User:NicoleBennett93/sandbox

Why To My Changes

I updated the lead section to include an intro for demographics, community resources, and urban policies. I kept most the rest of the lead section the same. In demographics I deleted the sentence, "Boston-based rapper Big Shug frequently refers to the neighborhood as "Murdapan", due to its high crime rate." I did this because it was not cited and it seems bias towards a negative view on Mattapan with no facts to support it. I think it is important to add an urban policies section to Mattapan because it gives information that is unique to this neighborhood that is not all centralized anywhere else. There was also no community resource section for this neighborhood and other Boston neighborhoods have extensive community resource sections, It is important for individuals who are looking up Mattapan to a have an accurate description about what is available to them. There also was no history section is Mattapan and is present in a lot of other Boston neighborhoods. I think it is important to show how Mattapan as changed over time and what is the historic importance of Mattapan. I also added a entertainment section, which gives the researcher of Mattapan a view of what the city is actually like to visit and live in. The last section I updated was the education section, this section was very basic and I think it is important to include the excellence that the schools in Mattapan have reached. Contents [hide] 1 Mattapan Lead Section: 1.1 Demographics 1.2 Urban Policies 1.3 Community Resources 1.4 History 1.5 Restaurants 1.6 Education

Mattapan Lead Section EDIT

Mattapan is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Historically a section of neighboring Dorchester, Mattapan became a part of Boston when Dorchester was annexed in 1870. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 36,480. Like other neighborhoods of the late 19th and early 20th century, Mattapan developed, residentially and commercially, as the railroads and streetcars made downtown Boston increasingly accessible. Predominantly residential, Mattapan is a mix of public housing, small apartment buildings, single-family houses, and two- and three-family houses (known locally as "Three-Deckers" or "Triple-Deckers"). Blue Hill Avenue and Mattapan Square, where Blue Hill Avenue, River Street, and Cummins Highway meet, are the commercial heart of the neighborhood, home to banks, law offices, restaurants, and retail shops. The new Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public library opened 2009, at a cost of more than $4 million. Mattapan has a large portion of green space with in the neighborhood. The Harambee Park, the Franklin Zoo, the Boston Nature Zoo Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, and historic Forest Hill Cementary can all be considered green space within the neighborhood of Mattapan. Mattapan's demographics are diverse, with a large population of Haitians, Caribbean immigrants, and African Americans.

Mattapan is claimed as the original Native American name for the Dorchester area, though accounts vary whether the phrase meant "a good place to be," or "a good place to sit" or "an evil, spread about place."

"""Demographics Edit"""

In the 1960s and 1970s Mattapan went through a major change in the makeup of its population. It shifted from a predominantly Jewish neighborhood to one that is now largely African American and Caribbean American having a population of 37,486 that is over 77% African American and Caribbean American.[4]

The period from 1968 to 1970 made up the most dramatic period of ethnic transition in Mattapan. According to Levine and Harmon in their book, "Death of an American Jewish Community", redlining the area, blockbusting, and fear in neighborhood residents created by real estate agents allegedly brought about panic selling and white flight. The banking consortium Boston Banks Urban Renewal Group (B-BURG) allegedly drove the Jewish community out of Mattapan and are held partially responsible for the ensuing deterioration of the neighborhood, especially along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor. This widely held belief has been disputed, with differences between the Catholic and Jewish communities in Boston being the greater contributing factor.[5] According to Levine and Harmon, the reason behind this orchestrated attack on the community was to lower market values to buy property, sell the housing with federally guaranteed loans at inflated prices to black families who could not afford it, and to get the white community to buy property owned by the banks in the suburbs.

Today Mattapan is seeing another major population shift, albeit a natural turn over of housing, as a large number of immigrants from Haiti and other Caribbean countries continue to move in. Mattapan now has the largest Haitian community in Massachusetts, and is also largely made up of African Americans and immigrants from other Caribbean countries. In 2013 the population in Mattapan was 36,299.Of this total 8.5% were Caucasian, 81% were African American, 1% were Asian, 2% were a mixed race, and 6.5% were devoted to other races. According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority 72.4% of the population living in Mattapan were born in Massachusetts, 23.6% were born outside of the states, and 3.2% were born outside of the United States. Of those born outside of the United States 33.2% were born in Haiti and 17.2% were born in Jamaica. For the total adult population, 38.9% graduated from High School, well only 14.7% have a Bachelors degree. The median household income in Mattapan is $44,744.

