| Couple
new to the South End delighted by teens' efforts
Kristin Foley is a gregarious young woman, who enjoys
mid-week journeys with her husband Geoff to nearby Fenway Park and
the South End's numerous watering holes.
She moved to the area only eight months ago and
is already an active member of her neighborhood association.
So why would this busy bond trader use her precious
down time to attend the first of Teen Empowerment's youth/resident
meetings?
"I grew up in Allston - I'm one of the few
who actually grew up there," she quipped, "so I've always
been fairly civic minded. I'm interested in the city and the problems
it has."
The Foley's are also homeowners for the first time,
which not only made Kristin want to meet the people in her neighborhood
but to help make a difference there, too.
| "...
a lot of people probably see it as a black and white
issue, but I see it as old [residents] and new [residents]" |
| Kristin
Foley,
new resident in the South End |
|
She said all
cities and neighborhoods have their problems and the South End is
no different. What is different is that people in her new neighborhood
are addressing the chasm between the South End's various socio-economic
groups and the stress and discomfort it causes.
"I would
say there's a big dichotomy between the white yuppies - of which,
I'll admit, I'm a part - and the people who lived here before the
whole gentrification thing kicked in," Foley said.
"I think a lot of people probably see it as
a black and white issue, but I see it as old [residents] and new
[residents]. There are definitely a lot of people who live here
who are intimidated by a bunch of black kids standing on a corner.
But I think it's great that these kids are trying to break that
down."
The problem,
Foley added, is that the kids who went to the meetings aren't the
ones causing the problems.
| "...There's
a big dichotomy between the white yuppies ... and the
people who lived here before the whole gentrification
thing kicked in." |
| Kristin
Foley,
new resident in the South End |
|
Foley's commitment
to community was put to the test just last week when her car was
stolen near the same intersection where another resident's car had
its drivers' side window demolished.
That same commitment
is tested each time she sees pieces of trash drift through South
End streets because people carelessly toss food wrappers and bags
of all kinds in anything but a trash bin.
But Foley said she can't blame all of the kids for
isolated incidents. Instead, she praises the ones who are, in fact,
trying to make a difference.
"A lot of the gentrification is good, positive,"
she said. But she acknowledged that it creates a caste system between
those who can afford to eat in more upscale places like Aquitaine
and Truc and those who might prefer pool hall bars like the Waltham
Tavern, which fills nightly with the area's long-time residents.
And then there's the group that frequents neither.
"They are being priced out of the neighborhood," she said.
Foley already feels in her short tenure that community
relations in the South End are well worth preserving.
"My husband grew up in Ireland but he's lived
here for 10 years. After living in the South End for four weeks
he said, 'This is by far the best neighborhood [in Boston] I've
ever been in because of the neighborly feel.'"
By the same token, Foley likened her diverse neighborhood
to a salad that hasn't been mixed: Too many different people who
live in one area are suspicious of one another, so they never leave
their group.
"I think if you try to humanize it a little,"
things will get better, said Foley. "Don't be strangers."
JENNIFER
CHASE
|
