We give a little bit, we get a lot.

I bought my home in Roxbury in 2005.  There was no grass in the yard.  Even the small clusters of weeds were having a hell of a time hanging on.

The problem was the soil.  It wasn’t poisonous, just lifeless.  It had been choked and stepped on for so long, nothing much could grow.  

Every week, I gave love, and energy.  It was effortless.  

Now the soil is rich, the kind of blackened loam that gardeners would kill for.  

This coming week, I make a promise to shop here in Dudley, at least twice, in a store I haven’t yet gone.  

Naturally, I’ll get my groceries at Tropical Foods, and I’ll probably pick up a pizza at the ever-friendly Dudley Square Grille (formerly Stash's Grill), but I visit those stores all the time.

No, I mean getting to know stores that I normally don’t go.  I’m going to keep doing that, week in and week out.  

Who's with me?!

Simply put, Roxbury is our home.  Let’s help the businesses here thrive, for their sake and ours.

It can be something as simple as making sure you buy your aspirin at the Walgreens across from the Ferdinand, instead of the CVS where you work. Or inviting a friend to have brunch at the Haley House Bakery, now that they're open on Sundays.   


In my case, I’m going to buy fish for dinner from Simon's Seafood and Deli in their new location on Dudley Street, and I’ll stop in the Dudley Department Store for the some little somethings, I know I’ll need in a week.  

This is how we help our neighborhood thrive. We give a little bit, we get a lot. 

I’d go into Aga’s for a lap dance, but I’m too old for that.  And that place still gives me the heebee jeebees.

Dudley Square Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

On December 17, 2012, Jonathan Napoli, owner of The Boston Gardener, went before the  Dudley Vision Advisory Task Force to advocate for opening a medical marijuana dispensary in Dudley Square.   

Let me begin by saying that I approached the idea of a dispensary in Dudley Square with caution, neither for or against it.

Admittedly, I am pro-legalization of marijuana. Having personal experience with it, I can give simple witness to the mildness of it’s effects, lack of harmful addictive qualities, and overall “meh” in terms of it’s impact on society.  The fact that people go to jail for possession of marijuana is, in my opinion, ridiculous.

However, whether marijuana is a good thing or a bad thing is not the question.  Rather, the question is would opening a dispensary in Dudley Square be a good thing or a bad thing for our community.  

There are precious few studies on the potential impacts that medical marijuana dispensaries might have on our neighborhood.  The Rand Corp., a not-for-profit research and analysis organization, found that crime actually decreased around dispensaries in Colorado and California, due to the amount of added security.

However, I checked with a friend of mine living in Los Angeles.  His impression was overwhelmingly negative.  “Think of a liquor store times ten,” he told me.  “I have a dispensary down the end of my block and a clerk was murdered there three months ago.”

While “asking a friend” is admittedly less scientific, personal witness to the potential effects on a neighborhood are valuable, and in this case, served to check my enthusiasm for a new business opening in our neighborhood.

A few weeks of personal research left me with the impression that a dispensary, like a lot of things in the grown-up world, could be a good thing for Dudley Square...if handled correctly.  

I don’t mean just for those people who are suffering from chronic pain, who would be the customer base. I mean for the neighborhood itself, since that steady, repeat customer base, who would have otherwise no reason to come here, might well also be having lunch at places like the Haley House, and picking up some groceries at Tropical Foods.

The caveat being that a dispensary Mr. Napoli might open would have to meet stringent security regulations, equal to or exceeding the security in a bank, or face immediate shut down.

The dispensary would also have to meet and exceed every law enforcement precaution to ensure only those with prescriptions from certified doctors could get the drug.  In this case, similar to any drug from a pharmacy.

I am a fan of Mr. Napoli’s other business in Dudley Square, the Boston Gardener.  I’ve also been in The Hempest, a high end clothing store on Newbury Street, selling hemp-related clothing and accessories, that he owns as well.  Mr. Napoli strikes me as a man with flair for business and isn’t just in it for a buck.  He cares about his stores, what they sell, and he wants to do right by the community.

And that gives me optimism.     

