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SWOT
Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats |
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Definition
Strengths- higher education, medical institutions, financial institutions.
military spending and technology
Weaknesses- Residential Segregation, Persistent poverty, housing market, unequal public services
Opportunity- underemployment, reduce racial segreg.
Threats- public school education is poor, budget. high education is expensive. high inequality. |
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| strong beliefs, treason to oppose. |
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| charlestown- convent burned down full of protestant nuns. catholics represented the irish. |
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| versus district, better to bigger community needs. boston was political machine, at large was in place to destroy corrupt machines. however, do not represent minority groups with this system. |
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| 2. Kinds of neighborhoods that experienced gentrification early on |
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Definition
| Neighborhoods with good architecture close to public transportation, with more free space that was affordable, and in areas with cultural diversity and venues. |
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| 3. Advantages and disadvantages of gentrification since about 1970 in Boston |
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Definition
Most gentrification took place because some neighborhoods had excellent locations near Downtown Boston or with good public transportation, and boasted attractive architecture or tree lined streets. Gentrification took hold in the 1970s and 80s when gas prices soared, making long commutes less desirable, and when more young professionals valued city living and being near their jobs, cultural venues, and entertainment, As Boston’s colleges grew there were more graduates who wanted to stay in Boston and take advantage of new job opportunities.
Gives Boston elegant image, adds to tax base, but pushes older residents out due to increased costs, and affordable housing becomes more difficult to find. |
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| 6. Causes and effects of conflict between Irish Americans and African Americans before 1900. |
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Definition
| Split a political base that could combine to be more influential due to completion for labor jobs and affordable housing. |
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| 13. Judge W. Arthur Garrity’s decision in the Boston Public Schools desegregation case |
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Definition
| Judge Garrity used findings from research on 3 questions: How segregated were public schools? (of 140, 75 were nearly all white, 24 were nearly all minority, and only about 40 were more mixed); Were less qualified teachers in minority schools? (yes) and; Why were some schools overcrowded? (most of these schools were nearly all white because white parents’ requests to put their kids in all white schools were granted while minority parents were ignored.) |
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1. Positional analysis- using available materials.
2. Reputational analysis- asking questions
3. Functional analysis- observation |
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| 18. Characteristics of “The Vault |
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Definition
White, Protestant, English decent, Harvard educated , all male(25)
Formally known as the Coordinating Committee, the Vault consisted of 25 business leaders from downtown Boston who operated secretively and wielded great influence over public affairs through its policy positions and behind-the-scenes advocacy. |
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| 20. Reasons for the decline of the power of the “Vault” after 1980 |
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Definition
| Book published in 1982 about the Vault. Corruption. |
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| 21. Changes made by the “Vault” after it became better known in the 1980’s |
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Definition
Power Book about the Vault came out in 1982 which tarnished its reputation.
Vault tried to clean up appearance with “Red Shirt” summer program gave youths jobs at companies and cleaning up the city, and they gave out scholarships to poorer students for college. |
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| 22. Campaign platforms by Ray Flynn and Mel King who beat the “Vault” candidate in the 1983 preliminary election for mayor of Boston |
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Definition
Ray Flynn and Mel King rivaled each other in the hotly contested 1983 mayoral election.
Flynn began his political career as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1971 to 1979, representing the South Boston neighborhood during the turbulent busing crisis of the early 1970s. He later served on the Boston City Council from 1978 to 1984, before successfully running for Mayor of Boston in 1983. He was reelected in 1987 and again in 1991.
In 1983, when incumbent Kevin White's withdrawal from contention after 16 years in office made the race wide open, Mel King went from obscure radical to serious contender for Mayor of Boston. Despite Boston's historical scars of racism, Mel King's grassroots activism culminated in political momentum that nearly defeated the favorite, Raymond Flynn. Aside from securing the African American vote, King would have needed 30% of the white vote, which was almost accomplished. Flynn, an Irish-Catholic with roots in the gritty "Southie"(South Boston) area, would take the election despite a landmark showing by King. Even with the defeat, the election and national attention was a historical turning point in the participation of African Americans in politics and urban policy. |
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| 23. Demographic trends in the increasing rates of homelessness in Boston since the early 1980s |
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Definition
7,000 people (1%) of population, cheap housing has disappeared, state mental hospitals closed, and abuse has led more women with children to leave relationships and homes, crack epidemic and hard drugs.
¼ are mentally ill, 1/3 have addiction problems, ¼ are veterans, ½ plus are families, or parents with children. |
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| 25. The new “housing first” approach to dealing with homelessness |
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Definition
Emergency (24 hr) Shelters: provide two meals, a bed, and shower in colder weather.
