As the light snow whispered down Harrison Avenue on the morning of Feb. 9, it seemed to carry some quiet promise. Soon, Phillips Square would warm up as hundreds gathered in clusters, their anticipation bright in the winter. Lion dancers moved with radiant grace, while firecrackers burst, clearing the path for good luck in a new year clouded by uncertainty. Chinatown is indeed facing its own uncertainties. Just two days before the parade, the City of Boston closed public comments […]

Walking through Chinatown today, you will encounter layers of its identity: the memories of a Chinatown long gone, the visions of a Chinatown that could have been, the Chinatown that remains a home for long-term residents, and the Chinatown being reshaped for tourists and transplants. In a neighborhood that has been created and stewarded by immigrant Asian American residents, luxury developments now dot the landscape – raising rents, and displacing residents. At the same time, those developments have exacerbated the […]

Voices in English, Cantonese and Mandarin overlapped and echoed throughout a theater room at the Josiah Quincy Upper School on Jan. 18 at a city-sponsored meeting on rezoning plans for Chinatown. Property owners, business owners, and community leaders had various – and often conflicting – opinions about the rezoning proposal. One of the most contentious issues was a set of plans to dramatically change zoning heights for some types of buildings in Chinatown, which has seen several high-rise luxury housing […]