Women and Children First

According to my neighbor, who abuts the Taft Hill Municipal lot, there are at least seven individuals who park in the lot and then take the shuttle from the Roslindale Medical Center to the Boston Medical Center. He also knows that a previous tenant of the street now drives from Attleboro to the lot and then takes the commuter rail.

That’s just two more reasons to crack down on cars overstaying the two hour limit. For those of us squeezed on the residential streets by those avoiding tickets  in the lot? We need resident only signs and stickers.

My March entry on parking meters in Roslindale set off an intense discussion of what to do about people staying over the two hour limit on most Roslindale Village streets and in the municipal lot on Taft Hill Terrace. In this week’s Transcript, David Ertischek reports on the May 16th community meeting to discuss this issue. I was left feeling that some things had either not been discussed or merely not reported.

First, was there any discussion of employees of Roslindale Village businesses taking the T to work? There seemed to be many complaints that employees can’t find parking, but why not require employees to take public transportation? Roslindale Village is ideally situated next to the commuter rail and served every five minutes by buses going in and out of the village. For those of us who live here, we don’t need to use (or even own) cars. Employees of the village businesses who come in the morning and stay all day SHOULD give up their spots to customers who bring business to the village; they should be ticketed along with downtown commuters not in the MBTA lot. Building another level to the Taft Hill lot is ridiculous!

As for employees of the Health Center, what did they do when they were located in the Community Center on Cummins Highway with no parking? The Health Center’s mission is to serve the communities of Roslindale, Hyde Park and West Roxbury. If there should be any parking for the Health Center it should be for those resident patients who are too sick to take the T to the center. When I used to be a patient of the Fenway Community Heath Center (located a half block from the Berklee College of Music) I always rode my bike or took the T. There was NO parking, for employees or patients.

People in Roslindale need to get real about parking. We live in the city, folks, not the suburbs. Good city living means accessible public transportation and pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. Cars need to take a back seat to people in Roslindale Village if we are ever to realize the revitalization that so many of us hope for.

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.

I’ve decided to add a new category: Roslindale Issues. This is my neighborhood and I love it, but there are many areas that could be improved. I’ll be using this category to write about my feelings about Roslindale, good and bad. Here’s a pet peeve: The light at the corner of South Street and Washington (where the one way South Street empties onto Washington). The light coming off South St. is way too long and there is a “No Turn on Red” sign. Too often I have sat waiting for a green when there is NO traffic coming up from Forest Hills. I’ve heard that some people ignore the “No Turn on Red” and just turn anyway. Removing the “No Turn on Red” sign would alleviate a lot of long lines on South Street. (Another option is a flashing yellow/red light at that intersection.)