Hey, there! Log in / Register
South Boston residents turn out in force for neighborhood bitch session; demand city action to stop descent into hell
By adamg on Sun, 04/25/2021 - 12:25pm
Caught in Southie recaps a South Boston "quality of life / problem properties" Zoom meeting last week that proved so popular organizers had to get a bigger Zoom room and in which people complained about everything from house parties and parties on M Street Beach to the lack of parking and people who put their trash out in plastic bags. City Councilor Ed Flynn ended the meeting by "stating he is not giving up on the neighborhood."
Neighborhoods:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
At least they bitch. Other
At least they bitch. Other neighborhoods just given up.
It's OK if you don't know anything about Boston neighborhoods
You don't have to advertise it, though.
Which neighborhoods?
And how have they given up?
Bitch-session?
I know I’m just taking the bait but I’m bored...
When concerned citizens of South Boston gather looking for answers from elected officials to problems that affect everyday quality of life in their neighborhood you categorize it as a ‘bitch session’ and then throw in the ‘descent into hell’ kicker....As subtle as a sledgehammer.
It sounded like quite an amazing meeting
It's true, there are plenty of legitimate complaints listed, but neighborhood meetings tend to be more focused: Like "problem properties" is certainly a legitimate issue, the city even has (or had, anyway) a whole database and formal task force on them, but if you go through the article, people brought up Every. Single. Possible. Problem. in the neighborhood, not just "problem properties." The scope of what was discussed read like a collective neighborhood cri de coeur (even for a meeting that was also about "quality of life"), and that closing remark by Ed Flynn, who's normally kind of optimistic, was something, and that's why I wrote the headline that way.
Well you’re wrong, out of
Well you’re wrong, out of line and should really fix it.
Oh no Adam, you've been
Oh no Adam, you've been deemed out of line by an anonymous commenter on your website, I think it's time to call it quits!
Well
Should that anon really be listened to when they didn't use an Oxford comma?
God doesn't make straight lines,
why should Adam fix his?
Personally I do prefer to color within the lines although making occasional excursions into unlined territories.
Live there...
I live in the neighborhood on the St. Patrick's Day parade route. One day a year, we live with drunken visitors who want to use our front garden or back yard to urinate or vomit. It isn't pleasant but we tolerate it.
Talking with friends who live near current "problem properties" it seems to me that they live with this every weekend in the warmer weather - add in loud music and screaming for hours on end. For most of the "bitch session" that I heard (I was not able to Zoom in for the entire meeting) this was the primary focus of the discussion on "quality of life." One woman lives between 2 "party houses." The back porches of one house, where their parties are held, are right outside her buildings' bedroom windows. Parties begin around noon and go on, non-stop, until the early hours of the next morning. Requests to quiet down are met with swearing and middle fingers....
We have been told to call the Party Line of the BPD - people did and there were no results. Others tried 911 - some got a response, while others did not. We heard about this list of problem properties in Boston, but there were few South Boston properties listed (according to one participant - I have not explored this). That seemed surprising given the number of calls being made to the Party Line and BPD. Residents are asking city officials how to bring the intrusion/disturbance of the peace under control.
I did hear one person bringing up the "garbage out in plastic bags" issue - with the large amount of construction in the neighborhood, anything that helps reduce the rodent population is appreciated; however, the plastic garbage bag issue isn't high on the "quality of life" issue for most.
Is that what "problem properties" means?
I thought it referred to properties that are not kept up well by their owners. Broken fences, cracked windows, siding falling off, knee-high weeds, stuff like that.
Garbage is a problem
If garbage doesn't fit in bins then the landlord needs to add more. It brings rats. Renters can't afford to buy outdoor barrels, much less decent sized ones that keep animals out.
Eurostyle Bins?
I noticed that several countries take care of this city trash problem with larger bins for the block rather than putting out trash on the street. People grab the dog, a pack of ciggies, and their bag of garbage and head to the bins as part of their daily routine. I've seen them with and without recycling features.
I don't know why cities in the US don't do this in dense urban neighborhoods. Bag is full, take a walk.
Yes you do know.
Yes you do know why. Don't be disingenuous. Self-entitled jackasses who don't give a shit about their community would complain about the loss of a parking space and about having walk all the way to the end of their block to throw away their trash.
ADA issues?
There are some accessibility issues that would need to be addressed with this plan.
?
Such as?
Some people would not be able to walk this distance
Ah
I understand. I'm not certain that ADA (Federal) or MAAB (State) addresses walkable distance carrying x amount of weight.
