When Europeans first idled up alongside the North American continent in the 16th century, the word "Mattapan" referred to all the lands south of Long Wharf. By some accounts, Mattapan then reached from what is South Boston today all the way to Providence, RI.
After centuries of whittling away at its geographical heft, Mattapan has come to refer to a relatively small swath of area at the southernmost tip of Boston, MA.
While Advance Mattapan doesn't expect to reverse this trend, it does want to take issue with a number of key memes associated with this historically important Boston neighborhood.
When Mattapan does capture media attention, more often than not, it's in reference to some pathology: shootings, stabbings, murder, foreclosures, etc. From the outside looking in, that is, it's easy to see why people think of Mattapan as a dangerous, crime-ridden ghetto.
Of course it's not enough to say such things happen in other Boston neighborhoods too. Indeed Advance Mattapan has found that many of the negative events attributed to Mattapan actually happened elsewhere; a drift due, perhaps, to fluid neighborhood boundaries.
Problem is, such events provide a rationale for the ongoing underdevelopment of Mattapan; relative to other Boston neighborhoods, that is. For example, while the Mattapan Economic Development Initiative (MEDI) commanded a great deal of the BRA's attention for a time, our neighborhood doesn't get the kind of follow-through such detailed city planning warrants. More often than not, such comprehensive plans are quickly abandoned in favor of a more piecemeal, 'tactical' approach.
Now we hear a Main Streets initiative is afoot in Mattapan--likely directed at the commercial strip along Blue Hill Avenue known as Mattapan Square. This will receive lukewarm support, however, from other commercial pockets in and around Mattapan. So we'll see how this goes; and Advance Mattapan will do its best to cover this issue on broadcast and social media. Thus far, all we have to report are 'smoke signals,' tho.
The City of Boston is not alone in the (under)development of Mattapan. Where is the Mattapan Community Development Corporation in all of this? It would appear to be "MIA;" and those who have been elected to represent Mattapan stand mute in this regard.
Advance Mattapan exists to challenge the three monkeys who continually see, hear, and say nothing despite the social, environmental, and health disparities that mark our neighborhood. We'll continue to question the pathologies, including the contexts that give rise to them; all the while, challenging the frames would define Mattapan solely by these lights.
Of course the truth always paints a much more complex picture: Mattapan is a relatively quiet, bedroom community; replete with urban wilds that afford many opportunities to commune with nature. (But that's our best-kept secret!)