During his presentation to the Dudley Vision Task Force, one of the committee members (who was clearly against the idea) argued that opening a dispensary would define Dudley Square as “the weed district.”  

I fail to see how opening one store would “define” Dudley Square as anything.  By that logic, Dudley Square would be an epic shoe district, because we have two shoe stores.  

It also presupposes that dispensaries have an existing negative image, which I don’t believe to be the case.  These are places where people who are in chronic pain come for relief. Dispensaries are not “drug clinics” and patients with prescriptions would not smoke or ingest anywhere in or around the store (that’s not how weed works, folks).  We can thank Colorado and California for providing examples of public safety.

Cambridge and Framingham will soon be getting dispensaries.  I think that Dudley Square would be missing out if such organizations such as the Dudley Vision Advisory Task Force failed to support Mr. Napoli in this venture. 

Gain: Roxbury's Upcoming Growing Pains

It is not a case of whether or not the improvements to Dudley Square and the surrounding area will cause temporary traffic problems, inconvenient crowding, and noise, but to what degree, what duration, and how annoyed we will occasionally get.

While the Ferdinand Building is being redeveloped and the two other buildings located at 2304-2306 and 2326 Washington St. are incorporated into the massive Ferdinand Municipal Administration building (official name to be forthcoming), Boston Water & Sewer will be undertaking a long-planned separation of rain overflow from sanitation flow,  necessitating large sections of pavement to be torn up all throughout Roxbury.  Construction on the Ferdinand will be taking place during the day, while Boston Water & Sewer will be working at night.

That means orange cones, flashing yellow lights, and people in hard hats around Dudley Square, around the clock.

As if these projects weren't enough, a three-story office building is scheduled for construction directly across from the Ferdinand, on the corner of Taber and Warren, in the fall.  The MBTA has also already locked in a developer for improvements to the Dudley Bus Terminal, which means construction beginning there within a month.

Nor should we expect surcease by the end of 2013.  Just the opposite.  Development of Parcels 3 (Tremont Crossing shopping mall, on the corner or Whittier and Tremont), 9 (Melnea Hotel and Residences, along Melnea Cass Blvd.), and 10 (expanded El Tropical supermarket, also on Melnea Cass, opposite), as well as improvements to pedestrian and bike paths along the boulevard, will be just getting underway when all the original projects are winding down.

Embrace, and even encourage, the certain disasters to befall a living, breathing Dudley Square.  Roxbury can't pause while developments are underway, but make no mistake, these "problems" are the best sign that Roxbury is growing again.  We should all do our best to remember that special thing that always seems to accompany pain.

Roxbury Greening

There are a lot of great reasons to love Roxbury just for being Roxbury.  We’re a Boston neighborhood with a texture and pattern distinct from any other.  We’re not the South End, North End, Chinatown, or Back Bay.   We’re Roxbury.

One of those great reasons, the Boston Gardner, moved into Dudley Square in 2009.   This all-encompassing gardening store sprung up half a block past the El Tropical grocery mart, as you enter the Square.  I noticed it earlier this Spring, when I was having one of those glum city moments, feeling drained by all the concrete and brick and painted-on metal.  Suddenly, I happened upon the Boston Gardener, brimming with small vegetable plants out front and a verdant ivy tenaciously climbing the façade.  I felt instantly better, just knowing the store was there.

I found the time to really check it out yesterday and had the good fortune to meet Jairo Haile, one of the store's staff members.   Upon my entrance, he was engaged in garden talk with a customer, so I wandered down the aisles, taking in the ambiance.   

There really is more here than an amateur gardener, like myself, could ever hope to need.   The store has all the basics, of course: compost, small gardening tools, fertilizer, seeds, etc.  As you continue into the store, however, you’ll also see sophisticated hydroponic equipment, full-spectrum lights, fans, special soil PH balancing agents, and other such items that are necessary only if you are growing specialty plants, like orchids, or you're determined to grow the biggest, greenest, meanest, healthiest plants this side of Eden.

When I came back around, Jairo greeted me and asked if I had any questions.  Honestly, I felt a little intimidated, as if he’d throw me out when he discovered that I had no clue what the PH balance of my backyard soil was, or that I let certain sections of my garden deteriorate because I don’t have the heart to kill snails.  

