(From the Boston Globe)
The Boston Red Sox and the City of Boston have begun an earnest
campaign for a new Fenway Park along Boylston Street in the Fenway
neighborhood. Media coverage of the issue has mostly ignored the fact
that the existing ballpark--and the sites where a new one may be
built--sits in the middle of an established residential neighborhood.
Some of us live so close to the stadium that we can sing along with the
organ and read by the light of a twi-night double header.
When you live next door to an institution, you expect some
problems. That's why, for the most part, this neighborhood does not
absolutely oppose expansion of Fenway Park. But the Red Sox have been
lousy neighbors over the years, and that's what gives use reservations
about expansion.
The more than 30 hospitals, schools, and museums in the Fenway
make this a pretty stimulating place to live--and also bring serious
traffic, parking problems, litter and crowds. Some institutions--with
Northeastern, Beth Israel/Deaconess, and the MFA leading the way--have
learned how to be good neighbors. They've worked with residents, not only to address problems but also to create new opportunities for themselves
and the community. The Red Sox have not shown an interest in such
efforts.
Anyone who's seen Kenmore Square or Boylston Street on game days
has glimpsed the problem. From April to October the neighborhood becomes
a traffic quagmire, as fans by the thousands, acting as if they've just
pulled into a shopping mall, jockey for parking spots close to the
stadium. Thousands of other fans, meanwhile, stream through the streets
on foot, dumping fast-food litter, trampling Olmsted's Back Bay Fens, and
frequently relieving themselves in the neighborhood's front yards. On
many days, the only traffic detail is the one guarding the players'
entrance to the stadium.
These problems are already intolerable. A new stadium, with a
25% increase in seat capacity, could aggravate them . . .or it could
solve them. Here's how.
First, we need a Red Sox organization that listens to and works
with residents and public agencies to find solutions for existing
problems of traffic, litter, vandalism, damage to the Back Bay Fens, loss of resident parking spaces, and the disproportionate number of surface
parking lots in our neighborhood. (These lots seem to breed in the
shadow of the ballpark: by some counts, 40% of land in the West Fenway is devoted to parking.) Stricter enforcement, more public transit, and
rezoning are key solutions the community has continually asked for. The
Sox could make them happen.
Second, if the Red Sox must remain and rebuild in the Fenway
they need to look seriously at building in the opposite direction --
north toward Lansdowne Street and the Mass Pike. The current plan to
move the ballpark directly to Boylston Street could easily to worsen the
existing problems. For years, long-term residents have fought
transience, floods of students, and real estate speculators in a
painstaking effort to build a stable community. Bringing the ballpark to
Boylston Street threatens the neighborhood's ability to attract more
long-term renters and homeowners and its ability to keep the ones already
here.
Finally, and most important, we want concrete plans--not just
promises--for tackling these problems aggressively as part of planning
and design for any new or rebuilt stadium. We need the Menino
administration to collaborate on the creation of planning processes that
judge projects like the new ballpark or the redevelopment of the former
Sears building by their impact on the long-term economic, social and
physical health of our neighborhood.
With these things, a new Fenway Park becomes an economic engine
for our community, more accessible and enjoyable for fans, and a greater
asset for the entire city and the region. Without these things, no one
can expect Fenway residents to welcome or even accept what many rightly
foresee as a disaster for our community.
Thousands of people make their home in the Fenway, which in turn
gives Fenway Park its intimate and uniquely urban flavor. In recent
weeks, Red Sox management has contacted the Fenway Community Development
Corporation and City Councilor Tom Keane to say that they're considering
something they haven't done in years: sitting down and talking with their neighrbors. That's a crucial first step. We welcome that process and
sincerely believe that we can work together to assure a win-win
proposition for the neighborhood and the club. Some of us even want it
to happen because--believe it or not--we're Red Sox fans.
______________________________
Steven J. Wolf is president and Don Hill is vice president of the Fenway
Community Development Corproration. The Fenway CDC is a 25-year-old,
community-based organization dedicated to affordable housing, economic
development, and community revitalization.
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