WBUR reports on city efforts to turn an old sign shop in Newmarket Square into a replacement for all the shelter space lost when Long Island was shut in October.
It would be a good idea to do more than just provide housing for the homeless here...the area already has the methadone clinic and is one of the most blighted areas of the city. Without job placement, substance abuse, counseling, education, etc....you are just contributing to the further decline of the Newmarket area :(
They prioritized emergency beds to start with, but plan to move in more services once the replacement beds for housing those who would have been at Long Island are in place.
Widett is going to be part of the train set , there already is a stadium, White Stadium. Do it up! Speaking of trains, maybe they can seize the old Naval Air Station Weymouth from the non performing developers, and make it a satelite Olympic zone, run a dedicated Olympic train shuttle.
I think the White stadium is over in Franklin Park on Seaver Street (?).
I believe the putative Widett stadium would be accessible from Frontage Road, i.e., the bridge that goes above 93 on the opposite side from the Food Bank.
Yes i know, Widett was invented to replace Newmarket. i'ts distribution , not meant for a playground. White Stadium had plenty of surrounding land , get off fthe train at Egelston walk up. Play ball , or whatever they do at Olympics
Seriously - this is the worst possible place to put this. When addicts are new to an area and want to cop - guess where they go? Its a known fact among addicts that the safest place to cop if you don't have a hook-up is outside a methadone clinic. Let's put recovering addicts outside a series of clinics, not to mention down the street from the meth clinic at BMC and all the riff raff that is the intersection of mass ave and melnea cass.
I would put it in the old Mattapan State Hospital and its surrounds , that area is desolate , or was . Thats if I were King of the forest. Forget about Long Island , that is being postured for bigger and better things.
I wasnt aware of that, was a desloate area. Nearby on American Legion and Morton was a huge shaft to the water supply. Well , Plan B , the Lemuel Shattuck hospital , plus the old nursing school barracks next door. That's still there , isn't it's?
Is like the lobotomy of drug treatment. It's addictive and very easy to misuse.
Suboxones should be avalible and distributed similar to a needle exchange. It's a safer alternative and more cost effective way to address MAs growing issue. Administrating methadone requires a larger facility and greater staff than handing out medication in pill form.
going to say it will no longer be the defacto center / groundzero of the homeless problem of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, New England? The state, local municipalities (aside from places like Boston, Cambridge and a small handful of other municipalities who do more than their share) jails and prisons, and federal government need to get their shit together on this social problem. Too many others dump problems they don't want to deal with, like homeless and drug addicts, on places like the City of Boston. And this is a big part of the reason these folks gravitate towards Boston.
I hope they act quickly because of the brutal winter weather conditions and these folks need somewhere to go, but this shit has gotten ridiculous.
During the recession many towns conveniently shut down their homeless shelters "for budgetary reasons" and never reopened them. Wellesley, Weston, and Lincoln have been happily shoving tramps on the first cart/train/trolley/bus to Boston since the 1800s. Chronicle even had a piece on it because of the old poor houses being converted to pricey condos.
The burbs dumping their problems on the cities and keep updating snob zoning and lawsuits against 40b whenever "the problems" from the city start migrating back to them.
Don't worry, I am sure Gov Baker is already working to build a homeless shelter in his tony suburb in Essex County, as well as affordable housing, since he is such a man of the people.
The further you get from Boston, the less public options there are.
Services usually spring up where the people who need them are. And people are not going to stay very long in places they cannot get to or around in easily.
was removed from its permanent home which was located in that building at Newmarket Square with extremely short notice. I think it had about a week to vacate. The article mentions that the building was "disused" but that's inaccurate. Underutilized? Maybe. The employees of the Transportation Department were kicked out to another shitty building in the Seaport District. Do I feel bad for them? A bit. A modicum of respect for your employees, union or not, showed be de rigueur. Do I think the City of Boston could've planned better for the inevitable bridge problems at Long Island? Absolutely.
No sympathy for the BTD from me. HaHa from everyone who got ticketed while dropping off something in the South End who didn't have a sticker or who got a ticket 1 minute after the meter was up.
Well, I'm glad a new shelter is opening. The location is depressing, but these people are here and in need of services right now. It's better than nothing.
Comments
needs more resources
It would be a good idea to do more than just provide housing for the homeless here...the area already has the methadone clinic and is one of the most blighted areas of the city. Without job placement, substance abuse, counseling, education, etc....you are just contributing to the further decline of the Newmarket area :(
That's the eventual plan
They prioritized emergency beds to start with, but plan to move in more services once the replacement beds for housing those who would have been at Long Island are in place.
Across 93
How would / Could this affect the idea of the stadium at Widett Circle?
I have to say the area is going through an interesting time.
Widett is going to be part of
Widett is going to be part of the train set , there already is a stadium, White Stadium. Do it up! Speaking of trains, maybe they can seize the old Naval Air Station Weymouth from the non performing developers, and make it a satelite Olympic zone, run a dedicated Olympic train shuttle.
