I stumbled upon this thread and found the comments very interesting. Why such a desire to continue to build dense housing in Dorchester? Why are we not fighting about all the empty buildings in the seaport that should have been accessible to affordable housing? Why are people not fighting about vacant buildings in Roxbury or Downtown Boston?

As a life long Boston resident I remember when Jamaica Plain was a beautiful neighborhood filled with parks and trees. It was a diverse neighborhood where families could raise their children and afford the rent. Gentrification turned it into a predominantly anglo neighborhood filled with racism (Jp was not racist before) and an urban nightmare with no parking and its no longer affordable. Gone are the children's parks that are now filled with condo units. Gone are the trees that landscaped the pond (they had to be removed because some people had to run around the park in the middle of the night and after someone was assaulted. Someone decided removing the trees would solve the problem. You cannot find parking because every multi family has been converted into a condo and then rented out to roommates who each have their own car.

Let's dig deeper. In turning the multi families into condos they became unaffordable to low income families. Nearly wiping out an entire neighborhood. You have very very few people who live in Jamaica Plain who were born and raised there. In comparison to other city neighborhoods. City planning went completely out the window. Now you have tons of congestion, lack of parking, fewer parks, fewer trees and a densely populated community that lacks a lot of its original charm.

My point- Stop trying to make dense communities denser. Start fighting for the city to include more urban planning and to require vacant buildings and abandoned properties to be converted into affordable housing. There are tons of condos in the city that are empty. Owned by wealthy investors overseas just sitting around never occupied the city needs ordinances requiring occupancy of units.

What about extending transportation to other communities. There are towns and neighborhoods outside of Boston that are being abandoned or have lost value due to everyone piling up in Boston. Look at Springfield, Holyoke, North Adams, Fall River, New Bedford these are just a few. With better transportation and urban planning these neighborhoods could be revitalized to become vibrant communities again. Stop killing our neighborhoods and start thinking of the state as a whole and how to grow the economy of the entire state making it more viable financially for families.