Streetlights Going Green

The city has informed us that beginning in August, all of our acorn street light fixtures will be replaced with energy efficient LED light fixtures.  This is part of a program to be greener throughout the city, as well as cut the city's energy bills.  All city street lights are slowly being converted.

As you can see from the image on the right, the new lights will look the same.  (Well, if you look close you can see a smaller internal lighting mechanism).  They should put out the same amount of light as the current lights, with less "light trespass" (it should shine in your apartment window a little less).   The light should be white in color - similar to what we have now, but the light son Shawmut will probably be white, rather than the current orange tint they have now.

The regular streetlights on the Dwight Alley (PA705) were replaced a few months ago, and you really wouldn't know the difference unless you looked up at the fixtures.

Update: Shawmut will not be changing at this time.   From the manufacturer: we will be converting only the high cost mercury vapor lights on the residential streets in the South End at this time. We do not have an LED solution yet for the Sodium Vapor lights on Streets like Shawmut Ave at this time. They are in developement and may be available by next year.

Dwight street closed Thursday

Dwight street will be closed Thursday morning, June 28 while a crane is brought in to do some private work.     Closure can begin as early as 7am and should be done by lunch time.   Please plan your travels/parking accordingly.

Bike Safety for Kids

Join BPD for kids Bike Safety Day - A day full of fun and events for families

Saturday, June 23, 11a-2p at 650 harrison Ave (D4 police station)

Bike safety kits and kids helmets while supplies last.

See this Flier for additional information

Milford/Hanson improvements continue

UPDATE:   Due to complications, the sones will arrive Monday morning, not Sunday as originally posted.

The residents abutting the Milford/Hanson alley are following up their alley cleaning with a stone laying effort.   Through group collections, they will be laying gravel/stone down the Milford/Hanson alley this weekend.    Stone will be arriving early Sunday morning, and the rest of the morning will be spent moving and laying the stone down the length of the alley.

Feel free to join them Monday morning to give a hand!   For more information on the project, please contact Michael or Lewis

The alley team adds:

Our plan is deliver and spread the stones on Monday June 11 @ 8.00a.m. onwards. It will likely take most of the day and any volunteers that would like join in the work are welcome, but of course there is no obligation. We will work in the direction of Bond to Tremont.

If you would like to level/grade the dirt in your alley lot please do that before Sunday, since we will spread the stones on whatever surface we find. Please also remove any debris that would get in the way of the spreading. As a recap, we will spread approx 1-2 inches of stones across each yard length, spanning the alley width between Milford & Hanson.

Happy Pride

Happy Pride weekend everyone.

This year the Pride parade has moved the start of the parade back to Copley square, after having started here on Tremont street for the past few years.    As a result Tremont street will not be closed as long this year as in the past.

Tremont from Union Park to Berkeley will be closed around parade time (around noon-2pm).   Please note any parking restrictions as stated on city parade signs posted.  Access to Waltham/Hanson/Milford/Dwight will also be limited during these times.

June meeting: 5th floor of Boston Ballet

Greetings, Boston Ballet has moved us back up to the 5th floor for tonight's (6/6) meeting, but will meet in the Lounge. Take a left as you get off the elevator, and the lounge is the open area near the big window. There will be folding chairs we can set up for the meeting. See you tonight!

June Eight Streets meeting

Our next monthly Eight Streets business meeting will be this Wednesday, June 6th in the Boston Ballet  (corner of Warren & Clarendon streets)

This month we will meet in a conference room on the 3rd floor.   Please see the ballet front desk for directions.

6:30-7 - Neighborhood Networking.   Meet your neighbors in an informal setting. 
7-8:30 - Business meeting.  

On the agenda this month:

• A short introduction by The Kitchen - the new restaurant that will occupy the old Pops location.  They're stopping by just to say hi and introduce themselves to the neighborhood
• 562 Tremont - presentation and vote on addition of rear decks.
• Safety and Community Policing - see below
• Open member discussion.

The main focus of our meeting this month will be Safety.  Our local community service office Sargent Provenzano will join us, as well as director of BPD's community watch unit Carolyn MacNeil.  We will talk about general crime and safety in the neighborhood, and things we can to to help make our neighborhood safe.   Included in this Carolyn will talk about the Neighborhood Watch program.

If we have enough interest, the neighborhood can start a Neighborhood Crime Watch program  (read more about the program at http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/crimeprevention/crimewatch.asp) 

Crime Watches are very neighbor based - so we wouldn't necessarily have a watch for the whole neighborhood, but probably start with a street or section of Eight Streets.  But we would need all neighbors to be involved to start any neighborhood watch program.  Come to the meeting if you can, and read up on the crime watch web page if you're interested in getting more involved.

Hope to see everyone there!  Actually I have other commitments, so I won't see you there, but hope you'll be as great for Jim as you are for me!