Walk for Open Space Saturday

The Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates and the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation are hosting a "Walk for Open Space" this Saturday, June 21st at 10 am next to the Veronica Smith Senior Center.

While the walk is a fund-raising event for the ABGSA, there is no requirement to collect donations in order to participate.

There are many little "pocket" parks and urban wilds scattered across Allston-Brighton. Visiting all of them in a single walk would amount to a death march, so it is fortunate that the ABGSA has trimmed the route down to a manageable four miles. Charlie might, however, still choose to do the scenic route.

Tree-Planting Workshop -- And Get a Free Tree!

The Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates are holding a tree planting workshop on Wednesday, April 16th in conjunction with Boston's "Grow Boston Greener" initiative to plant 100,000 new trees in Boston by 2020.

Participants will learn about how to plant and care for a tree -- and will receive a free tree to plant in their own yard.

At the ABGSA's Green Gathering in February 2008, John Walkey of the Urban Ecology Institute noted that the initiative was organizing three kinds of activities to encourage tree-planting: do-it-yourself workshops (like the ABGSA's event); organizing neighborhood groups and people for planting, possibly including designated "tree captains"; and the city's volunteer system of green space stewardship, such as "adopt-a-park." The city's initiative was announced on April 27, 2007 -- Arbor Day -- and the plan is to have 1000 trees planted by the end of april.

Walkey noted that there is not enough public land to accomplish the ambitious goal of the initiative, so that a lot of private owners will be part of the plan to add trees to the city. Unfortunately property owners periodically have to cut down trees for various reasons, too; the rule of thumb is to plant one new tree for every one inch of diameter of tree that was felled.

The ABGSA held a series of "street greening workshops" in 2007 to develop ideas on how to make three routes in Allston-Brighton -- Everett Street, Chestnut Hill Avenue, and Brooks Street -- greener. This kind of planning will likely be an important element in the city's tree planting initiative.

The ABCDC is holding the outdoor tree-planting workshop indoors at their offices at 320 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135, 3rd floor. I wonder how their offices will look after all that tree planting?

"That very night in Max's room a forest grew and grew -- and grew unitl his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around..." [Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak]

For more information contact Kate Jordan at the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation (the sponsor of the ABGSA): Jordan@AllstonBrightonCDC.org, 617-787-3874, ext.216

Allston-Brighton Green Gathering Tuesday Night

The Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates, a group sponsored by the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation, is hosting their annual "Green Gathering" on Tuesday night for neighborhood groups devoted to green spaces and other interested area residents. The event is open to the public.

This is a slightly crunchy affair that provides an oversight into ongoing activities related to open spaces in Allston-Brighton: the green streets initiative; work on obtaining conservation easements; connections with the city's 100,000 tree initiative; and networking with other neighborhood groups working on open space issues. Neighborhood groups are encouraged to bring literature along about their group for tabling at the event.

Allston-Brighton has only 4.8 acres of open space per 1000 residents, well below the
city-wide average of 7.9 acres. Due to the presence of large institutions in A-B, a large fraction
of that open space is owned privately. For example, according to the Boston Parks and Recreation department, 58% of the neighborhood's private, unprotected open space is contained within the St. John's Seminary land purchased by Boston College.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
6:00 - 8:30 pm [probably 6:00 pm for dinner; formal presentation at 6:30 or 7:00 pm]
EF International Language School
200 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135
Dinner and dessert provided!

For more information, contact:
Ava Chan, ABCDC, email, phone: 617-787-3874

Greening Brooks Street: Workshop Wednesday 8/8 at 6:30 pm

This is a reminder that the Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates will be holding a street greening workshop focused on the Brooks Street on Wed. Aug. 8. Please join us at 6:30 at the Teen Center at the Oak Square YMCA (615 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135). Join us for a walking tour of Brooks St. after our workshop!

The Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates are holding a series of workshops about improving access to the Charles River and creating green, bike- and pedestrian-friendly streets. We have received a grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development and are partnering with the Charles River Watershed Association to create environmentally sensitive and community sensitive street designs.

If you would like to attend, please contact Kate Jordan at (617) 787-3874 ext. 216.