July 16, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

The Chinatown Blogger was fortunate to be able to get a few moments from Doug Brugge’s busy schedule for this interview. Dr. Brugge currently teaches at Tufts University School of Medicine at the Chinatown campus. He has done work previously with Native American communities in Oklahoma and Mexico, particularly on impacts of uranium mining on Navajo communities. Recently, Tufts University and 2 Chinatown groups, the Chinese Progressive Association and Chinatown Residents Association, were awarded funding by the National Institute of Highways (NIH) to conduct a study on effects of highway pollution on nearby communities.

Chinatown Blogger: Can you first tell us a little about yourself, where you went to school, how and why you became involved with Chinatown?

Dr. Brugge: I am currently an associate professor of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine.  I went to Washington University in St. Louis for undergraduate and Harvard for graduate school.  When I was in graduate school I met other students who were working in Chinatown and on other progressive political causes.  Amazingly, I maintained these friendships and associations over 25 years and became increasingly involved in Chinatown following the Parcel C struggle.

Blogger: What other previous studies have you done on Chinatown? What conclusions did you gather from those studies?

DB: I have led a number of student research projects in Chinatown.  Most of the studies have focused on asthma, but we have also studied violence, traffic injuries, research ethics with elder Chinese immigrants and other topics.  Until the start of our NIH funded project this year, all our research has been relatively small scale.  Nonetheless, most of it has been published in academic journals and several times we have been the first to publish new findings about Asian Americans and asthma.

Blogger: How would you describe Chinatown as compared to, say other neighborhoods in the City, or other Chinatowns in the U.S?

DB: Chinatown is definitely unique.  It is very dense and, until recently, more homogenous than most neighborhoods.  It is a low-income community, but has some strengths as well, including relatively strong social organization.  The approach of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) to organizing and political change is also rare elsewhere from my experience… in that CPA is true to its organizing and advocacy mission and links this work to broader issues of social change.

Blogger: Tell us about the NIH grant. How or who got the idea to do this project? What is the purpose of the project?

DB: Community members from Somerville, especially a guy named Wig Zamore, originally approached me with the idea of studying health impacts of pollution next to highways.  I was a little skeptical at first, but over time became more and more interested.  We pulled together a broader coalition to write the grant which included CPA and the Chinatown Residents Association.  It took over 2 years from starting work on the grant to getting funded.  Now that the project is underway, the main objective is to measure pollution in communities next to highways in the Boston area and to test the hypothesis that this pollution is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease as well as asthma.

 Blogger: How do you plan on conducting the research? What conclusions do you think you will draw from the research?

 DB: It is too early in the process to draw any conclusions.  It will take several years of collecting and analyzing data to do that.  The study will measure air pollution in each target community using a van that we are currently in the process of developing that will be outfitted with multiple monitoring devices.  We will also interview and take blood samples from residents who are willing to participate.

Blogger: If someone was living in Chinatown or say, the Leather District, how would the data affect the residents living nearby?

DB: Good question.  Maybe after we have finished measuring pollution in several communities we will have a better idea how similar or different they are.

End of interview.

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July 15, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Click here for the larger Study Area Map 11×17.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority held a public meeting at Boston City Hall with interested government officials and community members to hear about a study on building ramps on I-90. If you were not already aware of, Chinatown is adjacent to both I-90 and I-93 and any new ramps would have an impact on the neighborhood. The project is called the Mass Turnpike - Boston Ramps Study. A fact sheet was given that explained purpose and process.

Purpose
The purpose of the project is to conduct a study what will evaluate and address transportation issues related to the connectivity between Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) between Commonwealth Avenue and Interstate 93 (the South Bay Interchange) in the City of Boston and the existing city street network to help improve access to the Back Bay, Fenway, South End, Chinatown and Longwood Medical Area neighborhoods. 

Background
In 1997, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority in conjunction with the Boston Transportation Department and the Boston Redevelopment Authority conducted the “Boston Extension Ramps Feasibility Study.” This previous study developed and analyzed eight (8) new ramp alternatives along I-90 to provide improved access between Back Bay and Logan Airport and the South Boston Waterfront. This study will re-examine the most feasible of those alternatives in a more comprehensive study that will examine the operations, environmental effects, business considerations, and possible right-of-way-impacts.

Process
The Office of Transportation Planning (Planning) will be responsible for all study activities in coordination with an established Working Group that will include but not be limited to the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works, Planning, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (Turnpike), and the Boston Transportation Department. A larger Study Advisory Group (SAG) will also be formed as part of the public participation process that will include but not be limited to: the Working Group, the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, federal and other state agencies, legislators, local elected officials, and interested organizations… This study is expected to take approximately 18 months from initiation to completion.

(Taken from fact sheet handed out at meeting.)

The next steps will be to begin gathering more information on existing conditions, convene  the next SAG meeting, and coordinate a public meeting. Meetings at neighborhoods are available if there is interest. (Any Chinatown folks interested in coordinating a space and inviting the MTA to make their presentation?) For more information contact:

Mark Berger, AICP
Manager of Data Services
Executive Office of Transportation
10 Park Plaza, Suite 4150
Boston, MA 02116
mark.berger@state.ma.us

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July 14, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

The Chinatown Blogger was near City Hall and inside the State Street orange line T-stop and noticed this commemorative board. I guess gentrification was a “hot topic” back then.

The text of the board read:

“Above this State
The Old South Meeting House, 1729

One hundred years after the Boston Tea Party, downtown Boston had changed dramatically. When news spread that Old South was slated for destruction to make way for urban redevelopment, Wendell Phillips, Julia Ward Howe, Ralph Waldo Emerson and countless others joined a community effort to save the structure. Their success in 1877 marked the advent of the American urban historic preservation movement.

