OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS
HISTORY
DESIGN ISSUES
TESTIMONIES

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Click here for data from census tract 1101. (From U.S. Census 2000).

OWNERSHIP:
-- Hyde Park Avenue: City of Boston Transportation Department
-- Pagel Playground: City of Boston Department of Parks and Recreation
-- Woodbourne Apartments: Woodbourne Community
-- Fenced land around the commuter rail/ Amtrak rail: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
-- According to local residents, north of Neponset Avenue on Hyde Park Avenue is under the jurisdiction of Jamaica Plain, while south of Neponsit Avenue is under the jurisdiction of the neighborhood of Roslindale. According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), the entire area is part of Roslindale.

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CONDITIONS:
Hyde Park Avenue:
Hyde Park Avenue extends from the Forest Hills MBTA Station in Jamaica Plain through the neighborhoods of southern Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Hyde Park all the way to the city limits. Hyde Park Avenue is the major commercial thoroughfare for this section of the neighborhood. It is a mostly four-lane road with a concrete median. The street is lined with trees, grass, sidewalks, and fancy T-shaped street lighting in the vicinity of the Forest Hills Station.

Access and flow of people:
The Needham Commuter Rail runs parallel to Hyde Park Avenue and forms an almost total blockade to travel between communities on either side of the railway. In recent years, Hyde Park Avenue has received significant resources from the City of Boston towards improving the road itself as well as the businesses along it.

For most of Hyde Park Avenue the medians are paved rather than green, although the City has placed large planters of flowers at the bridge between Washington Street and Hyde Park Avenue near Forest Hills.

An overpass called Ukraine Way represents one of two opportunities in the Heart of the City to cross the commuter rail from Hyde Park Avenue. The only other opportunity to cross the commuter rail from Hyde Park Avenue in the Heart of the City comes at Blakemore Street in Roslindale. The open, grassy land between Hyde Park Avenue and the commuter rail is not used as an open space because it slopes steeply and has no infrastructure. There are no benches, tot-lots, or other park infrastructure along the grassy commuter rail land.

Pagel Playground:
Pagel Playground is a 1.9-acre public recreational space located directly off of Hyde Park Avenue near the intersection with Southbourne Road. The playground includes a soccer field ringed in low lights and a paved walkway, a small artificial turf field, a parking lot with approximately 24 spaces, and another multi-purpose field with natural grass.

The playground is bordered by two or three homes, the commuter rail, and the busy Hyde Park Avenue to the west, making access to the facility difficult from every direction. A stoplight with a walk sign facilitates access to the playground, but no crosswalk to facilitate access to the playground from the other side of Hyde Park Avenue exists.

Parking and Transit:
On the corner of the Arborway and Hyde Park Avenue, directly across the street from the Forest Hills station, is an MBTA and Courthouse parking lot that charges $5 per day for parking. The lot is generally full during the day.

Along the commuter rail and Hyde Park Avenue there is a long, thin parking area that is also intended for long-term parking. Along Hyde Park Avenue itself, however, there are very few parking spaces. These few spaces cannot accommodate the demand for drop-in parking related to the emerging commercial district and are likely to limit the success of these businesses among drivers and increase the importance of attracting transit users and other pedestrians.

Public transportation:
In addition to the Forest Hills MBTA Station, which houses the Orange Line, a commuter rail stop, and is a stop for a slew of buses, the #32 Bus serves the northern section of Hyde Park Avenue.

Commercial:
The City has targeted the commercial strip on Hyde Park Avenue near the Forest Hills Station for revitalization. In 2002, improvements such as neat, colorful flowerbeds and elegant street lights are having an impact on the character of this area. In 2002, the businesses close to Forest Hills Station include a liquor store, a sub/sandwich/ salad restaurant, several bars, a vacant building, print shop, Chinese restaurant, auto school, insurance agency, law office, upscale cafe, dentist, beauty supply shop, two hair salons, an early learning center, market, Kung Fu center painted with murals, and Yang's Martial Arts Association.

