Tag: WalkBoston
Event: Chelsea Walk – Eastern Ave to Broadway

Event: Chelsea Walk – Eastern Ave to Broadway

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We’re looking forward to you joining us for Wednesday evening’s walk (tomorrow). Summer has come early – it will be HOT! Consider bringing water, a hat for shade, and wearing comfortable clothing. If you’re meeting us in Chelsea, we’ll gather by the multi-use path at the Eastern Ave Station around 5:30pm. Look for people with WalkBoston signs!
If you are taking the Silver Line from South Station, meet us at 5pm on the Silver Line platform, where a group will take the SL3 to meet everyone else in Chelsea. If you miss us, don’t panic! Just hop on the next SL3. The bus is scheduled to run every 10 minutes from 4-6pm (and every 12 minutes after that), and our first two speaking locations are on the multi-use path along the busway.

We will walk along the Silver Line busway’s new multi-use path and down Broadway to examine creative affordable housing and transportation initiatives, ending at Tijuana Restaurant (164 Broadway) for food, drink, and continued conversation. A copy of the map below will be handed out tomorrow.

If you’re heading back into town at the end of the walk, the 111 bus is just 2-3 blocks from Tijuana Restaurant and runs directly to Downtown Crossing every 7-10 minutes.

RSVP on Eventbrite or Facebook

Starting Location/Stop 1: Eastern Ave Silver Line Station

WalkBoston group from South Station meets Chelsea partners and residents at 5:30pm
Speakers: Maria Belen (GreenRoots), MBTA/MassDOT Silver Line Gateway Project representative TBD

Stop 2: Box District 

Speakers: Aaron Wasserman (The Neighborhood Developers), Elijah Plymesser (LOCUS Massachusetts)

Stop 3: Downtown Chelsea/Broadway Corridor 

Speakers: Alex Train (City of Chelsea)

Stop 4: Tijuana Restaurant, 164 Broadway

Food, Drinks, and More Conversation – thank you to LOCUS Massachusetts for helping sponsor appetizer costs!

Guarde la fecha, el 2 de Mayo, a la 5:30pm para una paseo por Chelsea con WalkBoston y socios de la comunidad para destacar los proyectos y oportunidades de transitabilidad, tránsito y desarrollo locales, al mismo tiempo enfatizando la necesidad de mantener la asequibilidad y prevenir el desplazamiento. WalkBoston se reunirá en South Station a las 5 pm para viajar en el nuevo Linea Plateada Gateway del MBTA a Chelsea a las 5:30 pm. Luego caminaremos por la nueva ruta multiusos del Gateway y bajaremos por Broadway para examinar iniciativas de vivienda y transporte asequibles, y terminaremos en un restaurante local para comida, bebida y conversación.

Lugar de partida /Parada 1: Estación de Linea Plateada en Eastern Ave
El grupo WalkBoston de South Station se reúne con socios y residentes de Chelsea a las 5:30pm.
Oradores: Maria Belen (GreenRoots), y un representante del MBTA/MassDOT Silver Line Gateway Project que se anunciará mas tarde

Parada 2: Distrito de Caja
Oradores: Aaron Wasserman (The Neighborhood Developers), Elijah Plymesser (LOCUS Massachusetts)

Parada 3: Centro de Chelsea/Corredor de Broadway
Oradores: Alex Train (City of Chelsea)

Parada 4: Restaurante Tijuana (164 Broadway)
Comida, bebida, y más conversación – ¡Muchas gracias LOCUS Massachusetts por patrocinar la cena!

New website is live

New website is live

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Our new site is live! We’re excited to present a refreshed site that will allow us to emphasize the work we do in communities across Massachusetts. We’ll be using the new community pages to upload project work that we do, so that walk audits and other recommendations can be more readily available. Bear with us as we flesh out those pages with a backlog of reports from recent years. Feedback is welcome – let us know what you think on our contact form. Thank you!

WalkBoston awarded $100,000 in Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100″ program!

WalkBoston awarded $100,000 in Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100″ program!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Wendy Landman, WalkBoston, 617-367-9255, wlandman@walkboston.org
Contact: Julie DeSilva, Cummings Foundation, 781-932-7093, jmd@cummings.com

WalkBoston awarded $100,000
Boston nonprofit receives Cummings Foundation grant

Boston, May 26, 2017 – WalkBoston is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. The Boston-based organization was chosen from a total of 549 applicants, during a competitive review process.

WalkBoston is a non-profit pedestrian advocacy organization dedicated to improving walking conditions in cities and towns across Massachusetts.

Representing WalkBoston, Wendy Landman, Executive Director, and Stacey Beuttell, Deputy Executive Director, will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $170 million to local nonprofits alone.

“This wonderful grant will enable us to work with community based organizations to help them create safer pedestrian environments in communities supported by the Cummings Foundation,” said Wendy Landman.

WalkBoston will use these funds to train and empower residents to be change agents for safe streets.

The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefiting 35 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth.

Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“Nonprofit organizations like WalkBoston are vital to the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are delighted to invest in their efforts.”

This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention and affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years.

The complete list of 100 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

About WalkBoston
WalkBoston was founded in 1990, becoming the first organization in America dedicated to pedestrian advocacy. We strive to bring walking and pedestrian needs into the transportation discussion, collaborating closely with other advocacy, community and civic/educational groups. WalkBoston makes walking safer and easier in Massachusetts to encourage better health, a cleaner environment and more vibrant communities. For more information, visit www.walkboston.org.

About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1.4 billion, it is one of the largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

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The key to BRT success? Walking.

The key to BRT success? Walking.

