Community take on Foreclosure

As the Fitzgerald parking lot, located across the Forest Hills Station in Jamaica Plain, is set to be out to bid in a foreclosure auction today, many members of the community have mixed emotions.

"Everything is condo-izing," Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Coordinator Colleen Keller said referring to the recent flux of development in JP, specifically Jackson Square and the former Blessed Sacrament church. "I just hope the lot will be in good use. Residents want affordable housing, a youth center or a park. People are moving toward transit-oriented thinking."

However, not all JP residents agree. On the blog Universal Hub, one resident named Whit commented on the matter saying, "Everyone thinks they want 'open space' and a 'park.' But that is the worst thing...I say dense housing and retail with the promise that it will be for various types of people--not just rich people and not just poor people."

Other residents would rather not see the lot go, "Not having that lot there makes it more difficult to just hop in the car and get to a community meeting in time after work, " one blogger commented.

"The lot will hopefully be used to make everyone in this town happy," Keller said. "I personally hope for a mixed-use development, but we will see. If the neighborhood does not like what they see going on with it, they will definitely make it clear."