The Old South Meeting House, a link on the Freedom Trail, was saved for you. Come explore its sights and sounds on your journey into America’s past.
——————————–
Engraving of the mass meeting held to save the Old South Meeting House, 1876.“

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July 14, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

There are 2 articles of relevant interest in today’s Boston Globe.

Market share: At Quincy’s large Kam Man, a new American melting pot has a distinctly Chinese taste
The article interviews the owner of Kam Man market in Quincy. The City of Presidents has seen substantial growth of the Chinese American (and Asian American) population. Interesting read.

(Thinking beyond the article) Not to say that the Chinatown Blogger wants to see Chinatown disappear, but sometimes the Blogger wonder at the “what ifs“. Could continued growth of satellite Asian communities in Quincy/Malden mean that  Chinatown will one day become non-relevant? Here’s an anecdote the Blogger has been investigating: Chinatown had two main advantages over suburban communities, 1) a stable Asian population and the 2) presence of large-function restaurants. Based on Census numbers, the Greater Boston Chinese American population has already surpassed Chinatown. However, many of the Greater Boston Chinese still came back to Chinatown for services and events. With large-function restaurants like the China Pearl restaurant opening in Quincy, why would anyone want to deal with the traffic and parking to come into Chinatown? Just food for thought.

A private power grab on the public’s Greenway
The second article is an op-ed piece written by Shirley Kressel. The op-ed criticizes the Rose Kennedy Conservancy as a private group seeking public funding. The new Chinatown Park next to the Gate and is part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Blogger has met Shirley a few times and while he may not agree with all of her views, Shirley does make one question some of the public process on developments. Here is an excerpt:

Boston Globe excerpt:
“The private conservancy is exempt from laws on open meetings and public records, as well as prevailing wage, competitive bidding, and conflict of interest. The bill requires only partial disclosure, so we will never get the full story. Bountiful money and lack of transparency and accountability are a recipe for a make-work patronage bureaucracy…. Beyond money, the conservancy wants power. The long-term lease would confer land interests similar to ownership. The bill specifies powers over future redesign of the park, including buildings and memorials, and a review role in surrounding development - the fox guarding the henhouse… The conservancy board has already preempted real public advocacy, sacrificing the Dewey Square gardens’ sunlight to an abutting tower proposed for Russia Wharf by a conservancy member. The relevant zoning agency discounted public protest on the grounds that the conservancy would oppose the project if there were a problem with it. Inherent conflicts make this the wrong guardian for the Greenway.”

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July 7, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2008/07/06/moving_in_moving_out/

The Boston Globe published an article about Chinatown, “Moving in, moving out” on July 6, 2008 by Victoria Cheng. Overall, the article touches on a really good topic but like most newspaper stories, the article leaves the reader asking more questions.

Boston Globe Excerpt:
Karen Chen, a paralegal with Greater Boston Legal Services, worked with a number of families that were priced out of their apartments above the Chau Chow City Restaurant on Essex Street after the Hamilton Co. bought the building in 2003… “The units used to have families and newer immigrants who paid between $700 and $900 in rent,” she said. “After Hamilton bought the building, rent went up to between $1,500 and $2,000.” The legal services group and the families were unable to negotiate lower rents, Chen said… Facing the higher rents, many residents prefer to move out as quickly as possible. One woman Chen contacted about being displaced from the Essex Street housing units expressed reluctance to tell her story publicly. “She felt that it’s over, she’s in public housing now, even though it’s not in Chinatown, and there’s nothing she can do about it,” Chen said.

The Chinatown Blogger has been researching Census data from 1990 to 2000 and the trend will support this argument — that Chinatown is seeing a decline in the percentage of Chinatown residents of Asian-descent from about 90% in 1990 to about 80% in 2000, a 10% loss per decade. If the trend continues, in the next Census 2010 we will most likely see residents of Asian-descent constitute only 60-70% range, and even possibly in the 50% range.

There are several reasons for the decline: 1) As Karen Chen pointed out in the Globe article, non-subsidized housing units in Chinatown are pricing out the working-class; 2) New construction of luxury housing since 2000 have added about 50% to Chinatown’s existing housing stock and bringing in more diverse residents economically and racially; 3) A smaller reason for the decline in Asian population is the high number of renters in the community (homeownership in Chinatown is less than 10%) and renters are more likely to move than homeowners.  

Boston Globe Excerpt:
“I think the fear that a lot of activists have is that Chinatown in Boston will become like Chinatown in D.C.,” said Chinese Progressive Association member Amy Leung… “There’s a fear it will become a playground for yuppies, with just Chinese restaurants but no Chinese residents with the culture and the fabric of the community.”

After reading the Globe article, the Blogger was left with more questions. The article is flawed because the writer has a certain perspective on the development issue. What the Globe writer didn’t do was include interviews of proponents of luxury developments and the “yuppies” that do move into Chinatown.

As the Blogger has learned over the years, Chinatown does not have a monotonous voice when it comes to development — issues cannot be seen as either black or white. For every person that is trying to stop gentrification, there is someone else who is advocating for gentrifying Chinatown.. and both sides have valid arguments.

The Chinatown Blogger’s opinion?

The facts are: historically, Chinatown has always been a home to many different groups. Before the Chinese, there were Irish, Italian and Syrians (some still remaining). New residents of different racial and economic strata are moving into Chinatown now and will continue to do so in the future. Let’s figure out a way to incorporate the new residents (whether they are yuppies or not and the Blogger doesn’t really care because a person should not be judged solely by economic status) to build a more livable Chinatown.

What are your thoughts?

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