Wooster Square Planning Goes To The Dogs

With new apartment complexes rising along and near Olive Street, Wooster Square is planning ahead of an anticipated influx of new neighbors — and the dogs they’re sure to bring with them.

The neighbors set priorities during a Zoom meeting this past Thursday evening. Ward 8 Alder Ellen Cupo and other members of the Historic Wooster Square Association (HWSA) convened the meeting to update neighbors on a state-administered federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) pandemic-relief grant they had applied for to improve outdoor public spaces in the neighborhood.

(Click here and here to read about some of the projects bringing more than 500 new apartments to a four-block area around Chapel and Olive.)

The HWSA made it through the first application stage at the end of 2021. According to HWSA member Edward Dunar, the group anticipates receiving about $500,000 through the grant.

Now, as they craft a more detailed proposal and budget to send to the state, the members are collecting public feedback to decide what, exactly, the neighborhood needs most.

After surveying 85 neighborhood residents, the HWSA found that ​“personal and property safety” and ​“pedestrian and bicyclist safety” were each a top concern for three-quarters of respondents. A desire to upgrade small parks scattered throughout Wooster Square emerged as another common thread.

In light of these results, as Dunar told about 20 neighbors who attended Thursday’s meeting, traffic calming, increased lighting, and park improvements became top priorities for the HWSA’s grant.

“What kind of traffic calming are you talking about exactly?” asked resident Mary Lee.

There’s no definite project yet, Dunar said, but the HWSA has floated adding crosswalks where none exist and making existing ones one more noticeable. He noted the raised crosswalks at Orange and Audubon Streets as an example of a traffic-calming measure the group would consider. 

HWSA has been focusing on Chapel Street, Dunar said — particularly, as he clarified later in an email, where the thoroughfare intersects De Palma Court, Academy Street, and Chestnut Street. 

“I know that Chapel is a major throughway for the city,” noted Luke Johnson, another neighbor. ​“How are we going to balance the needs of the city with the needs of the neighborhood?”

“I would love to see Chapel be completely pedestrianized,” Johnson added with a laugh, ​“but that wouldn’t be feasible.”

The group is working with city agencies to determine realistic options for traffic-calming measures, Dunar responded.

Rahul Shah, another HWSA member, replied that ​“in our very preliminary discussions, [city officials] acknowledged that some things would be off the table because Chapel is an emergency throughway.”

Another priority for the HWSA is upgrading Russo Park — the plaza between Chapel and Wooster Streets where the CitySeed Farmer’s Market has historically met in warmer months. ARPA-funded improvements to Russo Park might include adding tables with attached chairs and increasing lighting.

“I don’t know how others feel, but when I walk up and down the street at night, it’s very dark,” said Sarah Greenblatt, who runs a group called Wooster Square Watch, of the Russo Park area. 

At Thursday night’s meeting, attendees raised other possibilities for the HWSA to consider pursuing. They noted the fast-emerging developments along Olive Street that promise a wave of new neighborhood residents, and the city’s slow responsiveness to certain quality-of-life complaints.

David Atkins pointed out that many of the new neighbors are sure to bring canine companions with them: ​“We’re going to have a lot of people and a lot of dogs, and I imagine they’re gonna be coming to Wooster Square.” 

Atkins loves dogs, he said, but ​“wow, that could be an overwhelming amount.” Perhaps, he suggested, the local dog park on Union Street could be upgraded, supplemented, or expanded with the ARPA grant. Nods of agreement rippled through the Zoom room.

A handful of neighbors pointed to broken sidewalks and lamps that the city or responsible property owners have been sluggish to fix.

There are a few broken lampposts in Wooster Square Park along Chapel Street, said John Linder.

On the sidewalk along Olive Street between Chapel and Court, burgeoning tree roots have caused the pavement to cleave, as Anstress Farwell pointed out. That street will soon be home to hundreds of new residents after the developments take shape. 

These observations prompted discussion over whether residents should use a one-time grant to cover upkeep for which the city is, in theory, responsible.

“There’s no shortage of infrastructural issues around the park,” Shah said, but ​“there’s some things that the city’s responsible for taking care of… I don’t want a create a situation where the city is relying on this type of funding to fix what they are responsible for.”

In the Zoom chat, Mitchell DelVecchio floated another idea: ​“Let’s think big and bury the powerlines underground. [How] pretty would the cherry blossoms be without the powerlines running through!”

The grant won’t be able to cover that scale of an improvement, said Dunar, but ​“there’s value in thinking big.”

The grant money will have to be prioritized, said Greenblatt. ​“There’s gonna be a limited amount of money and a lot of wonderful things we can do.”