Density

Density

Generally “Density” is first understood as its impact on traffic and parking. The  Trinity developers claim that their proposal is  Transit-Oriented Design (TOD) and therefore the residents won't own cars. While the area is served by the Shawmut T stop, we know that many people rely on cars because they have jobs in locations that are not accessible by public transportation or are responsible for transporting children or seniors. Many streets in this neighborhood predate the invention of the automobile and often houses have no space for a driveway and the lack of parking can make living in this area difficult. Residents of true TOD  projects should be able to rely on public transportation for daily life; obviously, it isn’t practical to carry groceries for a family on the T or to walk to Fields Corner to take a bus to walk to South Bay and then reverse the trip with home supplies.

The area has a low crime rate. The largest risk to public safety is automotive and the Boston Transportation Department has done several assessments to improve traffic flow and improve pedestrian safety. While speed bumps were recently added to Centre Street, there are still many complaints about speed and congestion on Allston St. Another significant danger is fire. Over the past decade, there have been large fires in multi-family properties on Allston Street, Mather Street, and Moultrie Street, completely destroying the buildings and making many people temporarily homeless. Two of those fires occurred after snowstorms on very cold nights, and the firefighters had difficulty getting their equipment to the area due to large snowbanks and choked access on the narrow streets. Thankfully, there were no fatalities in any of these fires, but the neighborhood is aware of the constraints these roadways place on us.

More information about the area is available in the presentations.