On the contrary, Jairo assured me the store was for everyone that loved getting dirt under their fingernails cultivating vegetables or flowers.  When I mentioned being surprised to see a gardening store so deep in the city, Jairo responded with an understanding nod.  One of the missions of the store, he explained, was to make the community strong, and to remind city dwellers how wonderful growing things can be.

I realized that he was right, very right, and I was even happier to live in Dudley Square because the Boston Gardener also calls it home.

The store has a web site, www.boston-gardener.com, which can give you a good idea of the wide variety of items you can get there, but you'd be doing yourself a favor to check out the store in person.  It's not only a place for all gardeners, it's the kind of place that makes you want to get home and get gardening.

The Boston Gardener 
2131 Washington Street, 
Boston, MA  02119
bostongardener@gmail.com
617-606-7065


Store Hours
Monday-Friday 10am - 5:30pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Closed on Sunday

90 Days

Mayor Menino, Dec. 6, 2011, in a speech prepared for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce:

"We pushed past false starts with a 115 million dollar investment in Dudley Square that will break ground in three months. When we meet next year, steel, glass, concrete, and people will be rebuilding the Ferdinand. This follows our construction of a new police station and precedes the development of several key parcels. Today, Dudley Square is on the right path to economic success."

Get ready for good things to start happening!

It Is Not The Critic Who Counts

I get it.  It’s the internet.  I shouldn’t expect rational, well-thought out responses to real world events. Anonymity combined with a short-attention span turns regular humans into gibbering little kobolds, like Sauron’s Ring.

Knowing that, however, doesn’t alleviate my aggravation when I read disparaging comments about the immense effort being taken on behalf of Dudley Square and Roxbury by Mayor Menino.   The Mayor’s plan to relocate Boston School Department offices  to the historic Ferdinand, J.S. Waterman, and Curtis buildings along Washington Street in Dudley Square will serve to both simplify the byzantine BSD network as well as serve to kick-start a renaissance that’s been promised to the Bostonians living in Roxbury for thirty years!

I’ve taken samples of some comments on various websites in reaction to the news of taking of the two Washington Street buildings by eminent domain, and responded to them here (I responded on those websites too).  I did not modify any of the writer's sentences or paragraphs, but I did truncate their posts to the essential complaint (there was a lot of rambling "oh by the way" onto other topics).

COMMENTER #1 writes:  “How does destroying local businesses revitalize a Roxbury neighborhood? Same way that evicting two elementary schools in two years from Roxbury "expands access to excellence."

And how does BPS allow itself the obscene expenditure of 115 Million dollars for new administrative offices, when administrative chaos has already darkened their future with looming MSBA debt and frozen funding? This report raises so many fascinating questions.

How is renovating an area destroying local businesses?  That’s like saying working out makes you weak.  Sure it does, for an hour or so.  Then you get stronger than you ever were before.   How many dozens of businesses, along Washington Street, Dudley Street, Warren Street, Harrison Ave. will benefit from this move?!

And the city is going to help those few businesses in the two buildings it is taking by eminent domain.  That’s a hell of a lot better than the owners were doing or would do.  Moreover, the J.S. Waterman building is currently for sale.  A private buyer would be free to kick everyone out, period.   The deteriorating façade of both buildings is all the indication I need regarding the owners care for their tenants.

Does Commenter #1 realize he’s answering his own second question?!  How does the BPS allow itself the expenditure of money and effort to solve administrative chaos….when it has administrative chaos?  Um…yea…that’s WHY they’re coalescing those disparate offices into one block.  Problem….yea…and solution.

$115 million isn’t obscene for 1) restoring a historic centerpiece building like the Ferdinand, 2) upgrading the second most used T Station in ALL of Boston, 3) revitalizing a whole neighborhood, 4) solving administrative chaos.

COMMENTER #2  writes: “These owners have every reason and right to fight this, and I hope that they win. Screw Menino for wasting my tax dollars fighting it.”

