The Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance also announced major grants totaling $1.5 million to support the work of for Great Neighborhoods from two leading foundations — the Ford Foundation, as part of its Metropolitan Opportunity Initiative, and the Barr Foundation, as part of its strategy to make Boston and Massachusetts a national model for reducing our carbon footprint and mitigating climate change. About $200,000 of those funds will go directly to Nuestra Comunidad CDC, one of the partners leading the Great Neighborhoods Roxbury initiative, to help support a variety of community design, transportation and communications initiatives along the Warren Street Corridor from Dudley Square to Grove Hall.
“Roxbury residents are eager for new development that provides local jobs, improves air quality and builds housing where families can live affordably, walk or bike to parks, get to work easily by mass transit and enjoy a variety of shopping and dining options right in their neighborhood,” said David Price, executive director of Nuestra Comunidad CDC. “That’s what a great neighborhood means in Roxbury, and these grant funds will help Nuestra expand our community design program.”
Every community selected to participate in Great Neighborhoods has already worked with the Alliance to spell out a set of goals for the Great Neighborhoods collaboration. Great Neighborhoods Roxbury is working to develop nearly 1,000 new homes; to create or retain more than a hundred local businesses; and to reduce commuting time along Warren Street (the most heavily trafficked bus route in the entire MBTA system); and to increase active walking and biking in the corridor. In addition to Nuestra Comunidad CDC, Great Neighborhoods Roxbury partners include the Quincy Geneva CDC, Project RIGHT and other local resident groups.
