Globe Develops a Ghetto

Today the Globe ran a piece on Jackson Square. Void from the coverage was any mention of "cultural center," ample coverage was given to "crime stricken area." Jackson Square a precarious area between Roxbury and Jamaica Plain has been discussed as the anchor to the stretch of Centre Street to be renamed "Avenue de las Americas." Though we haven't heard much about the renaming initiative since it was first floated back in August. Avenue de las Americas was proposed to rename the stretch of Centre Street which runs from Columbus at the Jackson Square T stop to Hyde Square where S. Huntington intersects, near El Oriental de Cuba and the Milky Way. The area is home to a many local businesses, a set of parks part of the Southwest Corridor, a Stop and Shop that stocks more plantains and yucca than the one in Brookline, and some empty parcels of land that haven't been developed since they were cleared to make way for the expressway that eventually became the Orange Line.

It's nice that our newspaper of record brings the area into the limelight again – there's been discussion of developing the area by the BRA for some time, but too bad that the tone of the write up focuses more on the problems of the area than the community spirit that could be harnessed to make it thrive. Both the Puerto Rican and Dominican festivals run a parade down Columbus from Roxbury Community College, past Jackson and Egleston Squares an on into Franklin Park. Crime has certainly plagued the area for many years, and the Bromley-Heath housing nearby and level of criminal activity reported there haven't helped the stigma Jackson Square has received. The project has been in the works for many years, and groundbreaking on the redevelopment has yet to begin. There is a lot of potential in the area to be realized, but it seems somewhat important that the character of the area be celebrated for what's good, rather than just looking find some way to gentrify the area and pull Jamaica Plain closer to the South End and eliminate more of the area the Globe seems to find so troublesome in Boston. We'll still call it Roxbury and love it.