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Mission Hill lead section edit
Mission Hill is a ¾ square mile neighborhood of Boston, with the population of nearly 16,000 people.

This neighborhood is surrounded by Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Kenmore, and Brookline. It is served by the MBTA Green Line E Branch and the Orange Line and is within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts. "The Hill" overlaps with about half of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, home to 21 health care, research, education institutions and are responsible for the largest employment area in the City of Boston outside of downtown. Due to these adjacencies, the neighborhood is often struggling with institutional growth taking residential buildings and occupying storefront commercial space. But recent years have seen new retail stores, restaurants, and residential development giving the neighborhood a stronger political voice and identity, as some of the educational institutions have made commitments to house all or most of their about 2000 undergraduate students in newly erected campus housing, including several new high-rise dormitories. People ages 20 to 24 account for 32% of the population currently living in Mission Hill.

Mission Hill is an architectural landmark district with a combination of freestanding houses built by early wealthy landowners, blocks of traditional brick rowhouses, and many triple-deckers. Many are now condominiums, but there are also several two-family and some single-family homes. Mission Hill is also the home of the historic Mission Church.

The neighborhood was named in March 2008 as one of 25 "Best ZIP Codes in Massachusetts" by The Boston Globe, citing increased value in single-family homes, plentiful restaurants and shopping, a marked racial diversity, and the behavioral fact that 65% of residents walk, bike, or take public transit to their work.

Demographics
In 2011 it was estimated that Mission Hill, Boston has a population of nearly 16,000 residents.

According to the American Community Survey, the demography of Mission Hill, Boston
 * 47.8% White
 * 18.0% Black or African American Alone
 * 14.1% Asian alone
 * 1.2% Two or more races
 * 1.4% Other
 * 17.5% Hispanic or latino

2007-2011 Estimates

According to the American Community Survey, Mission Hill's population was 15,883. 47.8% of the people in the community are white. Black and African Americans made up 18.0% of the population. 14.1% of the population is Asian. 1.2% of the population is two or more races, 1.4% of the population is other, and 17.5% is made up of Hispanic or Latinos.

Population by age According to the American Community Survey people between the ages 20-24 make up most of the population of Mission Hill,Boston. This is due to the dormitories located in Mission Hill for various colleges in the area.

Urban Policy
An article published in the Mission Hill Gazette on April 3rd, 2015 talks about the potential plans to build a 35 story tower with 395 units. This is a huge project and people are concerned that it is too big of a building for the neighborhood. A Boston Redevelopment Authority Director, Brian Golden, met with neighbors of this potential tower plan. He stated that he did not want this project to affect the family feel of the neighboring streets. In previous years there have been problems with trying to build towers because there are restrictions set, such as, the building can only be a certain height. The BRA is looking into these old redevelopment plans to see if they will affect this potential future project. Golden walked the neighborhood with people who would be potential neighbors of this project and they were able to voice some of their concerns in a respectful manor. The people of the community are concerned that this building will bring more traffic to the area and that the people who move in will "Not participate in the life of the neighborhood." i think this article is important to share because if this tower is built it will change the neighborhood in many ways. This tower plan will change the ways of the community and may even force people out.

A second article from the Mission Hill Gazette published one April 3rd, 2015, "BRA creating 'Avenue of Arts' design guidelines, talks about guidelines used for new developments. A direct quote from the article talks a little about the guidelines expected for future construction, "The guidelines would suggest such aspects as the mass of buildings, pedestrian facilities, and the materials and colors used in construction." There was a meeting held the previous week where members of the public voided that they want these guidelines to extend farther in Mission Hill. I think this is important to note because that means changes will be made to future construction in this area.

According to the American Community Survey the median household income in Mission Hill is $33,432 during a 12 month span. 21.1% of the households make less than $10,000 yearly. The median family income during a 12 month span is $36,237. The highest percent of family income accounts for 12.0% and they make between $75,000 to $99,999 yearly. Out of 6,230 households 1,300 received food stamps/SNAP over a 12 month span.

