Boston – Friday, July 4
Published 2008-05-14 03:24
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City of Boston health inspector Alan Duffy hangs up a sign yesterday on a home in Roxbury that was boarded up.  City of Boston health inspector Alan Duffy hangs up a sign yesterday on a home in Roxbury that was boarded up.  
Foto: NICOLAUS CZARNECKI/METRO
 

City targets Roxbury foreclosure problem

Dorchester street sees progress

DORCHESTER. Since the city swooped into Hendry Street in February and made the string of foreclosures in the neighborhood a priority, it appears progress is being made.

The city has purchased four triple-deckers — at 15, 17, 19 and 21 Hendry Street, a total of 12 units — and is planning to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to develop the properties either this week or early next week.

One of the groups that intends to bid on the RFP is the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation. The organization’s executive director, Jeanne DuBois, said she was encouraged by the recent efforts, but concerns will remain until the boarded buildings are gone.

“I think until the buildings are rehabbed, the worst isn’t over,” DuBois said. “But I think it’s great the city has stepped in. Now it’s a question of getting it developed.”

 
Updates

Twelve new trees have been planted and Coleman Street is being repaved. Two families have also purchased homes on the street recently, according to Lucy Warsh, spokeswoman for the Department of Neighborhood Development.
 

 

ROXBURY. The city’s foreclosure intervention team (FIT) descended upon Dacia Street yesterday to clean up debris and trash, remove graffiti and check boarded-up properties that city officials and residents say have been a haven for squatters and drug users.

The section of Roxbury is part of a larger area the city is targeting between Blue Hill Avenue and Quincy, Mongolia and Sargent streets. Numerous homes there have either been foreclosed upon or are in danger of being so. Between mid-March and the end of April, eight homes were foreclosed upon in the area.

FIT is also focusing on another area of Roxbury, between Dudley, Langdon, George and Magazine streets.

The foreclosed and vacant properties on Dacia Street are an eyesore, resting alongside beautiful new buildings with units for rent and historic homes that have been in the same family for several generations. Yesterday, work crews put up new signage and removed garbage dumped in the area. One neighbor said one of the boarded up homes was a popular spot for squatters and was used “as a shooting gallery.”

“I’m glad the city is here. It’s finally time that somebody came to clean it up,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. “Having kids and living in a house next to one with junkies isn’t something you want.”

Community meetings are also being planned for next month with residents about the issue.

The move comes three months after the city targeted the Hendry Street neighborhood in Dorchester, a much smaller pocket of the city where 12 properties had been foreclosed upon and others boarded up.
 

 
 



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