Dot Ave.'s extreme makeover set

Dorchester Avenue is a 4-mile hodge-podge of tire shops, Vietnamese markets, nail salons, and Irish pubs.

Castle-like churches share real estate with metal-grated storefronts. Spruced-up community parks neighbor drab, vinyl-sided triple-deckers. Thick traffic and parked cars clog the street, littered with garbage.

City officials say the avenue needs a makeover, and residents should have a big say in how it's done.

''The streetscape has to be changed," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who recently announced a major beautification effort, dubbed The Avenue Project. ''There's no preconceived drawings. We want to hear from the community."

The avenue is an important entrance to the city, the mayor said, but it needs work. ''The lights, the trees" are on his list, he said, in a recent phone interview, adding, ''The traffic flow is unreal."

Buying Keno tickets at The New Store on the Block, on Dorchester Avenue just north of Columbia Avenue, locals interviewed recently had smaller visions. ''It would be nice if they fixed the potholes," said Steve Darcy, 51.

''I would like to see the rent go down," added Helder Monteiro, 31. More flowers? He scoffed. ''The snow's going to get rid of them."

But officials say aesthetics matter. Menino calls the avenue's colorful mishmash of clashing, sometimes homemade, signs ''a smorgasbord."

City Councilor Maureen Feeney, who represents the neighborhood and has lobbied for its beautification, describes it as ''chaotic," with ''electric, neon, and overhanging" signs cluttering the landscape.

Officials imagine classier, standardized signs, more decorative ''acorn" lighting, traffic improvements, plantings, and better sidewalks for pedestrians.

And they say they really want to hear what residents and business owners envision for changes, which may come slowly, in phases.

Residents so far seem enthusiastic, Feeney said. About 100 crowded an initial meeting this month. ''The sense of chaos is probably the number one issue for people," she said.

Two more public meetings are planned for next month, said Ines Soto, project manager for the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Residents will break off into geographically based groups to brainstorm on transportation, housing, business, and streetscapes, Soto said. They will also be asked to record memories for a documentary film the office is creating.

Required registration forms will be posted on the BRA's new website, www.dotavenueproject.com. A calendar, maps, and nomination forms for a mayor-appointed community task force will also be posted there, Soto said.

Officials say the project's biggest challenge is tying together the avenue's diverse ''villages."

Quaint Lower Mills, on the Milton line, is very different from Ashmont, which differs from St. Mark's, Fields Corner, and the Savin Hill/Columbia area, Feeney said. The personalities of each village should be preserved.

Menino also hopes to unify the avenue with a comprehensive vision.

''I don't want a piecemeal design," he said. ''I don't want a piecemeal traffic plan."

Some areas, such as Savin Hill and St. Mark's, already have beautification campaigns, Feeney said, while other areas have yet to begin.

Recent zoning restrictions hindering new auto businesses on the avenue were a good start, she said. But officials say grander efforts were delayed by a six-year water and sewer separation project. That work is nearly done, and they can move forward.

The project could take several years, Menino said. But funding for the effort will be a priority. ''You have to start," he said. ''We're starting now."

Residents say it's gratifying Dorchester is getting its due.

''We've lived here forever," said Frank Baker, 37-year-old owner of The Avenue Grille. ''We've always liked it, we've always believed in it. It's nice to see people have faith in it."

The public meetings on beautification efforts for Dot Ave. will be held April 7, 5:15 to 9 p.m., at the Patrick O'Hearn Elementary School, 1669 Dorchester Ave., and April 9, 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Campbell Resource Center, 1216 Dochester Ave. A third is tentatively planned for late April at the Viet-AID center. Vietnamese translators will attend each meeting.