Community Resources
The Tobin Community Center is located at 1481 Tremont Street, Roxbury Massachusetts. This community center is for Mission Hill and other neighborhoods in the area. This center as stated on the Timothy Smith Network is for social, educational, recreational, and cultural purposes. There are thirty-eight Boston Centers for Youth & Families facilities. The Tobin Center provides programing for children, youth, adults, and families. Most of the programing provided is coed but it does require a membership. The Tobin Community Center is open every day of the week. Some of the programming they provide is free of charge but others do require a fee. If a person wants to participate in the programs that are free they must have a membership. Mission Hill Main Streets (MHMS) is a non profit organization that helps local businesses, residents, and community organizations to rejuvenate. They provide assistance by professions on how to improve their businesses. The goals listed on their site are, "Revitalize the Mission Hill commercial area, Increase merchant participation in the Main Street organization and in the life of the Mission Hill community, Provide Mission Hill merchants with technical assistance and with financial and design assistance for storefront renovations, Reduce negative health impacts – noise, clutter, trash, smells - of how business is done, Continuously improve the appearance, healthfulness, safety, and functionality of the Mission Hill business districts and the Mission Hill host community, Work with schools, students, employee groups, neighborhood organizations, and the local District Courts on community services projects throughout the area." There is also a published column each month in the Mission Hill Gazette about the things they are accomplishing. They provide financial help to businesses as well as physical changes such as the design. People can refer businesses for help on making their shops look more appealing. Another community resource is the Parker Hill Branch, which is a branch of the Boston Public Library located in Roxbury. They are open Monday through Saturday.This library provides programs for children year round. The Parker Hill Branch is also teamed with the Tobin Community Center that was mentioned above. This branch also provides artists space to display their art.

Green Space
There is a park in Mission Hill that is a walking, sitting park for the the community. This park is called the Kevin W. Fitzgerald Park. The park includes lawn space and asphalt walkways for people to walk on. The walkway is lined with benches for people to rest and enjoy the various views such as, Lower Roxbury, the Fenway, and Back Bay. This park was previously one of the 5 quarries in Boston. This park was known as the Harvard Quarry. The operation of the quarry was ceased around the year 1910 and this left a 65 foot high quarry wall. In 1964 Harvard University filled the land in. In the 1990's the open space planning committie worked on preserving public access to the quarry. The community and the developer decided together that the walls of the old quarry would be preserved and they would created a new 6-acre open space for the community at the top of the puddingstone bowl. Harvard Quarry Urban Wild was then named Puddingstone Park. In November 2006, the park was named Kevin Fitzgerald Park in honor of the former Massachusetts State Representative. Most of the open space in Mission Hill is privately or institutionally owned. It will be hard to protect this land from being developed on. Most of the land is already being developed on for more housing and institutional purposes. Only 6.2 acres of land are protected for preservation of public access. McLaughlin Park is another park located in Mission Hill. There was an article posted in the Mission Hill Gazette on April 3rd that talked about the park being renovated on a $430,000 budget. A direct quote taken from the article states the plan for the renovations, "The City presented a plan for the renovation in September that would lay a loop path around the upper terrace; build an overlook area along the southeastern portion of the terrace; repair Ben’s Tower; add a new set of stairs from the upper terrace to the lower terrace; and address other maintenance issues." Ben's tower is a memorial for a child named Ben that was from Mission Hill and enjoyed playing in the McLaughlin Park. Ben unfortunately died of cancer.

Education
The Mission Hill School serves grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. It is a Boston public pilot school. The children range from 3 years old to 14 years old and the school serves around 250 students. This school is located at 20 Child Street in Jamaica Plain. The mission of this school as written on their website is, "The task of public education is to help parents raise youngsters who will maintain and nurture the best habits of a democratic society be smart, caring, strong, resilient, imaginative and thoughtful. It aims at producing youngsters who can live productive, socially useful and personally satisfying lives, while also respecting the rights of all others. The school, as we see it, will help strengthen our commitment to diversity, equity and mutual respect." This school is a public school.

The table above is an estimation from the American Community Survey during the years of 2007-2011

Health Care
There is a program called the Mission Hill Health Movement. This program addresses the various health issues that affect the community and the cities around it. This issues include access to health care, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, mental illness and depression. They sponsor the Mission Hill Farmers market which happens through the month of June to October. Local farmers are welcome to sell their fresh produce on thursdays. There is also a Diabetes Self Management Group that is there to educate newly diagnosed people with diabetes and for other people living with it. They are looking to improve overall health and make the day to day process of living with diabetes easier for the participants. In 2011 the Mission Hill Main Streets, Tobin Community Center, Mission Hill Health Movement, and Sociedad Latina sponsor the first Mission Hill healthy food festival. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the Whittier Street Health Center were present at this festival to distribute information and answer questions. The Boston Collaborative for Food & Fitness, Boston Vegetarian Society, Cooking Matters, and Sociedad Latina also offered helpful information. Mission Hill Health Movement also sponsored a Health fair. 21 local institutions, organizations and businesses into the neighborhood. They provided health information, screening tests and healthy food. They also provide a walk that occurs on Thursdays to promote exercising. "FEET FIRST meets every Thursday at 10 AM, rain or shine, at 1534 Tremont Street. Join us as we walk from Mission Hill through the Fens, to the Rose Garden, and back. Walks will terminate at the Brigham Circle Farmers Market from mid-June until the end of October." There is also a part of Brigham and Women's hospital that provides support in the Mission Hill community. They address the issues of health care, employment, social programs and services. The different places that are helped are schools, housing developments, youth serving organizations, and other service groups in Mission Hill.