Dot Grows Garden Council, Feb. 7
Please join us for our first Dot Grows Garden Council meeting of 2012! The February Dot Grows Garden Council Meeting will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 305 Talbot Ave. Dorchester (site of the Mt. Washington Bank Community Room located in Codman Square).
Food in the Hood, Feb. 8
Are you interested in helping to improve access to healthy food through farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), urban agriculture, and healthy corner store initiatives? The monthly Bowdoin-Geneva Food in the ‘Hood Committee Meeting is coming right up! Come on by next Wednesday, Feb. 8th from 6 to 7:30 p.m in the first floor conference room at the Bowdoin Street Health Center (230 Bowdoin Street). Feel free to check out the event and RSVP on Facebook! Flyers are also attached in both English and Cape Verdean Creole. Please invite your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues!
Free! Healthy snacks provided. Can’t attend but want your voice to be heard? Have a question? Call Maura at at 617-754-0026. Continue Reading »
Youth Conservation Corps: Jobs for Teens & Adult Staff!
Don’t waste your summer inside! Work as part of a team outdoors! YCC is an outdoor job opportunity for youth ages 15-17. During the summer, YCC teens work as part of team to accomplish important conservation projects on the Neponset Greenway in Dorchester and Mattapan and Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park. YCC teens create and maintain trails; complete native restoration projects, which attract birds, insects and other wildlife; remove invasive plant species; create murals along the Neponset and East Boston Greenways; and learn about current local and global environmental concerns.
Youth must either be a resident of Boston registered with the Mayor’s Hopeline at http://www.bostonyouthzone.com
Help Trees Thrive in Boston!
Grow our green space! Help plant trees in the city!
Street Trees: Want a new tree in Boston? You can request a tree planting by calling the Park Line at 617-635-PARK (7275) or the Mayor’s Hotline at 617-635-4500, or by using Citizen’s Connect on your smart phone. For most tree-related requests (including maintenance) you can also visit Online Services at CityofBoston.gov. Any resident of Boston can request to have a street tree planted in front of their home or business. An arborist will come out and inspect the site to determine if it can be planted. The site will be inspected to see if it meets the proper requirements. Currently there is a backlog of about one year and sites are replanted in the order that they are received. If you would like a tree planted immediately, you may opt to pay for the tree yourself and the tree will be installed under the current contract (price may vary from year to year). Read more at http://www.cityofboston.gov/Parks/StreetTrees/seasonal.asp. View a presentation on Street Trees online.
Lawn Plantings: Live on a private road? Sidewalks too narrow for street trees? Utility conflicts? Too close to a stop sign? If you own your home and have a front yard, you may be eligible for a lawn planting. Contact the Parks department for more information.
4th Annual Boston Bike Update, Feb. 28
Have you taken a ride around town on a Hubway bike yet? Has there been a new bike lane installed in your neighborhood this past year? Have you heard about the Boston Bike Network Plan? If yes, then you know that 2011 has been a big year for Boston Bikes.
For the fourth year in a row, LivableStreets Alliance will host the annual Boston Bike Update event. Nicole Freedman, Director of the Boston Bikes Program, will present her fourth report on past achievements, challenges, and future goals of the Mayor’s effort to create a “world class bicycling city.” Come hear details on Hubway, the Bike Network Plan, parking facilities, youth programs, festivals, and more. Special guest Mayor Thomas Menino will speak to his “the car is no longer king” policy for the city.
Event takes place from 5:45 – 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 28, at the Boston Public Library, Rabb Lecture Hall, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. Free and open to the public. Join fellow cyclists at this public forum on bicycle planning in Boston.
5:45 – 6:15 p.m. Transportation Community Showcase-come learn about all the different groups working together for better biking in Boston
6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Presentation
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Q&A/discussion
LivableStreets is your advocate for a balance of biking, walking, and transit with automobiles—creating safe streets and livable communities—making the Boston region a better place to live, work, and play.
>For more information: www.livablestreets.info / 617.621.1746 / kara@livablestreets.info
> For sponsorship opportunities, please contact jackie@livablestreets.info
Boston Regional Metro Planning Organization Open House Jan 25
MPO OPEN HOUSE / Diverse Region – Working Together: people, information, strategies
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The Public is invited to either of the two Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO’s) Open House sessions on Wednesday, January 25, at 12:30 PM and 6:00 PM. at the State Transportation Building, Suite 2150, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA
The two sessions include the same agenda items:
• Introduction to the Boston Region MPO (30 minutes)
• TIP-Building Workshop (45 minutes)
• Development of the Unified Planning Work Program (15 minutes)
This is an Open House for anyone that would like to learn more about
the Boston Region MPO, the Transportation Improvement Program, and the Unified Planning Work Program. The Introduction will provide an overview of metropolitan transportation planning and how the MPO conducts this work in the Boston region, and the MPO activities schedule for the year ahead. The TIP-Building Workshop will explain the development of the federal fiscal years 2013-16 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Federal highway and transit funds for the 101 cities and towns of the Boston region are programmed in the TIP. See MPO Open House flyer here.
“The Molasses is Coming!” Jan. 29
On January 15, 1919, a 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents in a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that traveled at 35 miles per hour, killing 21 people and causing widespread damage.On Sunday, January 29, at 2 p.m., GreenDorchester’s partner the Dorchester Historical Society will host Stephen Puleo, author of Dark Tide, the story of the disaster, who will talk about the Molasses Flood as well as the times in which it occurred. Copies of Dark Tide will be available for $16. The event, free and open to the public, takes place at DHS Headquarters, 195 Boston Street. For more information, contact the Dorchester Historical Society at (617) 293-3052 or email Earl Taylor (ermmwwt@aol.com).
Boston Urban Agriculture Kickoff, Jan. 30!
Brainstorm the future of agriculture in Boston! Learn about Urban Agriculture, taste food samples, and find out how zoning can support farming! Featuring Keynote Speaker Will Allen, Founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc., former pro athlete, and 2008 McArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” recipient for his work on urban farming and sustainable food production. Check out the Urban Agriculture Kickoff & Visioning Flyer! Additional flyers in Spanish, Haitian Creole and Chinese.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), and the Mayor’s Office of Food Initiatives are launching a new project to update the Boston Zoning Code to support Urban Agriculture (UA) city wide. UA is small scale farming that makes healthy, fresh food more accessible and empowers Bostonians by creating economic opportunity. Examples of urban farming include rooftop greenhouse agriculture, aquaponics (fish farming), community farms, farm stands, composting, and other fresh food-producing endeavors. Continue Reading »
Circle The City – Your Input Needed!
A group of park and fitness advocates are proposing a Circle The City event, which would close selected roads and lanes on a spring or summer Sunday, connecting parks and bike paths. The group needs suggestions for possible temporary road or lane closures between Dorchester and Franklin Park, and possibly to the Neponset Greenway and the Boston Harborwalk. Want to weigh in? Email dotbike@bostonbiker.org.Transportation Justice Rally, Jan. 23
Fired up by fare hikes? Enraged by proposed service cuts? A kick-off Transportation Justice Rally will take place on Monday, January 23, 2012, beginning at 12pm at the State House, with a planned march around the Boston Commons, with the march route concluding at the Transportation Building to accommodate testimony opportunities for the 1 p.m. Public Workshop (and some additional outside action and demonstration). For more information, contact Kevin Raymond Odell,
Coalition Coordinator, On The Move (OTM): The Greater Boston Transportation Justice Coalition, by emailing kevin.odell@bostononthemove.org or calling 978-429-5515. Visit OTM online at www.bostononthemove.org. View participant groups and march/rally details after the break. Continue Reading »
