Sounds of Silence
To the Editor,
Back in the sixties, the song “Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel sealed my decades long love of songs these two wrote and performed for many years. Even to this day I find myself remembering and humming the profound words from this particular song.
As I was thinking about what the sound of silence really means, it became apparent to me that we in Charlestown are experiencing the sounds of silence from the Boston Development and Planning Agency. Over the years after many inquiries and pleas for more information regarding the proposals and building plans that are now in our midst, silence from this agency is deafening.
Charlestown is one square mile and with all the building plans in place, the population of residents will rise to over 32,000 residents from our present 20,000 and counting population. Most people are unaware of the huge transformation Charlestown will be undergoing.
Recently a Zoom meeting was advertised as “crucial” for the residents to learn about the plans for Austin Street. As I tuned in for the meeting via Zoom, a total of 70 participants, which included the four presenters signed up. In a community of over 15,000 adults, a sad but not usual turnout for the many Zoom meetings taking place regarding all the developments and proposals in the pipeline.
There are no communications from the BPDA that fully educate and inform the community of just how transformed Charlestown will be.
If there was a Hall of Shame at City Hall for an agency that does not fully do their work, and keeps the community in the dark about important meetings, I would nominate the BPDA, as all that we get are the “Sounds of Silence.”
Please do your part and call, write, email the BPDA that they need to be more transparent and offer hybrid meetings as well as a model of the future landscape of Charlestown like they have on the 9th floor at City Hall. Depicting a visual model will not only show where the buildings will go but will give the audience a snapshot of the future look of Charlestown, a place where there are only three roads to enter and exit, and virtually surrounded by bodies of water.
It is up to each one of us to remind the BPDA that we are a community that cares about our quality of life and our health. It is not okay to plan for over 45 buildings / towers in our one square mile.
The BPDA needs to come clean and come to Charlestown with their plans and not hide behind a recent Zoom meeting attended by 0.47 of a population of 15,000 adults.
Please do your part: call 617.722.4300 and request they show up in Charlestown and explain just what is taking place and what every resident needs to know, period.
The mantra of the BPDA: “The less they know, the more they sow.” Hmm, “Hello darkness my old friend….”
Ann Kelleher