Other commercial areas along Hyde Park Avenue include a small and less vibrant cluster of businesses at the intersection of Walk Hill Road and Hyde Park Avenue. These include two small grocers, the Sew and Sow, which educates residents and runs sewing circles, and a Dunkin Donuts. Car maintenance businesses and corner grocers also sporadically dot Hyde Park Avenue south of Walk Hill Street. Some of the businesses further south on Hyde Park Avenue are in poor condition or vacant.

Residential areas:
Near Forest Hills Station, three residential streets jut off of Hyde Park Avenue to the east and dead-end at Forest Hills Cemetery. Of these three, one (Tower Street) terminates at a formal gate into the cemetery. This is the most convenient gate to the Forest Hills Cemetery for those who wish to visit via public transportation. Tower, Woodlawn, and Weld Hill Streets contain largely triple-decker, three-family residences.

A great range of housing lies along Hyde Park Avenue itself, including a strip of buildings with residential apartments above commercial spaces near Forest Hills Station. The homes all have at least two housing units, and many have expansive yards. Just south of Pagel Playground are upscale condos high on a hill to the west, which were built before 1994.

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HISTORY:
Hyde Park Avenue was once known as a beautiful and sought-after place to live and work. In the mid-1900s, the Avenue degenerated into a congested dragway where residents say pedestrians felt unsafe and commercial buildings and residences fell into poor condition. In order to reverse this situation, the City's Department of Neighborhood Development administered low-interest loans and grants to homeowners for exterior improvements beginning in 1996. The program was called "Most Visible Properties" and was funded with federal and private money (Mary Hurley, The Boston Globe, Nov. 23, 1997).

In 1997, the City launched a $7 million renovation of Hyde Park Avenue from the Forest Hills MBTA Station to Cleary Square, which was completed in 2002. Improvements, including new sidewalks, antique streetlights, a rebuilt median strip, and street trees, were funded by a State Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and administered by the City.

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DESIGN ISSUES:
Confusing design at Forest Hills Station:
Hyde Park Avenue appears to be the continuation of Washington Street, which extends north to City Hall. In fact, southern Washington Street is completely disjointed from Washington Street north of the Arborway. This disjointed arrangement leads to confusion and disorientation here, particularly for first-time visitors.

Commuter rail barrier:
Collectively, Hyde Park Avenue and the commuter rail serve as almost inviolable barriers between the communities on either side. Only two streets connect Hyde Park Avenue with the community on the other side of the commuter rail in the Heart of the City.

Access to greenspace:
As noted above, there is one access point in this area for the Forest Hills Cemetery. Residents may access the Arnold Arboretum via the pedestrian walking path near the Forest Hill MBTA Station. The pedestrian connector between Forest Hills Station and the Arnold Arboretum at Washington Street has improved the connection between the Hyde Park area and the Arboretum, but the connection is still not fluid. There is no signage to guide people to either of these major greenspaces.

Parking:
Although there is extensive parking in the Forest Hills area, little of it is geared toward visitor making drop-in shopping trips at the revitalizing commercial area. Because parking is extremely limited, it may be difficult for the commercial strip along Hyde Park Avenue to thrive.

Dumping on railroad land:
The land on either side of the railroad attracts abuse. Trash has accumulated in some areas, such as under the overpass at Blakemore Street, and the land appears to be infrequently cleaned up or weeded by the MBTA, which owns it.

Proposed developments:
The state Department of Social Services proposed building a home for trouble teenage boys on 281-285 Hyde Park Avenue. The facility would be managed by Hillside Resource and Management Corporation. Many neighbors protested the placement of the facility in the neighborhood, saying that the neighborhood along Hyde Park Avenue has already absorbed a disproportionately large number of difficult institutional neighbors (Alice Giordano, "Plan for correctional facility at cemetery irks neighbors," The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2002).

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TESTIMONIES:
"In its day, [Hyde Park Avenue] was the street to live on. It was a showcase street that had fallen into disrepair" (Daniel F. Conley, District 5 City Councilor, from an article by Robert Preer, "No more hyding the avenue," The Boston Globe, Feb. 17, 2002).

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