This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Neighborhood Group Seeks Support for Harborwalk Project

The West Broadway Neighborhood Association of South Boston is calling on Southie residents and South Enders to support a project to add trees to a "pocket park" that lies on the line between the two communities.

Calling all South Enders.

The South Boston-based West Broadway Neighborhood Association is calling on all residents of Southie and the South End to cast a vote for its Harborwalk project, according to a Boston Globe story.

A proposal titled “Harborwalk Forestation,” was recently submitted by the group to the Odwalla Plant a Tree Grant Program.

Find out what's happening in South Endwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Based upon a public vote, Odwalla will provide $10,000 grants to 10 of the 20 proposed projects from across the US to help plant new trees and reclaim fauna lost to natural disasters.

The WBNA project suggests an overhaul of the “pocket park” next to the West 4th Street Bridge, connecting South Boston and the South End. The park is currently maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, according to the Globe.

Find out what's happening in South Endwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We believed someone missed the mark down here and planting some tall trees could capture some of the air particle pollution at its source right in our downtown neighborhood,” said Bill Gleason, president of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, in the report.

The area, which already has a few trees and a small grassy hill, is the technical starting point of the Harborwalk Trail. According to Gleason and other neighbors, it’s also a haven for vagrants, drug dealers and prostitutes.

While trees are the focal point of the project, building and strengthing cross-community relationships is another key part of the plan, supporters say.

The South End’s Old Dover Neighborhood Association is one of a handful of local groups to declare interest in cleaning up the park that lies on the border between the two storied neighborhoods.

“It’s fallen by the wayside and hasn’t been a very nice place,” Bob Wells, an Old Dover board member, told the Globe. “It’s just a short walk over to South Boston from there, and it’s the next part of the neighborhood that needs to be cleaned.”

Gleason, along with Lindsey Amico of Southie Trees, another group to offer support, said the neighborhood could really use more trees, which, they said, could help curb pollution, provide shade and even help lower crime rates.

The theory holds that large trees can reduce crime by demonstrating that a “neighborhood is better cared for and, therefore, a criminal is more likely to be caught,” according to the Science Daily website.

To vote for the proposed project and learn more about it, click here.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from South End