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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