Out In Plain Sight

 

Jessica Shotorbani

 

When one first thinks of Boston, they usually imagine bustling downtown with huge skyscrapers, and people rushing around from place to place. They usually do not think of a peaceful neighborhood with small, family-owned businesses, and a plethora of parks. However, Boston includes a place just like that, and it’s called Jamaica Plain. To locals, this neighborhood of Boston is known as a diverse, creative, family friendly place full of people who do yoga, eat organic food, and get very involved with all aspects of their community. Not that any of those qualities are looked down upon, but they tend to be very apparent in Jamaica Plain which causes the neighborhood to be viewed as new aged and almost hippy to some. However the people of this eclectic area of Boston take great pride in that reputation. It’s clear that this neighborhood is near and dear to hearts of its inhabitants and I wanted to get to the core of why that is and how other Bostonians, not from JP, can learn more about the neighborhood and all it has to offer.

 

Jamaica Plain, known as JP to locals, was originally part of the town of Roxbury and used for farming purposes by the Puritans. “The community seceded from Roxbury [to become] a part of the new town of West Roxbury in 1851, and became part of Boston when West Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1874” (Hoffman). Jamaica Plain then established itself as it’s own town separate from West Roxbury. There are multiple theories of how the name Jamaica Plain came about, but the most likely one seems to be that the name “Jamaica” is the English version of the name Kuchamakin who was a regent of a local Native American tribe (Jamaica Plain Historical Society).

 

Starting in the 1630s this neighborhood originally housed Tories, those loyal to the British Monarchy, but once the American Revolution ended the new elites of Boston, such as John Hancock, made the area their new residence. As time went on Jamaica Plain became a popular town for immigrants, mainly Irish, Italian, and Canadian, and this trend has continued today instead with immigrants from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba (“Jamaica Plain Neighborhood”). By the 1970’s the town fell on hard times when “Boston banks cut back mortgage lending [and] began a cycle of disinvestment which led to the deterioration of the housing stock, slum lording and abandonment” (Jamaica Plain Historical Society).

 

The neighborhood became plagued by rampant poverty and this in turn led to gang activity and the danger of drugs among the community’s youth. “In the 1980s they rolled up their sleeves to fight a wave of crime and drugs that infiltrated the blue-collar and largely Latino Boston neighborhood. Fed up with burglaries, drug dealers, and a seedy reputation, residents organized community watch groups, pushed wayward teenagers away from gangs, and welcomed new small businesses with open arms. And by 1990, Jamaica Plain emerged as one of the most desirable places to live, shop, and eat in the city” (Tench). Today this neighborhood is full of hot real estate that people cannot wait to get their hands on. “Changing lifestyles, and the existence of lovely, if run-down Victorian houses in Jamaica Plain, which could be bought inexpensively and elegantly renovated, drew many young families out of the suburbs and back into Jamaica Plain.  More recently, the high cost of gasoline has made long daily commutes by car an unforeseen burden.  The inner city has again become both a fashionable and economic place to live” (Jamaica Plain Historical Society).

 

This change of their neighborhood’s perception by others made many Jamaica Plain natives happy, at first. However once a new wave of young urban professionals, known locally as yuppies, started entering the neighborhood, their feelings changed drastically. “‘I lived through getting my car hit, getting my car vandalized, and I stuck through it. I mean, with rent prices in Boston there was no place else for us to go,’ said Marjorie Kirstein, a Somerville public school teacher who has lived in Jamaica Plain with her son for the past 23 years. ‘Now outsiders are coming in. They know nothing about our community. They are here just looking to make money. It's wrong’” (Tench). As the turn of the 21st century approached it had become clear that gentrification was making its way into Jamaica Plain.

