The opening of the new Harvest Co-Op Market on Washington Street in Forest Hills is good news. It’s also the result of good planning.
In a little over a year, JP has gone from being underserved by large-scale grocery stores to well-served, especially on the southern end. We still sorely lack discount stores and aren’t likely to get them as gentrification steams ahead, but it’s good to have the options we do have.
Harvest did not expand by luck. When the MBTA put the land up for sale several years ago, local residents formed the Greater Forest Hills Task Force to plan ahead. They asked the Boston Redevelopment Authority to create a master plan for the area, and the BRA said no. The residents did not take no for an answer, and BRA planner John Dalzell, who also lives in JP, led the community through the formulation of guidelines for all new development in the area.
A grocery store was high on the community wish list, and now here it is. We have nice things in JP because we plan ahead on how to get them. Congratulations to Harvest and to the Forest Hills neighborhood.