Are you old enough to remember the South End in the 70’s?  It was a scary, scary place.  Now it’s one of the neighborhoods that BRINGS people to Boston.   Roxbury can do the same thing, the same EXACT thing, for Boston.  Nowhere else in Boston can you get that rich African-American heritage.  Nowhere else can you find the Latin American, African, or Caribbean foods.  Menino’s not wasting a thing.

COMMENTER #3  writes:  “There's enough empty space out there. How about that defunct dot-com palace on Lincoln St., right along the Pike? By the way, you just know some BSD employees are going to say ‘you want us to work WHERE?’”

That’s the point!  If some BSD employees ask, “You want us to work WHERE?”  then you should say, “Dudley Square…it’s TWO minutes from Mass. Ave., dummy.”  

I know it’s kind of scary to be someplace where most people have skin a different color, or have accents not quite the same, but you did put on your 21^st century big person underwear on this morning, didn’t you?

Does Commenter #3 think it would be better to take buildings NOT adjacent to the Ferdinand?  Coalescing the BSD buildings into the same general area is the kind of simplification that should be applauded!  How does it help if the buildings are all over Roxbury?  No, it’s much better for the move, much better for efficiency within the BSD, much better for the planned upgrades to the Dudley T Station (which helps with traffic, etc.) and much better for the community if those buildings are directly adjacent with each other.  

Summing up, it's hard to watch the dedication of the BRA and PRC, not to mention Mayor Menino, to this very worthy goal and not become frustrated with comments such as these.  There are a lot of problems in Roxbury, but there's a hell of a lot of promise there too.  Criticize? Sure, if it's constructive and you've thought it through.  Otherwise, go play in a sandbox. Let the grown-ups do some work. 

Your Eminence

Recently, Boston city officials announced the taking of two buildings located at 2304-2306 and 2326 Washington St. by process of eminent domain.  The stated reason being to provide more space for the upcoming relocation of the Boston Public School administration to that section of Roxbury.  In 2008, Mayor Menino announced the renovation of the Ferdinand Building for this relocation and the taking of these additional buildings indicates the seriousness of the move and the stake the city is going to be putting into Dudley Square.

In the context of the relocation, these acquisitions make sense, being directly adjacent to the Ferdinand.  No other property in Dudley Square could serve the project more efficiently, or allow for major improvements to the Dudley T Station.

The process of eminent domain begins with the city determining the need for a particular section of land or building(s).  This has already been made official with the 2304-2306 Washington St. and 2326 Washington St. buildings.

The next step involves three branches of possibility:

First, the city assess the value of each property and offers the owners what they consider to be a fair price.  The owners accept the deal, and deliver their deeds amicably.  This is least common branch.

More realistically, the property owners will refuse the City’s offered price, and the parties will go to court for a judge or jury to determine the “fair value.”  It is often in an owner’s financial best interests to take this step.

Lastly, if either or both of the owners simply refuse the sale entirely,  the City files a court action against the withholding party or parties and posts a public hearing in which they must prove that they offered a fair price. This gives the public an opportunity to put their weight for or against the city.  Since Boston Redevelopment Authority officials have stated throughout their intention to restore the buildings, there will likely be little public support for the owners.

It is important to note that at the time of declaring eminent domain, 2326 Washington St. was up for sale.  In this case, the City of Boston can simply be seen as the buyer.  The businesses located here should be relieved, since the City of Boston is bound to help them relocate, cover business costs for the duration of the move, and potentially offer them space once the building has been renovated.  A private buyer would have no such obligation.

Moreover, in a fully revitalized Dudley Square, business will undoubtedly improve.

Gaston Safar of G.S. Realty, the owner of the 2304 Washington Street, as well as other property in and around Boston, is reportedly “boiling mad” about the seizure (Bostonherald.com, Dec. 1, Thomas Grillo), despite advertising for vacancy in the building.

In a speech prepared to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Menino said, "We will never know how great Boston can be until Dudley Square is great once again.”   Combined with the redevelopment of Melnea Cass Boulevard, as well as the adjacent Parcel 9 and 10 areas, the renovation of the Ferdinand block holds real promise for all businesses and residents of Roxbury.