 

“Gentrification became a pressing issue in Jamaica Plain's Latino community in 1995, after the repeal of Boston's rent control laws by statewide ballot. Median rents for a three-bedroom apartment in the neighborhood shot up from $950 in 1995 to $1,920 in 2001” (Miller). This is clear to see just from walking around different areas of this economically diverse neighborhood. Near the Forest Hills area there is a large and long standing Latino community, living in government housing, also known as projects, that have been sectioned off to that area of Jamaica Plain due to the lack of affordable housing. Less than ten minutes away are mini mansions, inhabited by the white upper-class, overlooking the beautiful Jamaica Pond. It’s sad to see this disparity between people of the same community. In Yawu Miller’s article for the Bay State Banner she profiles a woman named Zafiro Patino who has been living in JP since the 1980’s. Zafiro talks about how when she first moved to the area it was mainly Latino dominated, but now that the neighborhood has improved it’s mainly comprised of college students and yuppies. She goes on to point out, “‘The area had no white people at all, particularly where I lived near Washington Street,’ Patino commented. ‘Now you see the changes on public transportation -- the people who get on the train at Green Street, Stony Brook and Jackson Square. It's a lot more white’” (Miller).

 

This issue is noticed by many others in the community and was put in the spotlight in 2005 when the one hundred and fifteen-year-old Blessed Sacrament Church was being shut down and the land on which it was built was being put up for sale. “Many residents fear[ed] it [would] be sold to the highest bidder, possibly a private developer who would turn the church into luxury condos, or worse, a high-end shopping center with a Starbucks. And that, they fear, would accelerate the wave of gentrification that has crept down Centre Street, stamping out the area's unique flavor and pricing out the very people who rebuilt the neighborhood” (Tench). This problem is one that is difficult to ignore and it surely has not gone unnoticed by members of Jamaica Plain that feel their neighborhood’s diversity is being threatened. Community leaders and neighborhood activists have come together to petition city officials to build affordable housing in JP so that no one feels they are being forced out of their lifelong home just because the landscape of the area might be changing. Patino has been very involved in this movement and told reporter Miller “‘We've seen big changes in this neighborhood… That's why we're committed to protect the diversity here. The people who were community activists who helped clean up this neighborhood are being displaced’” (Miller).

Gentrification is an ongoing struggle in the community, but that hasn’t stopped JP from being the lively, welcoming neighborhood that so many people know it to be. I remember so many great memories in high school of going to hang out in JP with my friends once the weather became nice. We would all meet up together at our lockers, go to the 39 bus stop, and ride the crowded vehicle all the way to Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. Once there we would walk around the hot concrete sidewalks socializing with all the friendly storeowners of such places like Boomerangs, the local thrift shop. We would then almost always stop by J.P. Lick’s and get ice cream which was the most satisfying thing to eat after spending all day in a school with no air conditioning when it was close to ninety degrees outside. After that we would head over to the tranquil Jamaica Pond, take in the scenery, ride a boat out on the water, and listen to this guy, who was almost there during the spring and summer seasons, playing his acoustic guitar sitting under the shade of a huge tree with the wind blowing through its leaves. It was the beauty, tranquility, and joy of JP that kept us constantly coming back and what also blinded me to the real issues of the community that hid underneath it all.

 

One of those friends who I so often spent those lazy spring afternoons in JP with was Jessica Perez, a Boston Latin School graduate and current freshman at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She has lived in Jamaica Plain all her life, in fact she’s grown up in the same, exact house that her father grew up in. Jessica has deep ties to the community since her family has been living in the neighborhood for almost forty years now. When first asked about how it’s been growing up in Jamaica Plain a quick smile rushed across her face and she began nostalgically gushing about it. “It’s been amazing growing up in JP. It holds a really special place in my heart. I feel like it’s in the best location in the City of Boston. Plus since it’s one of the safer parts of the city, I always had the experience of staying out late playing with friends and family and because of that, I can say I’ve learned to be active and dependent.”

 

“I do think many people should make it a point to come and see what JP is like,” Jessica said. “You get a sense of familiarity and peace here, with places like Jamaica Pond and the arboretum.” The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is the oldest public arboretum in North America and is commonly frequented by locals looking to connect with nature. I can honestly say it’s one of the most beautiful places in Boston and it holds a special place in my heart since I spent so much of my own childhood there.

 

Another characteristic Jessica believes that should be beckoning Bostonians to her neighborhood is its sense of community and togetherness. “Jamaica Plain in my opinion, especially around Centre Street, prides itself on the idea of small business and the idea of things being ‘local.’ Not only do people gather to give a helping hand with support for the locals, but every year, we have various music festivals put together by community members such as our yearly ‘Wake up the Earth’ festival.” There are so many great activities which take place in the neighborhood that clearly reflect the unity of its residents. Jessica attested to that as well by mentioning that this neighborhood actively works to make itself a welcoming environment to all. “JP is very diverse and in my opinion very open to people and its surroundings. Having a large Hispanic community, aka ‘Jamaica Spain’, to having an open gay community, everyone has learned to become involved and supportive of one another,” Jessica said, “I also think it’s an awesome place for families since it’s a nice, quiet, and friendly location, not to mention very MBTA accessible. Lately, I’ve noticed so many more families moving into the condos and it’s great because I know that those kids will be able to experience the wonderful environment that I got to grow up in.”

