Boston

October 6, 2023 0

Residents Voice Concern Over Chinatown’s Future as New Zoning Proposals Unveiled

Boston Chinatown is at another crossroads. The historical neighborhood, long celebrated as a sanctuary for Chinese immigrants and a hub of cultural diversity and heritage, is facing an unprecedented transformation as gentrification takes hold. Threatened by rising rents, luxury developments, and a changing demographic landscape, the Chinatown residents speak up about their experiences and make their voices heard. Community leaders and advocates are working to address these challenges. They are calling for affordable housing initiatives, stronger rent control measures, and […]

September 2, 2023 0

See Say App Gives Direct Access to Transit Police to Report Violence

by Kristen Si

MBTA Chief Safety Officer, Ron Ester, left at the end of August after years of work with federal agencies regarding MBTA safety. This lack of leadership during a time when numerous incidents of violence have been reported on the MBTA concerns many riders. This past July, Transit Police at Andrew Station arrested two men on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. In May, 2 teens were charged for unprovoked attacks on a woman in South Boston […]

September 2, 2023 0

Igniting Promise and Hope: Boston’s SPARK Council

by Christopher John Stephens

For many of us, Labor Day marks the unofficial beginning of the year. Whether we’re many years from having finished high school or college, and whether or not we have children of our own we need to help prepare for the new school year, the promise of starting fresh is as much in the air as the gradual changing from summer to fall. The sun will rise later in the morning, new schedules will start surfacing for everything from day […]

August 18, 2023 0

Organizers Give Update on Chinatown Master Plan

by Christopher John Stephens

The Chinatown Master Plan was first developed in 1990 to respond to residential concerns about competing demands for affordable housing and institutional expansion in Chinatown. As we reach nearly three and a half years since the start of COVID, and the release of the 2020 version of the report, Sampan convened a discussion with Chinatown Community Land Trust Executive Director Lydia Lowe, Pao Arts Center Director Cynthia Woo, and Asian Community Development Corporation Executive Director Angie Liou to discuss successes, […]

August 5, 2023 0

Converting Used Office Buildings Into Affordable Housing: Who are the Real Stakeholders

by Kristen Si

There is no doubt that the city of Boston is currently in the midst of a housing crisis. In the Boston Foundation’s annual report, the Greater Boston area received a failing grade in the year of 2022. The report cites confounding factors of economic growth and rising housing prices with the bottom line that middle and lower-income families will be struggling in the coming years to find affordable housing options if new policies are not adopted. The current issues will […]

August 4, 2023 0

Living Your Best Life: It Takes a Village

by Jeff Millman

A five-minute walk from the historic On Leong Chinese Merchants Association building in Chinatown brings you to the Biewend building on Tremont Street. Dr. Wei Wang, a geriatrician and primary care physician, sees elderly patients here at Tufts Medicine’s primary care offices. He told Sampan that many elderly people living in Chinatown deal with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. This is true of older adults more generally. In the United States, nearly 95% of […]

July 8, 2023 0

Protecting the Boston Parks for All

by Alina Chaudhri

Boston’s parks provide natural ecosystem services both to its plants and its bordering communities. They help manage air quality, temperature, and water. As a research study suggests, trees in urban settings can remove up to 7,111,000 tons of toxic from the air each year. Vegetation prevents temperature from becoming too hot, and it filters rain while protecting drinking water. Of course, in addition to the wonder’s parks do for the air and water, they also benefit wildlife by providing a […]

June 9, 2023 0

In Memory of Former South Cove Community Health Center Director Eugene Welch

by Aili Liu

Editor’s Note: Eugene Welch, CEO/Executive Director of South Cove Community Health Center for 23 years until his 2022 retirement, passed away Monday May 29 at the age of 78. Sampan is re-printing our October 2022 Eugene Welch profile/interview. We asked Eric Tiberi, SCCHC’s new CEO/Executive Director, for a few words about Mr. Welch’s legacy and the future of the Center going forward. Eugene Welch was a mentor, friend, and supporter to all of us at South Cove Community Health Center. He had an […]

May 27, 2023 0

Asian Hate in Boston: The Struggle for Justice Continues

by Christopher John Stephens

The problem of Asian hate crimes in Boston and surrounding neighborhoods was the topic of a May 8 forum at the Asian American Civic Association. In attendance and speaking were City Council President Ed Flynn, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement Monique Tú Nguyen, Executive Director of Lawyers for Civil Rights Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, Boston Police Community Service Office Sgt. Paul Chevette, MBTA Transit Police Crime Investigation Sgt. Joseph Sacco, and Boston’s Senior Advisor for Community Safety Isaac […]

May 13, 2023 0

Parking Squeeze in Chinatown, Residents Say They Blame Construction, City Restrictions

by Wanheng Jiang

Boston’s Chinatown has always been a crowded community with a small number of residential parking spaces and a large number of residents with cars. Now the parking problem has been made worse — and more costly — by a string of construction projects and parking restrictions that have made it impossible for some residents to park after a long day’s work. “Sometimes it takes me more than an hour to find a parking space,” said Kang Qiang Mai, an Uber […]

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