Patty Cosby for Mayor of Roslindale!
As a member of the Roslindale Parade Committee for the past three plus years, Patty Cosby has been deeply involved in the planning, raising of funds and all other aspects of organizing the parade. This year, Patty have 
been serving as the vice president of the committee. At the urging of many dedicated residents she has decided to seek the title of “Mayor of Roslindale.” So, for the following two months, Patty will be concentrating her time and effort in raising funds that will enable all to have the best and greatest Roslindale Parade ever. All of the funds raised are turned over to the Committee to be disbursed for the expenses needed for the parade (i.e. the bands, the performers and the floats, etc). These expenses are substantial and we ask you to be as generous as possible. Also, each dollar you donate will mean a vote for Patty to be elected as “Mayor of Roslindale”.
A fund raising buffet will be held on Saturday, September 29th located at the Sons of Italy Hall on Birch Street in Roslindale. In addition to the buffet, there will also be raffles and some great entertainment. Please come and see your friends and have a great time. Tickets are just $20.00 per person: the time from 7pm until midnight.
The theme of this years parade is “Make it in Roslindale,” so Patty has asked that all of us patronize all of our local merchants. They have invested their time and money in Roslindale, they employ many of our neighbors, and they deserve our patronage. Patty enjoyed living in Roslindale for approximately ten years and currently resides in West Roxbury. Patty’s business keeps her heavily involved in both Roslindale and West Roxbury. And even though this is the Roslindale Parade, Patty has thus far received generous donations from many of the local merchants in both West Roxbury and Roslindale.
To obtain tickets or make donation please feel free to call me anytime at 617-645-5965, Lou Murray at 617-699-5950 or Tom Clougherty at 617-416-4836.
VOTE FOR PATTY COSBY!
West Roxbury Open Spaces and Urban Wilds
Having been a life-long resident of West Roxbury, one of the area’s amenities that I’ve always had a deep appreciation for is the amount of open space available to its’ residents. I’ve recently learned that West Roxbury, with 1,146 acres of total open space (both protected and unprotected), has more more open space than any other neighborhood of Boston. How much more? Lots! By the numbers, West Roxbury has nearly 23 acres of open space per thousand residents while the city-wide average is 7.5 acres per thousand. And considering the family orientation of this community, having as much open space available for recreational activities is a real asset.
So, where exactly is all this open space and how is it used?
The neighborhood itself is largely defined by the open spaces surrounding it. To the east are the MDC’s Stony Brook Reservation, Bellevue Hill, and West Roxbury Parkway. To the west are Millennium Park, a municipally owned urban wild at the West Roxbury High chool/Community Center, the MDC’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Parkway, Brook Farm, Havey Beach, and large private cemeteries. To the south are two more cemeteries and the West Roxbury Quarry urban wild. To the north is the Allandale Woods urban wild.
Of Play Lots and Fields
Another of West Roxbury’s open space attributes is the plethora of playing fields (e.g. baseball, soccer, football, etc) and play lots for younger children. Playing fields include: Praught, Draper, Billings and Hynes field as well as the many fields at Millennium Park all of which accomodate your typical array of outdoor American-style sporting activities. Additionally, the West Roxbury landscape is dotted with numerous playgrounds located at both public schools and parks, including: The Beethoven and Ohrenberger schools, and all the parks listed above.
For Adults and Nature Enthusiasts
West Roxbury has considerable resources available for walking/hiking, nature appreciation activities, and scenic enhancement. Substantial acreage is in a natural state: 680.05 protected and unprotected acres in West Roxbury. (Included in this acreage is the 8.9 acres of the Millennium Park riverside natural area, formerly the Municipal Shoreline urban wild, and the approximately 60 acres of the Millennium Park Meadow natural area along the slopes of this park.) Most of this acreage is protected. The largest unprotected parcels are the Roxbury Latin School natural area and the West Roxbury Quarry. Both have some acreage under the jurisdiction of the Wetlands Protection Act.
