Squeezing the homeless
Could the Battle of Upton Street finally be nearing an end?
When last we left the tree-lined South End street, some neighbors were exercised about a Pine Street Inn proposal to turn a three-building drug rehab center into housing for poor, recently homeless men and women.
These Uptonites raised several objections to the plan.
Some neighbors worried that they didn't know who would be moving in and that there might be sex offenders among them. They worried that Pine Street's tenants wouldn't be adequately supervised, the way the rehab clients are. They worried that the proposal was simply too big and would overwhelm the block.
They hotly denied the implication that their opposition was all about property values. They were angry at the accusation that they were undermining the neighborhood's diversity. They bristled at the suggestion that they don't like the homeless, when they really do like them, a lot.
In meetings, Pine Street addressed the uptight Uptonites' questions, and posted answers online. No sex offenders. No substance abusers. Mostly older residents. Some working.
All able to hold their lives together without constant supervision. One resident supervisor. Daily on-site case managers.
Pine Street officials would actually be reducing the number of residents in those buildings, from 60 addicts to 37 tenants. They say their 500 other tenants, in buildings across Boston and Brookline, have given their neighbors no trouble. Grateful for homes many thought they would never have, they keep to themselves.
Uptight Uptonites were still not happy.
They were angry at the Union Park Neighborhood Association, which includes Upton Street, for failing to oppose Pine Street.
So in January, they stacked an association meeting and voted out board members who didn't share their views.
The head of the UPNA now is Jerry Frank, who called Pine Street's Harrison Avenue homeless shelter "a very, very nasty place," in this space about a year ago. Ousted from the board was Lee Martz.
For 15 years, Martz, 71, hung the wreaths and printed the fliers for neighborhood events. Every July, she cooked immense quantities of her special meatloaf for the annual dinner the UPNA gave Pine Street shelter residents.
Also booted was Harriet Finkelstein, who had been publicly neutral about the proposal. She promptly began a group called the Pine Street Inn Welcoming Committee. She says 500 people have signed her petition supporting the Pine Street proposal.
"I see no reason to deny these people who have shown such strength of character a roof over their head," Finkelstein says.
The uptight Uptonites responded by hanging signs on their brownstones. One reads "Mr. Mayor please help us."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino supports the three-building Pine Street proposal.
"Do we lose that important affordable housing for people on their way back and turn it into million-dollar condos?" he says. "No. This is about the overall good of the community."
But even though Pine Street has the mayor on its side, it looks like the uptight Uptonites will succeed in altering the project. The neighbors could make the new residents feel mighty uncomfortable, and Pine Street is eager to avoid that.
So next week, the two sides will meet to hash out a solution.
Pine Street is prepared to reduce the density of the housing and to include some less-poor residents alongside those who were formerly homeless. Those are big concessions and far more than some opponents deserve.
Now we'll see if the uptight Uptonites are really as compassionate and reasonable as they've been claiming.
Yvonne Abraham is a Globe columnist. Her email address is abraham@globe.com 