I think
I think the White stadium is over in Franklin Park on Seaver Street (?).
I believe the putative Widett stadium would be accessible from Frontage Road, i.e., the bridge that goes above 93 on the opposite side from the Food Bank.
Yes i know, Widett was
Yes i know, Widett was invented to replace Newmarket. i'ts distribution , not meant for a playground. White Stadium had plenty of surrounding land , get off fthe train at Egelston walk up. Play ball , or whatever they do at Olympics
Conveniently located next to
Methadone Mile!
Seriously - this is the worst
Seriously - this is the worst possible place to put this. When addicts are new to an area and want to cop - guess where they go? Its a known fact among addicts that the safest place to cop if you don't have a hook-up is outside a methadone clinic. Let's put recovering addicts outside a series of clinics, not to mention down the street from the meth clinic at BMC and all the riff raff that is the intersection of mass ave and melnea cass.
Where would you put it?
The city proposed the old Radius Hospital and the BPHC campus in Mattapan. Neighbors said bu. Your proposal?
I would put it in the old
I would put it in the old Mattapan State Hospital and its surrounds , that area is desolate , or was . Thats if I were King of the forest. Forget about Long Island , that is being postured for bigger and better things.
The State Hospital grounds
now have the Boston Nature Center (Audubon) and a lot of new housing, with more to come, I think. There may also be a medical lab there now too.
I wasnt aware of that, was a
I wasnt aware of that, was a desloate area. Nearby on American Legion and Morton was a huge shaft to the water supply. Well , Plan B , the Lemuel Shattuck hospital , plus the old nursing school barracks next door. That's still there , isn't it's?
Readville
Old Stop & Shop warehousing could be converted. Plenty of room for services. Easy to public transportation, Nice and quiet. Healthy surrounds.
Should just rename it now...
The John Fish Island Resort & Casino
If it weren't for haters
... there would be no "methadone mile" because methadone would be available where the vast majority of addicts reside ... which is everywhere.
Methadone
Is like the lobotomy of drug treatment. It's addictive and very easy to misuse.
Suboxones should be avalible and distributed similar to a needle exchange. It's a safer alternative and more cost effective way to address MAs growing issue. Administrating methadone requires a larger facility and greater staff than handing out medication in pill form.
Terrific news for Andrew Sq.
Lol.
Just when the square was getting marginally better, now this.
Can't wait to meet the new roster of zombie panhandlers.
When is Boston
going to say it will no longer be the defacto center / groundzero of the homeless problem of Greater Boston, Massachusetts, New England? The state, local municipalities (aside from places like Boston, Cambridge and a small handful of other municipalities who do more than their share) jails and prisons, and federal government need to get their shit together on this social problem. Too many others dump problems they don't want to deal with, like homeless and drug addicts, on places like the City of Boston. And this is a big part of the reason these folks gravitate towards Boston.
I hope they act quickly because of the brutal winter weather conditions and these folks need somewhere to go, but this shit has gotten ridiculous.
How dare you ask the wealthy
How dare you ask the wealthy towns to care for their own rather than deporting or outright exiling them to the city.
It's not the wealthy towns.
It's places like Springfield and Worcester. The down and out come here because they know there are more resources available.
Nope
Nope
During the recession many towns conveniently shut down their homeless shelters "for budgetary reasons" and never reopened them. Wellesley, Weston, and Lincoln have been happily shoving tramps on the first cart/train/trolley/bus to Boston since the 1800s. Chronicle even had a piece on it because of the old poor houses being converted to pricey condos.
The burbs dumping their problems on the cities and keep updating snob zoning and lawsuits against 40b whenever "the problems" from the city start migrating back to them.
Don't worry, I am sure Gov
Don't worry, I am sure Gov Baker is already working to build a homeless shelter in his tony suburb in Essex County, as well as affordable housing, since he is such a man of the people.
Baker proposed regional
Baker proposed regional homeless centers his 2nd day in office and an expansion of affordable housing. But keep drinking the hateraid.
Transportation is part of the problem
The further you get from Boston, the less public options there are.
Services usually spring up where the people who need them are. And people are not going to stay very long in places they cannot get to or around in easily.
The City of Boston Transportation Department...
was removed from its permanent home which was located in that building at Newmarket Square with extremely short notice. I think it had about a week to vacate. The article mentions that the building was "disused" but that's inaccurate. Underutilized? Maybe. The employees of the Transportation Department were kicked out to another shitty building in the Seaport District. Do I feel bad for them? A bit. A modicum of respect for your employees, union or not, showed be de rigueur. Do I think the City of Boston could've planned better for the inevitable bridge problems at Long Island? Absolutely.
I got booted on a morning like today once.
No sympathy for the BTD from me. HaHa from everyone who got ticketed while dropping off something in the South End who didn't have a sticker or who got a ticket 1 minute after the meter was up.
I should've been more succinct.
It was the department wherein the street signage was managed.
Well, I'm glad a new shelter
Well, I'm glad a new shelter is opening. The location is depressing, but these people are here and in need of services right now. It's better than nothing.