After a series of ownership changes and soon returning to community use, Parcel R-1 faces many development expectations from the Boston Chinatown neighborhood. Parcel R-1 comprises 14 parcels located at 48–58 Tyler Street and 49–63 Hudson Street. The equaling 18,714 square feet of vacant land is now owned by BPDA while being used by Tufts University as a parking lot.
At the November 17 virtual meeting hosted by the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), team members illustrated their considerations and objectives on the site planning and received comments from Chinatown residents on their vision for R-1’s future development.
When Tufts University’s license agreement expired in 2017, an agreement was reached that the institution would give up its development rights in exchange for a year-by-year lease so that the land could be developed for community priorities, according to Lydia Lowe, Director of Chinatown Community Land Trust.
At the meeting, BPDA Senior Manager for Dispositions Reay Pannesi proposed their disposition objectives and goals towards the site development. BPDA is trying to upgrade the quality of life in Chinatown, and “ensure the long-term viability of Chinatown as a historic residential neighborhood, a unique cultural business and service center,” she said.
Their vision includes creating a high percentage of affordable housing on R-1, encouraging community business and trade, galvanizing employment opportunities for community residents, improving the environment through establishing open space subdistricts, and promoting public safety, health, and welfare of people.
In the feedback session, around 20 attendees made comments, asking questions about the project and talking about what they want to see in this community place-to-be.
The most resonated suggestions were on affordable housing, opening a library and green space. With the ongoing gentrification projects and rising housing prices, attendees reflected on how several of their neighbors have had to move out of Chinatown due to increasingly unaffordable rent.
Among the speakers were several high school and college students. They advocated for a library belonging to Chinatown – a place with free Wi-Fi for them to concentrate on studying, a public space for the community to gather and hold activities.
“I especially remember when I was younger, not being able to go to a library actually, because my working-class parents would not have time to bring me. And I noticed similar situations for my families who are currently living in the community,” said Sarah Wang, a Chinatown resident who has been living here for almost 24 years. “Also I’ve noticed living in the community is that there is really a lack of community space. I think we see this after school when we see kids just wandering along the streets, because there is really no space to sit down and hang out.”
She added that since the pandemic, she has seen people going to Parcel R-1 to exercise and take walks during nights when the parking lot was basically vacant. From that, we could see that the residents could really make use of this piece of land as a community space, she said.
Some attendees addressed the lack of green space in Chinatown, and cited high asthma rates among children studying and living in Chinatown.
“We want to hear from the community, what you would like to see for development guidelines, and also design guidelines,” Pannesi said at the meeting. “So we get feedback from you, and we put it into our RFP.”
After the meeting, the comment board on the BPDA website stayed open until December 2 to collect voice from the community. After the feedback receiving process, BPDA will hopefully issue the Project Request for Proposal in 2021 winter once gaining support from the community.
To read this article in Chinese (Traditional), please click here.
