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...
Posts Tagged ‘ jp observer ’
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...
JP Observer: JP has dozens of ‘arts centers’
Fifteen years ago, Jamaica Plain’s Multicultural Arts Center had to vacate its large, prominent Centre Street space because it was having trouble paying the rent, causing much upset in the community. But no one is complaining about space for the arts in JP now. J.P. Licks later bought the former fire station and has...
JP Observer: Siren noise problem shouldn’t fall on deaf ears
Walking down Centre Street just after New Year’s, I was suddenly assaulted by a sound so loud it felt like someone had jabbed an ice pick in my right ear. I instinctively covered both ears, and I noticed some other pedestrians did the same. We were responding to the siren from an ambulance speeding...
JP Observer: Presidential race distracts from local power
Jamaica Plain residents would be smart to pay little or no attention to the U.S. presidential race from now until next September, two months before the election. It will be hard, given the media pressure, but worthwhile. Who gets elected president is obviously important. But it doesn’t make sense for us to give much...
JP Observer: Cast a ballot, see art this weekend
Jamaica Plain—known for its art and its activism—will be the site of two significant community-wide events this weekend, Sept. 24 and 25. One is the 18th Annual Jamaica Plain Open Studios, featuring the work of more than 220 local artists, sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Arts Council. The other, taking place only on Sept....
JP Observer: Getting beyond ‘family’ values
During his debate with Sarah Palin in 2008, now Vice President Joe Biden made a correction to his word choice that should have made everyone interested in accuracy and inclusiveness happy, especially Jamaica Plain residents. Criticizing presidential candidate John McCain’s tax proposal for not giving middle-class tax breaks, Biden said, “One hundred million families,...
JP streets: The orderly and the ugly
Here in Jamaica Plain, where the shopping districts consist of long corridors, the extended buffer between pedestrians and vehicles makes an important first impression. As soon as the City of Boston put down the bike lanes and related lines on the South/Centre/S. Huntington corridors last year, the business districts seemed to improve. Sure, it...