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By Joseph Cutrufo

Joseph Cutrufo is a former member of the WalkBoston staff and
current Director of Communications and Connecticut Policy at Tri-State
Transportation Campaign. 

In March 2015, Connecticut cut the ribbon on CTfastrak, New England’s first
bus rapid transit system. CTfastrak features a 9.4-mile bus-only guideway
which runs from downtown New Britain through Newington and West
Hartford to its terminus in downtown Hartford.

CTfastrak has outpaced ridership projections so far. But the real test for
CTfastrak will be whether it can transform the way people travel in greater
Hartford, where 81 percent of commuters drive to work alone — even higher
than the national average of 76 percent.

Not long after the system launched, prospective riders bemoaned the
lack of parking near stations. Predictably, the Connecticut Department of
Transportation responded by building more parking.

But when people won’t use the system due to a lack of parking, we shouldn’t
ask, “Where can we build more parking.” We should ask, “Why can’t people
get here without a car?” In greater Hartford, the answer is simple: the
neighborhoods surrounding CTfastrak stations aren’t dense enough, and the
streets in station areas don’t safely accommodate walking.

Some in the CTfastrak corridor recognize these challenges. The
City of New Britain hired a consultant to run a series of public workshops
to identify what kind of developments would be most appropriate for the
city’s three CTfastrak stations. And in West Hartford, town officials amended
local zoning regulations to allow mixed-used development around CTfastrak
stations, where much of the land is currently zoned for industrial uses.

But in suburban Newington, the town’s zoning board passed a moratorium
on “high density development” shortly after CTfastrak service launched.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has set aside funds to help speed along
transit-oriented development projects, but ultimately the region needs a
more holistic approach to making greater Hartford a more walkable region.
The state had a chance to start the process through legislation in 2015, but
a bill proposing a “Transit Corridor Development Authority” was viewed
unfavorably by towns that saw it as a threat to home rule.

That won’t be the end of the movement to unchain the greater Hartford area
from car-dominant planning. One place to look for inspiration is the city of
Hartford, where a major zoning overhaul seeks to undo a half-century in
which the city’s parking inventory increased by 30,000 as the population
declined by 40,000 people.

This article was featured in WalkBoston’s Winter 2017 newsletter.

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Lead a Jane’s Walk this May in your neighborhood

Lead a Jane’s Walk this May in your neighborhood

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Jane’s Walk is happening the first weekend of May (5th-6th-7th).
Last year, 1,000+ walks happened all over the globe!

Think of this as an opportunity to:

  • start a conversation with your neighbors,
  • continue highlighting safety issues that have been identified through initiatives like Boston’s Neighborhood Slow Streets application process
  • get outside and enjoy a weekend in May!

Create your walk idea on Janeswalk.org, or get in touch with us at WalkBoston (contact Brendan!). We’re happy to help you or your neighbors with suggestions, promote your walk, and answer any questions you may have.
We look forward to helping you get out walking!

Edit: We’ll add neighborhoods/cities/towns below that will be hosting walks on this post (and include links to the separate walks within the communities as we find out about them.) 

Boston – West End – “Jane’s Walk West End Tour”
Meet at the West End Museum
Saturday, May 6, 2pm
http://janeswalk.org/united-states/boston/janes-walk-west-end-tour/

Boston – West Roxbury – “West Roxbury Walk Audit”
Meet at the Hastings Street Lot
Saturday, May 6, 2pm
http://janeswalk.org/united-states/boston/west-roxbury-walk-audit/

Boston – Jamaica Plain – “Growing the City: Washington St from Forest Hills to Green St”
Meet at Brassica Kitchen & Cafe
Sunday, May 7, 11am
http://janeswalk.org/united-states/boston/growing-city-washington-st-forest-hills-green-st/

Boston – Roslindale – “Roslindale Gateway Path & proposed Blackwell Path Extension”
Meet at SE corner of the Arboretum (look for Walk UP Roslindale Banner)
Sunday, May 7, 1pm
http://www.walkuproslindale.org/weblog/2017/04/21/janes-walk-planned-sunday-may-7-at-1-pm-start-at-the-southeast-corner-of-the-arboretum/

Cambridge – “The Dense Layers of History in Old Cambridge”
Meet at Out of Town News Kiosk, Harvard Square
Saturday, May 6, 10:30am
http://www.janejacobswalk.org/upcoming-2017-walks/the-dense-layers-of-history-in-old-cambridge

Worcester – Jane Week (May 1 – 7, 2017) gives Worcester residents and visitors a chance to connect to each other, explore Worcester by foot and participate in interesting discussions on how we can enhance the design and function of our city. – 20+ events and walks throughout Worcester.
http://janeswalk.org/united-states/worcester-ma/

Lowell – “Labor Movement in Lowell”
Meet at Lowell National Park Visitor Center, 246 Market St
Saturday, May 6, 10:30am
http://richardhowe.com/event/labor-movement-in-lowell-walk/

Dedham – “Walking Tour of Proposed Dedham Heritage Rail Trail”
Meet at the parking lot by the football field/track on Whiting Ave
Sunday, May 7, 4:00pm
Saturday, May 13, 10:00am
http://mailchi.mp/f20ef35375c4/rail-trail-happenings-this-spring

Somerville – “A Metamorphosis of Industrial Buildings Along the Rails”
Kickoff to Somerville’s Preservation Month, ending at Aeronaut Brewery
Saturday, May 13, 9:30am
http://janeswalk.org/united-states/somerville-ma/meta/

Boston – Jamaica Plain – “Walking Tour of Monument Square”
July 1 & August 19, 12:45pm
http://janeswalk.org/united-states/boston/walking-tour-o/