Women and Children First

I never thought I would say such a thing, but living in the fabulous neighborhood of Roslindale, I have to say a few parking meters would improve the square tremendously. Today, as on most days, the municipal parking lot was almost empty while the square was packed with cars, some of them illegally parked in clearly marked No Parking areas and one car parked in a crosswalk. There is even rumors that the “lack of parking” that some people feel in Roslindale is directly related to the fact that business owners in the square park right outside their own businesses!

According to the minutes of the February 13th BRA Advisory Group meeting in Roslindale, the suggestion of parking meters was received favorably. I would welcome those meters with open arms. There is no lack of parking in Roslindale, but there may be a lack of turnover. If you can walk to the square, like I do, it’s the nicest way to visit this very pedestrian-friendly Village. Parking in the municipal lot behind the Roslindale Medical and Dental Center is the next best thing. For everyone else who wants to park in the square on South Street, Birch, Corinth, Belgrade or Poplar there should be meters.

A number of months ago, I emailed Village Market in Roslindale asking if they would carry Cheryl Ann’s Challah on Fridays. I never got a response. This past Friday I went there hoping for some matzah meal to make Matzah Ball soup, but they had none. In fact, with only one week until Passover, I could not find a single Passover item. When I asked an employee where the Passover foods were, he had no idea what I was talking about. He called someone on the phone and then took me to a section that had sugar free and some some other diet foods — definitely NOT Passover food. I said I would be sending in a complaint email to the store and he told me he was the owner and would try to get some Passover foods. (He’s the young guy with bright red hair.)

If he really is the owner, he needs to learn something about a segment of his customer base that I believe is growing in Roslindale. I’ve noticed that Village Market is doing it’s best to compete with HI-LO in Jamaica Plain, but as for us Jews, we’ll need to keep driving outside the square to get OUR ethnic foods.