City Gets Help Planning Future of Jamaica Plain
Boston city officials, in tandem with experts from the Daniel Rose Fellowship program, embarked on a project to shape Jamaica Plain’s Washington Street corridor.
Urban planning experts and city officials are canvassing sections of Jamaica Plain this week, formulating a plan for the future of the Washington Street corridor, an area that has already seen a burst of development in the past year.
Mayor Marty Walsh announced Monday, March 30 that Boston was chosen to participate this year, so Daniel Rose Fellows — faculty experts assembled by the Rose Center and their peers — are visiting Boston this week to provide technical assistance to city officials evaluating development opportunities for Jamaica Plain’s Washington Street corridor.
Four mayors from across the country are invited annually to partake in the Daniel Rose Fellowship, a program through the nonprofit Rose Center for Public Leadership that allows the mayors’ respective U.S. cities to solve a local land use challenge with the help of outside experts.
“The purpose is to help local government leaders to make better land use decisions,’’ Jess Zimbabwe, executive director of the Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership and one of the experts visiting the Hub, said.
After Boston won the fellowship, the corridor sandwiched between Forest Hills and Egleston Square was chosen because it represents a “growth zone,’’ or shows opportunity for residential, commercial, and light industrial development, said Danny Green, deputy chief of policy for the city. The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) had already pinpointed Washington Street as an area in need of a master plan. Green said Boston’s invitation to the Daniel Rose Fellowship was “timed perfectly.’’
“It’s a great way to get recommendations before the city starts planning process,’’ Green said of the outside advice. The BRA will use the input for the master plan, and to reevaluate the identity of Washington Street as it fits into Jamaica Plain, focusing on how the recent wave of mixed-use residential projects have affected the area’s character.
Since early 2014, Washington Street has seen a proposal for a 76-unit housing development, construction of a 280-unit apartment complex by Forest Hills Station, and an $80 million residential/retail/storage complex at the corner of McBride and Washington Street. Zimbabwe said she and the other fellows would consider preserving affordability and retaining neighborhood character when looking at Washington Street.
“There’s something about being an outsider and being able to ask the dumb questions,’’ Zimbabwe said. “It gives you a fresh perspective on the community.’’
The construction of the Casey Arborway, which will replace the Casey Overpass with surface streets in Jamaica Plain, also represents transportation development opportunities for the area, Green said.
The visiting outside experts will spend this week interviewing Washington Street property owners, public agencies, and other stakeholders to formulate a vision for future development of the corridor. They will make a public presentation about their initial findings at City Hall at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 2.
The meeting will involve “robust public feedback,’’ Green said, and will be followed by a question and answer session with the community.
Once the experts leave, city officials will assess the area’s current strengths and weaknesses, and begin a planning process for the corridor in the next month. Daniel Rose staff offers the city continual assistance for a year.
The other cities chosen for the program were Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Omaha.
Correction:The Casey Arborway is being constructed, not the Casey Overpass, as a previous version of this article stated.
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