Transitional Shelters: have rooms for homeless families, mostly women with their children, and families can stay for week or months while getting support services.
Single Room occupancies: Single rooms and managers for people who are getting their lives together and have jobs, and go to programs.
Training programs: Train people who are dealing with their issues, mostly for work in kitchens and hotels.
Housing first is trying to give people stable housing first, then help them solve their other problems. |
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| 26. Types of 19th century architecture in the South End |
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Definition
| Bow front houses are the most characteristic feature of the South End. Brick row houses with curved protruding round segments with windows besides the raised entrances and stairways. Others have bay windows and oriel windows. Flat front buildings and tenements were later built for poorer immigrants. Many Bay Village houses are built like smaller versions of Beacon Hill houses; there is also a number of “handsome” factory buildings. Chickering Piano Factory, The National Theater, Cyclorama Building. Castle Square Development Project (high rise) and Cathedral Projects. |
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| 27. The rooming houses in the South End between 1900-1960s |
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Definition
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| 28. Reasons for South End gentrification starting in 1960s |
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Definition
| “Urban pioneers” could afford whole buildings in the South End and renovated them, and the location as well as attractive “park streets” lured professionals and others with money for convenience and aesthetics. Many close by cultural religious and service organizations. |
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| 29. The origin of Bay Village in the 1820s |
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Definition
| The first part of the South End to be filled in was the area known as Bay Village. This area was filled in during the 1820's, after the Mill Dam had been created. In order to make the filling of land easier, a dike was built across the southern part of Back Bay. For the first years of Bay Village, their sewers drained into the part of Back Bay that was always kept lower than the high tide level (this was known as the "Receiving Basin"). Filled in marsh (like the filling of the Back Bay) |
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| 30. Solution for the flooding of Bay Village in the 1860s |
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Definition
| Unfortunately for those who dwelled in Bay Village and the rest of the South End, this put pressure on their wastewater drainage systems. The problem was that their houses were built at sea level and drained into the Receiving Basin, whose level was always below the high tide line. With Back Bay being filled in, the sewers from the South End were rerouted, now draining into normal tidal areas. As a result, sewage would not drain during high tide, especially during storms. This problem was made worse by the fact that in 1848 water began being piped in to houses, and as a result increased wastewater was put into the sewers. Solution: raise up the land level, first by raising up the buildings. Option (c) was the route the city chose. This involved a massive project to lift entire city blocks of buildings, filling in below the raised buildings, and setting them back down, now on higher ground. Walking around Bay Village one can see examples of houses that were raised (and some that were not!).The rest of the South End faced the same problem late in the 1880's, but it was not quite as bad. This time the city built a large pumping station to help remove the waste. This pumping station operates to this day. |
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| 31. Changes of the slope above Heath Street in the back of Parker Hill after 1960 |
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Definition
| Also in the 1960s the federal government proposed to extend Interstate 95 into the center of Boston and began buying property and demolishing houses in the Roxbury Crossing section of the neighborhood along the Boston and Providence Rail Road. Roxbury Crossing, once known as Pierpoint Village after the Pierpoint family and their mills (the earliest of which in the 1650s), and has been a stop along the Boston & Providence Railroad since the 1840s, was once a vibrant commercial area with the 749-seat Criterion Theatre, a Woolworths and restaurants. Though the Interstate project was shelved by the governor in 1971 after freeway revolts, Roxbury Crossing had been leveled. Ten years later saw the creation of the Southwest Corridor, a park system with bike and pedestrian trails that lead into the center of Boston. In November 2007, the MBTA awarded Mission Hill Housing Services rights to develop a new 10-story mixed-use building on what is known to the Boston Redevelopment Authority as "Parcel 25", across from the Roxbury Crossing station |
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| 32. Reasons for hospitals being put on top of hills |
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Definition
| Building on hills provided better ventilation and less exposure to disease in the days before air conditioning. |
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| 33. Significance of Mission Church on Tremont and Mission Hill since 1860s |
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Definition
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, originally a mission for German Catholics that came to the area, main sanctuary was built in the 1870s and towers were later added when most of the parishioners were Irish. There is also a popular “healing” service offered today.
