Next meeting is Thursday, March 28 at 6:30 pm!

Transit, walking and biking are among
the issues we will discuss at the meeting

Hey there neighbors!

We hope you can join us at the next Planet Southie meeting. South Boston Grows will be on hand to give away free seedlings and talk about how you can get FREE TREES!

Thursday, March 28^th  6:30 - 7:30 pm

The Distillery Building
516 East Second Street, South Boston

As always, all are welcome and 
encouraged to attend!

Learn what we tree huggers are up to in this month's newsletter.





Please mark your calendars: Planet Southie meets the fourth Thursday of every month.

See you there!

Is Southie “Walkable” enough?

Author and city planner, Jeff Speck, says that Boston doesn’t need his help in planning walkable communities-(Boston is in the top 10 in the world according to Lonely Planet).

But, in Southie, are the sidewalks wide enough for the stroller? Are there enough street trees to keep you cool during the summer? Are benches ample on the main streets so you can sit for a minute if you need too/want too? Is there enough interesting pedestrian activity? Are the crosswalks blocked by cars, parking lots bleeding into the sidewalk, and are garage doors obstructing visibility?

These are some of the questions the Planet Southie Walk Action Team wants to address. Come to the next meeting (3/28) to discuss plans for a Southie “Walkabiltiy Audit” to determine how comfortably and safely our streets and neighborhoods can be walked.

For more information, listen to this RadioBoston broadcast from December “Why Walkability Is Key To A City’s Vitality”

Planet Southie Transit Team Update

No. 7 Bus:
The transportation group has been collecting signatures on the proposal to move the No. 7 bus over from Summer Street to East First Street. We want now to arrange a meeting with Dave Carney from the MBTA to discuss our request. At the 3/28 meeting, we should plan that meeting, arrange to get more signatures to bring along with us, and prepare to introduce other recommendations for change in bus service in South Boston.

Southie Shuttle:
The start for a shuttle service on the First Street corridor has been scheduled for mid-April. We will see that is still on schedule and discuss details about pick-up locations, costs, and whatever else people want.

See ya Thursday,

Fred Gordon

Planet Southie Bikes Update

A brief update on what the Planet Southie Bikes Action team is up to. Thank you Jon Ramos for all of your amazing work!

•  City Hall Meeting: Planet Southie Bikes gains more recognition from Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley's office. We met at City Hall to discuss our goals, and how her bicycle crash data collection initiative could help us reach our goals.
  
• D-Street Development: Planet Southie Bikes attended the D-Street Development BRA community review meeting, and pressed hard for the BRA to go beyond a typical door-zone bike lane and opt for a cycle-track along the "super-block" instead. This just in! The bikes group got an official response from the City of Boston regarding our suggestions for the D Street plan. Pete Stidman from Boston Cyclist's Union will join our meeting once again to review the outcome and to help us plan our next steps.  If you want safer biking on D-Street in South Boston please be sure to attend this next meeting...  & bring your cyclist friends!

• 275 Albany Street Project: Planet Southie Bikes attended the BRA community review for the 275 Albany Street project in an effort to improve cycling over the bridges adjacent to their property (read more)

Next meeting (3/28) we'll discuss how to reach more of our fellow Southie cyclists to get more riders involved. Ideas welcome!

South Boston / South End

The 275 Albany Street Development project is one of many forthcoming developments stemming from the Harrison / Albany Strategic Master Plan that was created by the BRA in 2012. If you are unfamiliar with that master plan here is a brief summary:

The area along the 93 expressway, on the South End side, has been rezoned to allow greater heights and density. This was a tactic to make those underutilized plots of land more appealing to developers. Projects like the Ink Block, which will be a retail & supermarket destination, are among the projects coming out of this rezoning in addition to hundreds new residences, some restaurants, and hotel. Overall the re-zoning is a good thing for the city because it will reduce crime and enhance that grim section of our city along the elevated expressway. But there will be an impact on us. The Broadway Bridge will likely see significant increase in pedestrian traffic coming to the Broadway T Stop, as well as an increase bicycle and vehicle traffic.