Time for Dudley Square’s economic renaissance
Roxbury’s Dudley Square is starting to look like a business ghost town. Over the last several years, quite a few businesses have left the area — with negligible turnover. And current business owners are struggling mightily to make ends meet. I was stunned the other day to see that Ashley Stewart, for years a clothing store mainstay in Dudley Square, is closing. But the good news I hear is that they have another tenant for the building. That’s not always the case — there are at least a dozen empty storefronts, some next to boarded-up and dilapidated buildings in serious disrepair.
The plight of the venerable Haley House, which announced a temporary shutdown, is a real blow for many. They were good for business in two ways: They operated their bakery and coffee shop in an area considered a food desert and provided training and employment opportunities for those newly released from prison.
I consider the site named after my husband, the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, an economic generator in spirit, even as technically it houses the Boston School Department. Education and creating and building longlasting opportunity for his beloved Roxbury was my Bruce’s passion and legacy. I was privileged to have worked with him to develop and promote the city’s linkage bill and Boston Residents Jobs Policy, which still serve the community today. I’d like to think he would be right in the thick of working for Roxbury and especially Dudley Square’s renaissance. We’re not there yet, and the Dudley Square merchants continue to weather many storms. Bruce would applaud the work of Councilor Kim Janey, who is on the case, not only beating the drum about the very real perils of gentrification and business destabilization, but also rolling out solid plans to mitigate the issues.
Roxbury and its Dudley Square business district have always needed a more specialized approach to both economic development and sustainability because of decades of disinvestment and broken promises.
This week the mayor’s office, with the leadership of Roxbury’s John Barros, announced an economic development center workshop in the Bolling building to provide resources to businesses and engage job growth. This newest office is in addition to a financial literacy office, courtesy of the city, led by Alan Gentle and an office for those interested in getting into the trades.
I give the city credit for jump-starting the Tropical Foods development shepherded by Madison Park, and the new Marriott Hotel and Residences on Melnea Cass Boulevard, and for monitoring progress on the long-stalled Parcel 2 with the goal of finally completing it.
But if we are to be serious about a commitment to fix economic inequality in this city, we need to also get going on those developments already in the pipeline. What is the status of the recent requests for proposals for development in Dudley Square, many of which would give minority developers the opportunity to participate in the city’s overall economic boom as well as generate more of a boom in their own backyard? What’s the status of Guscott’s Rio Grande Tower, with its promise of badly needed workforce housing?
Most developments will have to take some tweaking here and there. That goes with the territory, and we need to make sure that everyone who submits a response to an RFP, including minority businesses and community development organizations, does not get a pass on the commitment to hire and subcontract with other minorities.
Here are a few other things that could help lift Dudley Square:
1. Better and more consistent marketing of the area by folks who know the area.
2. Continued police presence but without revolving lights — most of the Dudley Square business community are thankful for police presence in Dudley but the revolving lights on squad cars make it feel like a war zone. How about getting out of the cars every now and then and walking the beat?
3. Area banks need to step up. There’s a widespread distrust of banks stemming from their history of redlining, mortgage scams and subprime loans that have contributed to devastating communities of color. Check-cashing facilities seem to provide services that banks do not.
4. Renovate Dudley Station. Billions were poured into the Green Line cash cow over many years for improvements. While we are finally doing something with the Red and Orange lines, how about we explore what can be done to update Dudley Station?