Protect Housing Near the Arboretum

Mayor Michelle Wu; Councilor Ben Weber

In the Moss Hill section of Jamaica Plain, the average home value is around $1.5 million. But some people there are trying to keep new neighbors out and block affordable housing near the Arboretum.

They’d like to see plans to build new homes at 920 Centre Street fall through, relying on the pretext of shadows on the Arboretum. They’ve already quashed a proposal to renovate the historic monastery there into affordable homes for seniors. Now they’re coming for a second proposal that brings more new homes to the site, nearly a quarter of them affordable.

Tell Mayor Wu and Councilor Weber that building new homes at 920 Centre Street takes meaningful strides toward addressing Boston’s affordability crisis. It’s part of the solution to address both the city’s and neighborhood’s dire need for housing.

To: Mayor Michelle Wu; Councilor Ben Weber
From: [Your Name]

I strongly support new homes at 920 Centre Street and urge the City to move forward with plans to build them.

The construction of 158 new homes at 920 Centre Street takes meaningful strides toward addressing Boston’s affordability crisis, especially since 24% of them are affordable. It also furthers the Arboretum’s mission to share biodiversity by providing hundreds of new residents at 920 Centre Street easy access to the Arboretum. Moreover, both the new 5-story building is well designed and situated for the context, with aesthetics elevated far beyond typical new projects.

Every time we delay on projects like this one, Boston becomes more unaffordable. Please work with Boston Planning Department staff to help build these new homes as soon as possible.