However, similar to designated parking close to one's home, I suspect that alternative assistance could be put into place for those needing it. There is an easy fix / workaround for this.
My brother lives in small
My brother lives in small community in the woods with bears. You would think that people could agree that a dumpster within a bear proof enclosure would be mandated, but no they want curb service.
Most complaint is no one wants it be next to them and no one wants to have it the farthest away.
even in the sticks of France
Well, it likely depends upon the village. But in the 'countryside of the countryside' (as described by someone from Lyon) where we were staying, they have this same set up. We were surrounded by farmland and cows and wee little roads that were mostly 1.5 Euro vehicle wide. The bins are down where the larger roads are.
Walk or take with you as you drive down into town, it's a nice setup.
People in the US.....?
We go to BJ's and Walmart and buy 10x the amount of food and goods as our European counterparts.
In all seriousness, we just consume, recycle and throw out so much more stuff. I think that is the main issue.
I recognize that there is a
I recognize that there is a negative connotation to the term, but isn't a bitch session still a bitch session when it's warranted?
OK BOOMER...
The zoom meeting was 110% just a bitch session.
Southie has its issues, but all the "life-long residents" have deluded themselves into believing that millennials are the crux of the problem.
Oh, so the young'uns ruined Southie's quality of life with their house parties, loud music, and beach drinking? Really.....
Didn't Southie used to be mob territory with full scale gang wars going on? -_-
People want to develop selective amnesia when it's convenient. Life now is not that bad compared to how it used to be. Give me a f****** break.
100% This
Throwing rocks at school buses, drinking in public, drugs everywhere, stealing MBTA buses (see: Barbara Lynch), hiding everyone's cousin on the T's payroll, Irish omerta with a murder at Kelly's Cork N'Bull, the Senate President's brother killing not one but two fathers of people I went to school with at one point. This is what a lot of South Boston call the good old days.
Same thing happening with only the drinking part by Ethan originally from Westwood; Old South Boston says all bad.
20+ years ago Jimmy Kelly tried to ban roof decks in South Boston. Except, everyone's cousin sold out and moved to Hingham, Hanover, and Scituate with the sale of their Nana's house. Jimmy's voting base voted with their feet.
When The Blackthorn opened, there was cries of "Yuppies Are Changing Everything". When The Blackthorn closed there was cries of "Yuppies Are Changing Everything".
Too bad for the Sully Kevin Jimma O'Learys of the Peninsula. Life changes. Get on with it.
Maybe the city could help
Maybe the city could help solve the parking problem by charging market rates for residential parking stickers
:)
5 Car Flaherty wants BTD enforcement LOL
City Councilor-at-Large Michael Flaherty– also a Southie resident – said bottom line we need enforcement. Enforcement from BPD, BTD and ISD. “We need enforcement and we need it now!”
5 cars for 6 people, how
5 cars for 6 people, how crazy.
Its Southie not Hingham.
Its Southie not Hingham.
What does that mean?
What does that mean? I don’t think Hingham even allows on-street parking overnight.
It means that the levels of
It means that the levels of car dependency in Hingham are much higher than that of Southie, thanks to their locations, density and build choices.
Not too hard to grasp.
Have you ever been to “The
Have you ever been to “The Point” and seen the lines for the bus? How do you know the destinations of the drivers are accessible by the MBTA? It is not out of the ordinary for adults in this city to own a car. Stop making it sound like the councilor has a private car collection to himself.
Glad noise is getting citywide attention
Noise is a quality of life issue that keeps getting worse. Good news is that it is getting more attention from throughout the city.
Party Complaints in South Boston
I put up with loud parties most weekends from March 2019 until March 2021. It has nothing to do with Covid. It has to do with very loud music well after midnight, urinating on the trees on the sidewalk, sitting on people's front stairs conducting loud phone and in-person conversations and having absolutely no consideration for anyone. I believe the 5 "boys" next door to me having the parties every weekend with upwards of 50 people in attendance advertised them online. The people in attendance did not all know each other. These were not get togethers with friends. They were raves. What can we expect when landlords rent to 3 or more people in one apartment and then never check on the property until it's time to rent it again. The fact that they're renting in a "residential neighborhood" isn't impressed on the renters as long as they can pay the rent. My answer was to go to the house and read the riot act, call the police, visit the Community Service Office at the Police Station, call the owner, report trash violations to ISD, report sidewalks not shoveled, etc., etc. These people will walk all over us as long as we let them. They finally all got girlfriends and moved away to quieter sections of the area.