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Not-so-green church
By Sean on Tue, 01/22/2008 - 9:45am
The Boston Archdiocese is moving its administrative offices to a donated office building in Braintree that is more than one mile from any T service.
Not green. Not good for the church's poor constituents.
Bad decision.
Hat tip to Media Nation.
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Comments
Read the article again...
The actual church isn't moving there, just the administrative offices. The Archdiocese doesn't just serve the city of Boston, it also serves the South Shore (and beyond), and is the main office for all of the dioceses in Massachusetts. When you think that way, it's actually a much greener option for the entire rest of the state that might have business in the main offices that now doesn't have to drive all the way to Boston or all the way to a T stop/Commuter rail station first, since uh, most of the state isn't connected to the T. Far and away, it's much greener for the parishioners of say, St. Bonaventure's in Manomet (Southern Plymouth), who are also directly served by those offices.
Any of the day-to-day business, like picking up a copy of a baptism certificate or planing a wedding would still be done at the rectory of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (or whichever other more local church a person uses). It really shouldn't have much impact on the "church's poor constituents" unless they were regularly shopping for religious gear there.
Still not-so-green
None of the church's employees who will work at the building will be able to use public transit to get there. Not-so-green.
Maybe there won't be much need for the church's poorer members to go to the new "pastoral center," but if they have to, they won't be able to get there by public transit.
While there may be a few parishes where the new pastoral center is closer to a T station, I'm not guessing that there are many.
A bad decision.
still
According to the mbta link you provided, while it says that none of the stops are less than a mile's walk, it also notes that there are 4 stops that are between .8 and .99 miles from the stop to there (we all know how well mbta.com works). So it looks as if you're griping about a walk that is either just under a mile or perhaps a little over- why can't people use that? I'm not exactly an active person, and I walk just over a mile to get to my classes daily. Plus, again, it does have some benefit the rest of the state, Boston not being a vacuum.
You've got to be kidding if you don't think that all of the other towns and cities, including the largest one in the state (Plymouth) don't have more churches that are affected by this than the city of Boston. There's only what, 5 dioceses for the entire state- do you really think the city of Boston accounts for 1/5th of the Catholics in the state? Not to mention that it's the Archdiocese, that serves the entire state? And again, the administrative offices have NOTHING to do with what the average church-goer needs to do on any day-to-day basis. All of those tasks are handled by the local churches' rectory. If there's something that the local church needs from the main office, it gets faxed or mailed or emailed, just like a business with multiple sites. I'm typing on a MacBook right now, but if it breaks down, it's not like I have to take it to Cupertino, CA myself- I take it to my local Apple store. Same principle, if not quite an exact analogy.
As for the employees (who it probably wouldn't kill to walk), do you know for certain that they all lived in walking distance of a T-stop or even in the city to begin with? My guess would be that many already lived out in the suburbs, so you really don't know how this would be affecting anyone's commute. It may be that a number of employees were coming from Braintree and points south anyway, and it only has a positive green impact on their commute by making it shorter. It's certainly not as if everyone who commutes into the city takes public transportation, either, or even everyone who lives *in* the city. It may turn into a bigger deal if Catholic Charities moves with them, but that would be anther subject, as that could substantially effect some of the services Catholic Charities provides.
It seems from your original post that you misunderstood what was going to Braintree. There is virtually no reason that a parishioner would ever in their lifetime have to go to the administrative offices, since business is handled at local churches. In the rare event that a Catholic person in Boston might have to go and walk just over a mile to get there, would you really prefer the Church to have to spend millions of dollars more it can't afford to develop new property in the city proper, instead of taking the donation and using money for more charitable purposes? That seems entirely anti-green to me.
Just two corrections to what
Just two corrections to what I said: 1, there are 4 dioceses in MA, not 5, and 2, according to the archdioceses' website, the employees are from all over the state. They're primarily priests, monsignors, and deacons from churches throughout MA, so I can't imagine it's any less green for a deacon from Springfield to drive to Braintree than it is for them to drive to Boston, do you? I would guess that there's also a few support staff that aren't listed, but having had a family member who worked for the Archdiocese in another state, I can make a pretty educated guess that they don't primarily live in the city proper or on right on a T line- they also come from all over the state.
It's not close to the T
I live in Braintree and I also know exactly where the new offices will be. They are not close enough to the T station to walk. Employees could take the Red Line (or one of the South Shore commuter rail lines) and get off at Braintree station. However, unless the Archdiocese is planning to have a shuttle service for its employees, they will have to take a cab from the station to their new building (it will cost close to $20). Moreover, there are no T buses in Braintree, except one line that goes from Braintree station to Quincy and doesn't go anywhere near the new building, so that's not an option either. If employees drive to work (not a green alternative) they'll have plenty of parking at their new building, but public transportation will involve a cab ride to and from their offices.
The employees are already
The employees are already coming from all over the state- they probably weren't using public transportation to begin with.
A lot of talk, but not good info
I see a lot of bad info in the comments and post. I work at the offices that are moving. In fact, the Archdiocese is going to offer a shuttle service to employees from the T stops so it is greener.
It's also greener in that I will have a shorter drive. That is, I don't live in Boston, I live in the suburbs, like most of my colleagues, and right now to take commuter rail and the T, it wold be a 2 hour trip each way. I know because my wife used to make the same trip when she was getting her degree at BC. So now I drive.
But after the move, I will have a much shorter drive as will many if not most of my colleagues. Not many of us can ride public transportation to work as it is.
And to correct another error above: there are four dioceses in Massachusetts, Boston, Worcester, Fall River, and Springfield. The Boston Archdiocese goes as far west as Hopkinton, north to New Hampshire, northwest to Ashby, and south to Lakeville and Plymouth.
No employee drives here from Springfield or even Worcester.
Also, the majority of employees at the pastoral center are lay people, not priests and monsignors and what have you. However, many of the folks who work in parishes do have to come into the pastoral center on occasion. Not making them drive into Boston is a plus for everyone.