U.S. Senate web...
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JP Observer: The Arborway Yard: When ‘temporary’ has lasted too long
The MBTA placed a legal notice in the Boston Herald in 1998 looking for bids on construction of a transportation facility on 17 acres in Forest Hills. Local elected officials and the community members were shocked to see their plans showed a monolithic building covering the entire area with a garage for 186 buses,...
Sen. Brown rallies JP supporters
HYDE SQ.—U.S. Sen. Scott Brown drew over 100 supporters–as well as Democratic Party opponents–to the grand opening of the new Republican Party campaign office at 370 Centre St. on Oct. 15. The GOP has drawn attention for its decision to open the office in generally liberal Jamaica Plain and in Hyde Square, one of...
Sen. Brown rallies supporters in Hyde Square visit
HYDE SQ.—U.S. Sen. Scott Brown drew over 100 supporters–as well as Democratic Party opponents–to the grand opening of the new Republican Party campaign office at 370 Centre St. last night. The GOP has drawn attention for its decision to open the office in generally liberal Jamaica Plain and in Hyde Square, one of the...
JP Observer: Schools must teach financial literacy
Financial illiteracy—to rephrase the old saying about New England weather—is something lots of people complain about, but public schools do very little to remedy. A bill before the Massachusetts Legislature co-sponsored by Jamaica Plain’s Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz would change that, making training in managing personal finances a required part of Massachusetts public education, K-12....
JP Observer: Living with wildlife in our urban area
As though on cue, as the sun fell on the evening of July 31, the crickets began chirping in Jamaica Plain for the first time this year—signaling that summer is waning. Right around the same time, another Jamaica Plain insect made the news as mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus were found here, something that...
JP Observer: JP needs to honor local peace hero
Not many neighborhoods can boast that a Nobel Peace Prize winner was born there—no more than 101 in the world, to be exact; that’s how many people have won the prize since it was established in 1901. Jamaica Plain can make such a claim, but looking around, one wouldn’t know it. Little in the...
JP Observer: Young adults drive the neighborhood
Jamaica Plain is getting younger and younger. Or it seems that way to residents who have lived here for a while. Although JP is diverse in terms of race, ethnic groups and incomes, the truth is that young adults have dominated the neighborhood’s economy and culture for more than 30 years. Nearly one-third of...
JP Observer: BPS needs more ‘pathways’ to boost grad rates
Sit at a desk facing the front of the room with young people roughly your age. Listen. Write things down from time to time. Speak every once in while after you get permission. Move around when told, down a hall to another room that looks pretty much the same, maybe briefly outdoors or to...
JP Observer: JP’s affordable housing is diverse, plentiful
The affordable housing stock of Jamaica Plain is another diverse element of the neighborhood that is home to a well-known mix of races, ethnic groups and income levels. When the words “affordable housing” are used in JP, no specific picture should come to mind, because the housing is so varied. Also, thanks to the...