What we heard at the July Climate Ready East Boston open house

On the evening of Thursday, July 13, dozens of East Boston residents came out to the Maverick Landing Community Room to learn about the ways the City of Boston is proposing to proactively prepare residents for a changing climate.

Residents heard from the City’s Climate Ready Boston, the project’s design team, and The Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), a local community organization committed to improving the wellbeing and long-term resilience of East Boston residents. Throughout the evening visitors were able to engage with the updated proposals, ask questions about the project, and provide input that will drive the direction of the City’s policy and design approaches.

The room had a number of stations with different activities where visitors could learn about how the project is progressing and how it fits into the City’s larger climate preparedness work. Various design options for a more connected and resilient waterfront and greenway were on display, and visitors voted for their preferences, provided comments, and even designed their own waterfront protection systems.

Residents showed particular interest in green spaces, adaptable seating, and converting the historic caboose on the greenway into a food truck. They also expressed their concerns about preserving waterfront access and open spaces, implementation costs, timing, and the need to keep issues equity and affordability as a top priority for the project.

You can read the complete summary of key takeaways here.

Climate Ready Boston is a key initiative to help our City address climate change. Our science-driven approach to addressing the most challenging impacts will increase our City's safety, contribute to reducing emissions, and build community resilience. 

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