The Redemptorist Fathers built a modest wooden mission church on the location in 1870. The current church structure was first built in 1878, of Roxbury puddingstone; its spires were added in 1910. Due to the church's sloping foundation, the west cross tops its tower at 215 feet (66 m); the other spire is two feet shorter. The length of the church is also 215 feet (66 m), presenting a perfect proportion. The church was elevated to basilica status in 1956 by Pope Pius XII. |
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| 35. The significance of horse cars in Boston starting in the 1950s |
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Definition
| With the introduction of horse cars, sometime in the fifties, and the greater frequency of steam trains, it became much easier to make trips to and from Boston for business and shopping and occasional theatre or opera, lost significance with the introduction of electric streetcars. |
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| 36. Electric streetcars facilitating the expansion of three-decker housing Boston neighborhoods |
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Definition
Streetcars were able to bring residents from outside of Boston into the city at faster speeds and at affordable rates. 3 Decker housing units could be build in out skirting neighborhoods around Boston because people were able to move out from the inner city to more affordable, roomier, family style 3 deckers because of electric street car access.
he streetcars were twice as fast as the horse cars, carried more passengers, and were relatively cheap; and for the first time opened the suburbs as a regular place of residence to large numbers of people who worked in Boston. The rural atmosphere of the area attracted many members of the middle class, who could now quit a dense, dirty and over-populated Boston, and for the first time separate their places of residence from their places of work. The large estates were sold and subdivided, and houses quickly put up – large elegant single-family homes for the substantial members of the upper middle class; two-family and three-decker apartment houses for the lower middle class who still rented their lodgings, all with at least a small yard. |
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| 37. Changing demands on streets and highways due to automobiles in 1920s |
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Definition
| Many of the main streets and highways had several stop lights, and were generally unsafe due to double lanes making passing dangerous, and also making it very slow with increases in traffic and poorly placed and timed traffic lights. |
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| 38. New highways proposed in the 1948 State Highway Plan |
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Definition
| Proposed new interstate highway system with 90% of funds coming from the federal government for all approved projects. Was needed for quicker cross country transportation (goods and troops). |
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| 39. Reasons for the Greater Boston Coalition on the transportation crisis in 1967 |
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Definition
| First protests in Cambridge, Urban Planning Aid a Jamaica Plain organization and MIT students and staff wanted to protest in order to help maintain neighborhoods planned for destruction for highway 10. Found out that estimates of people being displaced by construction were generally 50% less than actual numbers. |
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| 40. Political strategies of the GBC |
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Definition
| Went to the media because the state was lying, created a large consortium of groups from all over the city, including those of East Boston protesting the expansion of Logan because they were already fighting, organized, and politically connected. Everything was behind the scene, no confrontations, targeted the aids to the mayor and governor, kept them informed to improve trust and tried to avoid embarrassing them. Informed the media and attended all planning meetings. |
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| 41. Consequences of the success of the GBC(No highway built) |
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| Public transportation is unreliable, issues with parts of the system, and issues trying to increase ridership. There are parking limitations, so even with better highways and streets there is no where to park, work schedules are 9-5 and create traffic |
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| 42. Reasons for increasing housing costs in Boston neighborhoods since 1970s |
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Definition
| Gentrification took place bcause some neighborhoods had excellent locations near Downtown Boston |
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| 43. The contrast between actual crime rates and the fear of crime in Boston |
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| Public opinion of crime is mostly incorrect, murders are infrequent but there is a great fear of them due to media coverage. There is always a delay in public opinion; people refuse to believe areas have changed for the better. People keep stereotypes, but America is much less dangerous today than ever (including colonial times), murders of teenagers by teenagers, drug related, usually know one another. Community policing and street workers (StreetSafe and Boston Foundation) have helped. |
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| 43. The contrast between actual crime rates and the fear of crime in Boston |
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Definition
| Public opinion of crime is mostly incorrect, murders are infrequent but there is a great fear of them due to media coverage. There is always a delay in public opinion; people refuse to believe areas have changed for the better. People keep stereotypes, but America is much less dangerous today than ever (including colonial times), murders of teenagers by teenagers, drug related, usually know one another. Community policing and street workers (StreetSafe and Boston Foundation) have helped. |
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| 44. Murder rates and trends in Boston in 2009 and 2010 |
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| Murder rates and shootings in 2009 (49) were at the lowest since 2003, but rape and larceny went up in quieter parts of city. Mattapan shooting (5 people including 2 year old) in 2010, where increased shooting by 1/3 by September. Homicide increased linked to drug crimes, homicide rate increased 46.5%, 63 by November. |
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| 45. Jamaica Plains gentrification and the proposed coming of a Whole Foods supermarket |
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| No longer is proposed, Whole Foods will be coming to the neighborhood with mixed opinions because it replaces the Hi-Lo Foods store which provides a variety of different ethnic food. The neighborhood has become a mixture of Hispanic (older and poorer) residents, and wealthier, trendier, hip, well educated young residents. Most dynamic changing neighborhood in Boston since 1960s with waves of change, shifting ethnic mixes and ongoing gentrification. Age stayed at 33, but average income went from $48,000 to $73,000 from 2000 to 2009. |
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