Urban Policies Edit

In 2006, Mayor Thomas Menino implemented the Mattapan Economic Development Initiative. Mayor Menino created “MEDI” (Mattapan Economic Development Initiative so that there was a specific plan and framework to grow the economy and the quality of life within the Mattapan community. The three main goals of the “MEDI” are to “1. Improve the business districts of Mattapan Square, Blue Hill Avenue Center, and the Morton Village Corridor. 2. Create job opportunities within the neighborhood. 3. Increase capital investment in commercial areas and properties.” The Boston Redevelopment Authority was in charge of ensuring that these goals would be met. Mayor Menino backed this redevelopment plan with $250,000 to ensure that small business growth occurred. Mayor Menino also funded and allowed for a Community Implementation Team to be put in place to work with the Mattapan Economic Development Initiative to work with the zoning laws and issues within the neighborhood of Mattapan. Some major issues being addressed with zoning in Mattapan is to increase the building heights and density of the buildings in the business districts. Another major issue that the Community Implementation Team is looking at with zoning is how to better make the neighborhood a welcoming and healthy environment to reside in. According to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, “Commutatively, the zoning recommendations have the minimum potential to add 100,000 square feet of commercial space, 500 jobs, 700 housing units, and bring an additional $11 million dollars in purchasing power to Mattapan.”

Community Resources

Mattapan recently built a brand new library in February of 2009. The Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library is a community resource for the neighborhood of Mattapan. The library offers programs and events for ages ranging from infancy to adulthood. The library offers a wide variety of literature, movies, and music to entertain the residents. There are also weekly films presented for toddlers, "Fun with Books" meetings, teen movie showings, and lastly a teen advisory board. All of these events and social gathers are important community resources for the youth of the neighborhood. This not the only community resource with in Mattapan though. Another important resource for the Mattapan neighborhood is the Mattapan Community Health Center. This health center is vital to the community and provides health services to not just Mattapan but surrounding neighborhoods as well. There is also the "Child Quality Care Initiative" is an organization in Mattapan. that works with multicultural home care providers in the Dudley Square area to better the ability of youth to enter into a school atmosphere. This is beneficial to parents and youth in the Mattapan neighborhood because it gives them an early start to their education and adjusting to the social aspect that entering into a new school brings with it. There is a Boys and Girls Club in Mattapan that is also a Teen Center. The Teen Center is a safe and fun environment for kids and teenagers to congregate and to interact with one another.

History

Mattapan was originally a part of Dorchester up until the nineteenth century, when it was annexed onto its own neighborhood. Dorchester was settled by English settlers in 1630. The Neponsett Tribe originally settled Mattapan, which was a tribe of the Massachusetts confederation of Native Americans. The name Mattapan came from tis Native American tribe and it means “a good place to be” or “a good place to sit”. The belief behind why the Neponsett Tribe chose the name Mattapan is that the river runs through it and the area was so full of nature that it was a beautiful place to just sit back and take it all in. At the turn of the 20th century, Caucasians who were primarily Jewish inhabited Mattapan but around the late 1960’s the social movement of whites into the suburbs left Mattapan with a very large African American population. Another shift occurred in the 1980’s when a significant number of Haitians immigrated to Mattapan, which would lead to the current demographic population. Mattapan because of the Haitian population has become an important center for the Haitian cultural, social, and political life in the entire state of Massachusetts. In 2015, Mattapan has a large population of not just Haitians but also African Americans, Jamaicans, and other Caribbean immigrants.

Enterainment

There are a wide variety of things to do in Mattapan, ranging from night clubs to restaurants. "MuCamba Latina" is located in Mattapan Sqaure and is a popular dance night club and has a positive atmosphere for an upbeat crowd. There is also "Ali's Roti" Restaurant which offers Caribbean inspired food. Which makes this a favorite local spot in Mattapan because of the high population of Caribbean descendants and natives. Another local favorite is "Only One Jamaican Restaurant", this restaurant specializes in Jamaican food. The restaurants in Mattapan are unique to the neighborhood and definitely worth the visit because of the authentic food to the culture that surrounds the area.

Education

In Mattapan there are seven schools ranging from preschools to middle schools. There are five public schools and two private schools located in with in the confines of the Mattapan neighborhood. There are twenty one preschools, eight elementary schools, and three middle schools. The five public schools are all apart of the Boston Public School system. In terms of statistics 40% of males and 33.9% of females received their high school diplomas. Mattapan schools have received high quality reviews from parents and the Dr. Catherine Ellison-Rosa Parks Early Education School has received a 5 out of 5 star rating on education.com. In accordance with the Boston Public School system the mission of the Mattapan schools are to meet the needs of their students, whether it be through disabilities or language barriers. Also, parents or guardians have the right to school choice in order to meet the needs of their children.