Alex Cox

Alex Cox

The map that I’ve created is based off of a phenomenon that I noticed while walking around the South End: although the neighborhood is fairly diverse economically and racially, the transit users that I observed were overwhelmingly low-to-moderate-income people of color. Because of the diversion of the MBTA’s Orange Line into the Southwest Corridor in 1987, residents of the South End mainly have to rely on bus service to reach jobs downtown (although those on the western edge of the neighborhood can reach Mass Ave, Back Bay, and Prudential stations fairly easily). I was interested to see how convenient these vital transit links are to the neighborhood’s low income residents, so I mapped the frequent bus routes that run through the area – the 1, 8, 9, 10, 43, 47, and SL4 and SL5 – and overlaid them with the South End’s subsidized housing. As can be seen in the resulting map, the neighborhood’s low-income residents have fairly excellent access to high-frequency transit. The concentration of subsidized units along Tremont Street gives those residents easy access to the 43 bus that runs between Ruggles and Park Street, while those that live between Tremont and Washington have their choice of the 43 or the Silver Line. Although they’re farther away from these bus lines, residents of the affordable units along Columbus Avenue are within easy walking distance of the rapid transit stations along the Orange Line and Green Line “E” Branch. Overall, low-income residents of the South End have much better access to transit than many other such areas in Boston, which I was surprised by.

My photo submission, on the other hand, depicts a phenomenon that I found emblematic of the South End’s urban design – the “public alley.” Although public alleys can be found throughout Boston (such as in the Back Bay), those in the South End have a distinct character because of the unique arrangement of the neighborhood’s gridded blocks. Quiet and secluded, the alleys are surrounded on almost all sides by the backs of the buildings that they flank. The majestic South End rowhouses, without the grand facades that they project onto the streets, look rather dismal with their bare brick and fire escapes visible. I was struck by how many different ways these alleys are now used by the South End’s residents- not only do they serve to keep dumpsters, telephone wires, and other unsightly (but necessary) pieces of urban infrastructure off of the neighborhood’s pristine streets; they also provide space for residential parking, community gardens, and even some private terraces on the backs of homes. I saw more than one family sitting out and enjoying the weather on the pleasant day I was there.
Although I didn’t realize it at the time I took the photo, this specific location is particularly emblematic of the South End’s development in the last few years because it depicts the Concord Baptist Church. According to a Boston.com article from 2010, the church was once a mainstay of the South End’s Black community, and was frequented by Martin Luther King Jr. during his time at Boston University. Now, however, the church congregation has moved out to Milton, and their old building is being converted into eight luxury condo units (in the price range of $1.35-$6.09 million). In short, what was once a major community institution for the city’s people of color is becoming an expensive home for a handful of millionaires.