On Saturday, February 20, Boston residents, along with City Life/Vida Urbana and the Boston Tenant Coalition, gathered outside the site of the proposed Pine St. Inn affordable housing project at 3368 Washington St. for a rally to support affordable housing in the neighborhood.
A simultaneous virtual rally was held via Zoom, and participants both in person and virtually took turns saying why they believe affordable housing is important.
The rally was in support of 202 units of affordable housing 140 for people coming out of homelessness and 62 for low and moderate income families at 3368 Washington St., proposed by Pine Street Inn and the Community Builders, which has a lawsuit brought against it by the owner of 3377 Washington St., Monty Gold. 3377 Washington is the home of Turtle Swamp Brewing.
The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) Zoning Committee met virtually on February 3, and heard two items that brought many residents to the meeting to speak on the issues. The first was a proposal for the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) and New Atlantic Development to build a new five-story mixed-use building with 39 units of senior housing along with commercial space at 3371-3375 Washington St.
The second agenda item was a proposal at 3326-3328 Washington St. for the construction of a new residential building with 43 residential units.
3371-3375 WASHINGTON ST.
The senior housing project at 3371-3375 Washington St. has been presented to the community several times before, and Sam Montano of the JPNDC explained that the organization became involved in the project in 2017 to help save El Embajador restaurant.
Applications for pandemic aid are being rejected at a high rate, leaving small businesses in the lurch
Both state and federal programs are rejecting higher numbers of applicants as officials rush to fix paperwork issues.
By Shirley Leung and Janelle Nanos Globe Columnist and Globe Staff,Updated February 10, 2021, 6:27 p.m.
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Doug Bacon applied for the state grants in October, but so far has received funds to support just one of his eight restaurants.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
Thousands of hard-hit small businesses are once again having trouble accessing millions of dollars in pandemic aid from the state and federal governments, as they fight for survival while a second wave of virus infections continues to undermine the economy.
The Coalition for a Truly Affordable Boston, a group of residents and community organizations who are calling on Mayor Martin Walsh to strengthen the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP), held a virtual speak-out on December 9 where members explained the current ID) policy and what they would like to see changed.
Jaya Aiyer, a Community Organizer at the Fenway Community Development Corporation (CDC) explained that the city’s current IDP includes a rule that developers must provide 13 percent affordable housing in new buildings, but “we know that 13 percent is not enough,” she said. “This 13 percent is supposed to go toward units in the building to be affordable, or it can go to external affordable development or job training.”