Over the coming weeks I intend to explore these open spaces and urban wilds in more detail. Since I don’t get out much, this will be a welcome change of scene 
History of Jamaica Plain (Part III)
The Pond side section of Jamaica Plain became a popular home for Boston politicians. In 1915 when politician James Michael Curley’s house on 350 Jamaica Way was designed with shamrocks carved into the shutters, it was clear that the elite of Jamaica Plain and 
Boston politics would need to make room for the Irish. In the 1950s and 60s, politicians such as John Collins lived in Jamaica Plain, as well as myriad police and city employees. Jamaica Plain was considered the most stable of all of Boston’s neighborhoods. While other neighborhoods rapidly lost their populations between 1950 and 1965, the population of Jamaica Plain was steady at 42,400.
The deterioration of part of Jamaica Plain was driven by the history of the Southwest Corridor, which was slated to become Interstate 95. By the late 1960s, a final design for the highway was well underway. The State had acquired the strip of land — dubbed the southwest corridor — and begun to demolish homes and business to clear the way for the interstate. Between 1960 and 1968, 20% of the housing that remained had moved from sound to the deteriorating or dilapidated categories. In 1968, due in large part to neighborhood resistance, the governor canceled the plans to run I-95 through Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and Roslindale and the cleared land was left alone. The cleared and vacant land along the Southwest Corridor simply languished unused. Sam Bass Warner called the corridor “a wide, unattended scab” through the neighborhoods
During this same period, many of the industries along the Washington Street corridor closed, including the Haffenreffer Brewery in 1965. By 1965, approximately 24% of the 12,600 housing units in Jamaica Plain were unsound. By the 1970s, arson had become a major threat in the neighborhood and the population of Jamaica Plain was declining. Between 1970 and 1980 the total population of the neighborhood declined by 17.7%. It became difficult to sell real estate. A real estate broker with a Jamaica Plain realty firm described the period in this way: “The time from 1973 to ‘77 was a black hole — a void. On some streets you couldn’t give houses away.”
The demand for housing in Jamaica Plain, particularly for affordable housing units, is high. The supply of new housing each year is small in comparison, in part because land for new housing development and new parking is extremely limited. In many cases, residents value small pockets of open space in their community and resist the potential for more congestion and traffic on their streets that they fear new housing development would bring. In other cases, remaining developable land may be located on steep slopes, in awkwardly-sized lots, or near undesirable land uses.
History of Jamaica Plain (part II)
In 1851, West Roxbury, including Roslindale and Jamaica Plain, seceded from the Town of Roxbury. West Roxbury was divided into five precincts: Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Claredon Hills, West Roxbury Village, and Germantown. The most rural precincts were West Roxbury Village and Germantown (Bacon, Walks and Rides About Boston, 1896). The Town of West Roxbury was at this time developing Forest Hills, a garden cemetery intended for widespread public use. Cemeteries such as these served not only as a place to honor the dead, but also as an arboretum, a place for recreation, an antidote to the environmental ills of the city and a showcase for art. They also paved the way for the establishment of urban parks of the late 19th century.
At this time, the population of Jamaica Plain was growing rapidly and becoming increasingly foreign-born. Between 1865 and 1880, the population grew from 5,450 to 32,750. By 1880, 25% of all households in the area were Irish. Jamaica Plain also became home to a large number of German Americans, Progressive reformers, and mainstream politicians. The remaining upper-middle-class Protestants were the local social elite and included farmers, the wealthy elite, and business commuters. Jamaica Plain finally became annexed to the City of Boston in 1874, after first being part of the Town of Roxbury, and then being a part of the Town of West Roxbury.
Although Jamaica Plain retained some of its identity as a rural retreat, the centrality of industry to the life of the neighborhood increased, and Jamaica Plain became associated with industries such as the Haffenreffer Brewery. Residents of all social levels developed deep attachments to the neighborhood through real estate deals, their proximity to work, and strong local Catholic parishes. Social ties were also fostered through practices such as spigots outside the brewery that allowed workers to fill their containers with free beer.
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