The Third Decade

The Evisceration of Roxbury

Without any concrete evidence, I will stop short of claiming intimidation or conspiracy. But, how is it possible that nearly every major politician representing Roxbury (some of the few relevant local politicians of color, by the way) has been caught up in some kind of alleged scandal recently?! Wilkerson, Turner, and now Fox? The politicians representing Roxbury can't be any more corrupt than the pols in any other city or district around Massachusetts. So what's the deal? Are they being careless? Are they being targeted? Or is the community itself the battleground?

With Boston running out of large lots of land for new building projects, Roxbury is one of the few areas close to downtown with enough space left for major construction projects (Allston and the South Boston waterfront are two of the others). Mayor Menino's recent attempt to seize control of P3, the redevelopment plans for Dudley Square, resistance to institutional creep (such as Northeastern's campus expansion and Boston University's Bio Lab), and the community's demands for improved transportation are just a few examples of how competition for space in and control over the neighborhood are heating up.

With the community's senior and most vocal politicians knocked off their pedistals, it would be easy to pick apart the neighborhood bit by bit. That, of course, doesn't excuse our politicians of wrongdoing, if they've done something wrong. But, let's put everything on the table. If they've done wrong, let's see more than a few clips and allegations in the media. In the meantime, the community would be wise to keep its eyes on real estate trends and development patterns in the area. If Harvard was able to secretly purchase half of Allston, there's no reason to suspect that it wouldn't happen in Roxbury, too.

Say What Now?

So there's a new Silver Line rumor going 'round. Someone believes that the T will build a tunnel from downtown to Roxbury and run a subway version of the route to Dudley Square. Not only does he believe it, he's telling people this theory. I heard it second-hand through a friend this afternoon, but now I want to know how many other people have heard this. I told my friend that I think her source is wrong, but maybe I am. Did I miss some news?

Kevin Costner Sounds like a Kennedy

The Company Men is back on the block filming again. On my way to work this morning, one of the crew stopped me from walking up the street for a few minutes so that I wouldn't walk into one of the shots. While waiting, I watched Ben Affleck and Kevin Costner film a scene. I couldn't hear Affleck, but Costner was putting on an accent that makes him sound like a Kennedy. The funny thing is that they're both playing construction workers. Costner's character may be the poshest construction worker in Boston when this movie comes out.