 

All these positive associations Jessica has with Jamaica Plain have seemed to outweigh or at least somewhat divert her attention from the issues of economic disparity and gentrification in the neighborhood, as it has with many JP residents of her age. “I don’t think much of it. I’m sure it exists, but from my generational standpoint I haven’t really witnessed, or been affected by it first hand. My dad would most likely have experienced it more than I have since his family, who immigrated here from Ecuador, have lived in JP for so long.” Even though gentrification isn’t an issue readily on Jessica’s radar, economic disparity and varying standards of living is something she has noticed in her community. She explained how a few of the mini mansions overlooking Jamaica Pond are actually split up into condos inside, but that because of their location the rent is out of reach for many who live in Jamaica Plain. She went on to note that the people who inhabit those condos do not get very involved in the community yet they’re taking up some of the best real estate the neighborhood has to offer. “I hardly ever see people coming out of those mansions and when they do they seem very quiet and secretive.” It’s eerie to think that these people who only live about ten minutes away from the poorest part of Jamaica Plain have no real idea of how the other half lives.

 

About twenty five percent of Jamaica Plain’s population lives below the poverty level, compared to the state average of about eleven percent (“Jamaica Plain Neighborhood”). To deal with that issue the City of Boston had set up government subsidized public housing for low-income families, also known to many as “the projects”.

 

 “Compared to those condos, the projects are a whole other story. There are projects near Forest Hills and also going towards Jackson Square and in my opinion, those are the only places where JP is probably at its worst,” Jessica said with a sigh of disappointment. Essentially an entire group of people who have been living in Jamaica Plain for years, generally made up of the same socioeconomic class and race, are being confined to one area of the neighborhood that many would now consider undesirable. “I think that since the mini mansions are being used as overpriced apartments for people who don’t give back to JP and don’t want to be a part of the community, the neighborhood would be a lot better and less divided if some of that real estate would be used to provide cheaper housing for people who have been here for a while and care about the area and its people,” Jessica said.

 

On this point I whole-heartedly agreed with her. After doing so much research about this neighborhood I couldn’t help but sympathize with the residents that couldn’t financially keep up with how trendy and popular their community was becoming. I also think that on a larger scale the city of Boston has a real issue of not providing enough affordable housing for its residents. It seems as though the friendly, blue-collar people who put Boston on the map and gave the city its character are slowly being fazed out because the city is now popular and wants to attract a different crowd. If our city isn’t careful, it’s going to lose the Bostonians that made this community special in the first place.

 

Our time together then came to a close and Jessica looked a little worn out from the long rollercoaster of an interview that covered everything from her childhood and all the amazing aspects of Jamaica Plain to exploring the lesser known and often hidden dark underbelly of this seemingly picturesque community. Towards the end of our interview Jessica uncrossed her legs, began to slump in her chair, and the smile that had been plastered on her face since the day I met her had slowly started to fade. However when she gave me her final thoughts on the neighborhood as our time was coming to an end, she sat up straight and I saw the hope and inspiration spark back into her eyes when she said, “Overall although my neighborhood has its issues, just like any other neighborhood, the sense of civic engagement and community outreach is something to aspire to and for other places to want to model themselves after because after all JP is one of the most accepting and diverse neighborhoods in Boston.”

 

After having immersed myself in everything Jamaica Plain related for the last couple weeks I can see why its residents love the neighborhood so much. It has such a unique character and flavor that you just cannot find in any other part of Boston. The neighborhood does admittedly have its fair share of problems in regards to its very apparent socioeconomic gap. However I believe that if the activists in the neighborhood keep fighting to preserve its original culture and diversity and that as long as other Bostonians respect that then we will be able to have a vibrant and peaceful neighborhood that all Bostonians can coexist in and enjoy for years to come.