Public Hearing on White Stadium at City Hall, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025
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Public Hearing on White Stadium at City Hall, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 〰️
Environmental Justice
for Franklin Park
Community input is everything. Speak up for your park today!
Join our cause!
Environmental Justice for Franklin Park (EJ4FP) is a collective of neighbors, local organizations and businesses who are concerned about the increased “selling out” of Franklin Park. We believe that Franklin Park should be protected as a historic and healthy green space for the community and schoolchildren of Boston.
Photo credit: Jun Seung Lee.
The map above illustrates in orange the environmental justice communities that surround Franklin Park. This map was developed by the Franklin Park Defenders.
What is “Environmental Justice?”
Environmental Justice should not be just “buzz words” for politicians and scholars to casually throw out.
Massachusetts was the first state to write legislation (Article 97) that provides EJ communities with MORE input on how their parks and green spaces are developed. This law has yet to be implemented. Franklin Park sits in the middle of the designated EJ communities (Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and portions of Jamaica Plain) and should be first example of how the State honors this law.
“Environmental justice is a social movement and policy framework aimed at ensuring that all individuals and communities, regardless of their race, ethnicity, income, or social status, have the right to a healthy environment. It addresses the disproportionate environmental burdens faced by marginalized communities and seeks to promote equitable access to resources and decision-making processes.” - EPA.gov
Please watch this short film on the history of Franklin Park produced by the Library of Landscape History featuring Prof. Ethan Carr.
Latest News
Read the opinion piece by Dr. Jean McGuire and Louis Elisa, “Don’t Sell Out the People Who Use the Park”, Boston Globe, Jan. 15, 2025.
The Boston Herald reports on an alternative solution for White Stadium as proposed by the Franklin Park Defenders, “White Stadium project opponent says City of Boston can renovate venue for BPS for ‘fraction of the cost’’’, Jan. 15, 2025.
The Associated Press’ Michael Casey reports, “Boston plans to renovate a crumbling stadium for its new women’s soccer team. Not everyone is happy”, Dec. 17, 2024.
“Why does Boston need two soccer stadiums, anyway?” by Boston Globe’s Shirley Leung asks important questions regarding the financial and community impacts of building two separate soccer stadiums in Boston.
Read why Prof. Andrew Zimbalist (Smith College) warns that this partnership does not make economic sense for Boston in his two articles in The Commonwealth Beacon.
Boston Globe columnist, Joan Vennochi, asks the city to “Show us the lease agreement between Boston and soccer team for White Stadium deal - The public needs to measure public benefit against public risk.”
“Public cost to renovate prospective home for Boston’s new NWSL team nearly doubles from earlier estimates” by Melanie Anzidei of The Athletic, NYTimes.
Prof. Ethan Carr’s editorial in the Dorchester Reporter, “Seeking environmental justice for Franklin Park.”
Mike Urban on the White Stadium plan.
Ideas for better transparency from Mike Urban.