Dot Ave.

FUTURE
Dorchester HISTORY
Origins
• Settled in 1630, stretched to Rhode Island

Politics
• First to establish Town Meeting form of government
in 1633

Infrastructure
• In 1840’s, Old Colony Railroad established, easing
access to Boston

real estate
• Housing boom between 1850 and Civil War

Community
• In 1870, became part of Boston

Architecture
• Originator of the triple decker house

Social life Dorchester

• Home to both immigrant groups and descendants of
Colonists since early 20th c.
Boston IMMIGRATION
Boston Immigration
Regions of Origin Boston (1860-2007)

1980-2007
Dorchester PRESENT
TopDorchester
Countries ofAve (DotDorchester
Origin, Ave.) Geographic Distribution Dot Ave.

Population: 31,981 Andrew Square

Foreign-born: 31%

Polish

Cape
Verdean

Population of Dorchester:
32% White
36% Black
12% Hispanic
11% Asian Vietnamese
9% other/multi-racial
Population along Dot Ave.: 32,000
Foreign-born: 31%
Fields Corner
Under 18: 28%
[Irish throughout]
Dorchester PRESENT Andrew Square

Polish Triangle

Redevelopment throughout
Irish throughout

Vietnamese
concentration

Field’s Corner
Dot Ave PRESENT
Mayor Menino has embarked on a $5 mil campaign to update the main avenue of Dorchester with help from local residents and business-
owners

Task forces were gathered and by 2007, the Mayor announced the Dorchester Avenue Streetscape and Transportation Action Plan

Plan elements: streetscape/traffic improvements, guidelines for future public/private infrastructure investment

Goals: improve traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, stimulate vibrancy of unique commercial districts and residential areas

Outcome: intersection construction, corridor-wide streetscape guildelines, emphasis on signage grants for local businesses

Questionable results, generic proposal:

Interviewed residents, business-owners and

task force members all commented that the
frequently mentioned ‘community process’ in-
volved not community design but workshops
to inform stakeholders of planned changes.

Interviewed community members:

Bozena, owner of travel agency in Andrew

Square

Danielle, life-long resident and Task Force mem-

ber

Tom, life-long resident

We can do better
Freedom Trail PRECEDENT
The Freedom Trail:
2.5 mile red-brick walking trail
16 significant historic sites

“Preserved and dedicated by the citizens of Boston in 1958,

when the wrecking ball threatened, the Freedom Trail today
is a walking tour featuring a unique collection of museums,
churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, a ship, and
historic markers that tell the story of the American Revolution
[1775] and beyond.”
Freedom Trail Guide

But, what is the history not told by the Freedom Trail?

What about the rest of Boston? Boston Freedom Trail
What are the stories of Boston’s ‘nonrevolutionary’ residents?
What are the projected futures of the City? Dot Ave. Corridor
How can virtual participation be used?
Not Boston
Dot Ave FUTURE
After interviewing with Dot Ave. residents, it turns out that the various micro communities along the corridor are integrated
and in communication. How to provide a platform for a collective forward-thinking narrative to emerge? How to communicate
among visitors and residents a community vision reflective of individual input?

In an exploded Town Hall scenario, residents, primarily youth, develop a community narrative for part of the Dot Ave. corridor.

Two metro stations, Andrew Square and Fields Corner, each serving 10,000 passengers per day, serve as input stations. There, the
story is designed, using physical and virtual inputs. A sidewalk-based walking tour links the two stations. The past and present por-
tions of the story are visible in the public spaces in the stations. The corridor between them showcases proposals for the avenue and
community’s future.

The narrative forms a new Freedom Trail that extends beyond central Boston. The monument presents the participatory narrative of a
community in constant conflict and negotiation that is both its most attractive and repelling force.

Fields Corner T Dorchester Ave. Andrew Square T

2.3 miles

PAST/PRESEnT FUTURE PAST/PRESEnT

Dot Ave FUTURE
The future narrative will form a walking path between the two metro stations. Rather than a continuous line, it will be comprised of in-
dividual discs, each a unique community member’s contribution to the overall future vision. The discs will be simple elements, stickers
or plaques, while the nodes (metro stations) will involve more complicated, digital elements.

YES Many stories and perspectives:

Dot Ave. Sidewalk

NO Uniform representation:

Dot Ave. Sidewalk

Dot Ave NEXT STEPS
Design disc to reflect resident input
Determine location and number of discs

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Dot Ave NEXT STEPS
Design input stations based on metro station use patterns, resident input
How will info be gathered/displayed?
How can the two nodes maintain constant contact?

Andrew Square Station Fields Corner Station

Andrew Square now under contruction through Dot Ave Action

Plan. The time to act is NOW!
Dot Ave PROCESS
Engage with community members
Gather collaborative design group
Hold storytelling/public game session,
emphasis on specific places
Invite submissions for stories, hold public
input event at either station
Dot Ave organizations/possible collaborators:
Field’s Corner Civic Association
VACA - Vietnamese-Am. Civic Association
Dorchester Youth Collaborative
Polish Leadership Council
Polish Honorary Consul
Andrew Square Civic Association
Neighbors for Neighbors
Dot Art
Polish School
Met so far
Bozena, business owner in An-
drew Square for 30 years
Danielle , consultant, Irish/Polish,
grew up near Dot Ave, participant
in mayor’s task force
Tom, musician, lifelong resident of
Dorchester, 3rd gen. Polish-Amer-
ican
Lauren, neighborhood coordinator
Input
• Polish triangle is New England hub
for dispersed Polish community
• Few Polish businesses/groups
• Residents integrated with other eth-
nic groups
• task force skewed in favor of mayor
supporters, used not for input but dis-
semination of information
• supports diverse ethnic businesses
• don’t think academically about your
project
• Dot Poles returned to Poland after
communism fell, now “Polish Trian-
gle” is less Polish
• general action plan info
• believes the communities are not
segregated