National Night (Mapped) Out

Neighborhoods across the country get together this evening to celebrate their solidarity in participation of the National Night Out. A yearly cooperation between community police units, neighborhood watches, and members of the communities get together for block parties, candle light vigils, and many other activities. The Fenway Victory Gardens will be one of the community garden organizations getting together to participate in the National Night Out. They'll be illuminating the gardens with candles or flashlights to show their support for a safe and drug-free neighborhood. The muddy river as it runs through the Back Bay Fens is a known spot for some less than credible activities, and recently a community garden supporter and Bostonist reader snapped the picture of the needle in the garden you see here. It was sent to us with a plea to support their drive to make the Fenway Victory Gardens a safer place – the area around the parks has recently seen an increase in criminal activity as noted on the BPDNews blog with an accompanying graphic.

Palatial, whose tagline is 'the people's atlas,' is hosting a National Night Out map for the Boston Area. The map contains only a few of the National Night Out events that we know of – but the beauty of the interactive online map is that users, neighborhood organizers, and concerned citizens can all add their own hot spots to the page to let others know what activities will be happening in the area. Another reason to check out Palatial today – beat the heat with places to take a dip.