This Week’s South End Open Houses
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New South End Homes For Sale This Week
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Roads to Be Repaved in the South End This Summer
Attention folks: There’s summer construction ahead for many South End streets. The city of Boston announced this week they plan resurface 45 miles of road as well as 1,400 pedestrian ramps, with 14 of them in the South End area, including Worcester Square, East Brookline Street, and Union Park. “Our residents deserve the best roads and sidewalks in their neighborhoods. Not only are clean and safe passages a matter of public safety, they also help support our small businesses,” Mayor Menino said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to our best year yet in getting our roadways and pedestrian ramps ready for another great summer in Boston.” Proposed work for 2013 will exceed the amount of work conducted in 2012, which was the most “productive” construction season in the last decade according to Menino’s office. The Public Works Department will spend a total of $ 13.75 million to resurfacing roads in 2013, according to Menino’s office. Of that money, Menino’s office said $ 10 million was freed up from the street cut account, which collects roadway restoration fees through the city permitting process. The full list of streets to scheduled receive work is here, but below we’ve posted a chart with the roads to be repaved in the South End under the mayor’s plan. All roads are scheduled to be repaved in 2013. Street From To Estimated Start Duration Status BOND ST HANSON ST MILFORD ST TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 CLARENDON ST TREMONT ST COLUMBUS AV TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 CUMBERLAND ST HUNTINGTON AV DEAD END TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 EAST BROOKLINE ST WASHINGTON ST HARRISON AV TBD 2 Weeks COMPLETED EAST SPRINGFIELD ST WASHINGTON ST HARRISON AV APRIL 2 Weeks COMPLETED FATHER R GILDAY EAST NEWTON ST EAST CONCORD ST TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 GREENWICH PK COLUMBUS AV CLAREMONT ST TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 PAUL PL SHAWMUT AV HERALD ST TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 PUBLIC ALLEY 403 WEST NEWTON ST CUMBERLAND ST TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 PUBLIC ALLEY 404 CUMBERLAND ST PUBLIC ALLEY 405 TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 PUBLIC ALLEY 542 HOLYOKE ST BRADDOCK PARK TBD 2 Weeks Scheduled for 2013 PUBLIC ALLEY 543 […]
Retiring at 50: Could You Follow This Woman’s Extreme Savings Plan?
Americans may be living longer, but our retirement plans aren’t keeping up. Which means people are living longer with smaller bank accounts. But Marlene Konkoly will retire at age 50. How did she do it? She contributes a whopping 45 percent of the gross annual income she earns as a procurement officer for an automotive finance company to her retirement—all while owning a home and remaining debt-free. Konkoly is actually well ahead of the retirement savings curve compared to many of her fellow Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, fewer than half of Americans even know how much money they would need to retire. And nearly a third of employees who had access to a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) did not participate in it. “Save at least what your employer matches in your 401(k),” Konkoly said. “It’s like saying no to free money if you don’t.” Konkoly, who lives in Royal Oak, MI, said she started saving at 22—but only because other people said she should. She saved a mere 2 percent at her first job out of college. “I didn’t think I could afford much. I didn’t have any understanding of savings and how it would affect my future,” she said. $ 17,000 in Debt At 27, she had $ 17,000 in credit card debt—but this became a turning point in her financial history. “I made the decision right then to get myself out of debt,” she said. “I took on extra work where I could. I started to learn how to research purchases before I bought items, and I began budgeting for the first time ever. I successfully eliminated my debt five years later.” Once she was out of credit card debt, Konkoly, who is single and has no children, turned her focus to her golden years. “I started to see people around me who simply could not afford to ever retire,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to be in that position, so I started applying the same principles which got me out of debt toward saving more for retirement.” How She Got Smart Konkoly decided to get smart: She took graduate classes in personal finance to understand her portfolio and learn about retirement savings. She reads books, researches on the Internet and follows blogs about saving and investing. And she works with a financial adviser she trusts. “Just because I can do it myself doesn’t mean I have to,” Konkoly said. “Having a professional adviser allows me to focus on other parts of my life without the time commitment of constantly researching the market.” Maxing Out Her 401K Konkoly “maxes […]
Mayor Menino: Don’t Let Candidates ‘Tear This School System Down’
Mayor Tom Menino cautioned Boston residents not to focus on negative portrayals of the Boston Public School system as the city’s mayoral race heats up. Speaking at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new playground at Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown on May 10, Menino touted the progress public schools have made in recent years and asked residents not to allow anyone to “tear this school system down” in the coming months. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the Boston Public Schools in the last several years. It’s because of a lot of reasons—teachers, principals, the superintendent, the community—and I tell you, the graduation rate is up, dropout rates are down, more kids are going on to college,” Menino said. He spoke of how the schools work to educate every child, from every background and learning level. “Don’t let anybody over the next several months, as this campaign heats up, tear this school system down. This is a great school system. We’re not perfect, but with the new assignment plan we can make that happen,” Menino said. “To all of you out there: Stay positive about what’s happening in the schools. The most important thing we can do in our society today is to educate our children, and I think over the last few years we’ve done an incredible job. We have some ways to go. Don’t have this become an issue of tearing down the schools, because these kids out here are the future of our city.” Menino also spoke highly of Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson, a Charlestown resident, who recently announced she will be retiring at the end of the school year. “She has done a remarkable job for the young people of our city over the last several years—driving up test scores and graduation rates, improving access to the arts and making projects like [the Harvard-Kent schoolyard] an important part of learning,” Menino said. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Author Dennis Lehane Headlining South End Library This Week
An award-winning local author will be stopping by the South End Library on Tuesday night. Author Dennis Lehane will be at the South End Library on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to talk about his 2012 novel, Live by Night, which recently won the 2013 Edgar Award for best mystery fiction. Lehane has published nine novels over the last 20 years, including Gone, Baby Gone in 1998, Mystic River in 2001, Shutter Island in 2003, all three of which were turned into movies. He has won numerous awards for his novels. A Boston native, Lehan is writer-in-residence at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, and splits his time between Florida and a home in Boston. After the marathon bombings, he wrote an op-ed for the New York Times called, “Messing with the Wrong City.” The Friends of the South End Library is advising attendees that seating is limited and to arrive early. You can read more on the FOSEL website. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
South End Jazz Open House This Saturday
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New South End Homes For Sale This Week
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Things to Know in the South End Today, April 1st: Don’t Trust What You Read on the Internet. Except This.
1. Weather: The National Weather Service is predicting a partly sunny day with a high of 59 degrees. There’s also a 30 percent chance of showers and winds may reach as high as 29 mph. 2. April Fools: Let’s all remember that it’s April Fools Day, and no, YouTube is not really picking a “winner” from all its videos, Google Maps is not going 8-bit, and basically any other weird or strange news today is most likely NOT happening. We don’t have a sense of humor here at South End Patch so don’t worry, the joke’s on us today. 3. babyYOGA: Bring your baby or toddler to this Community Music Center of Boston (34 Warren Ave.) integrated music and yoga class to combine physical exercise with soothing relaxation techniques for both you and your child. Classes run on Mondays and Fridays at 9 a.m., and it costs $ 15 to drop in. See here for more information. 4. Drop in at Coco Baby: Drop by Coco Baby (1636 Washington St.) with your kids at 3 p.m. today and enjoy our toys, arts & crafts, and musical instruments. The play space provides children with an area to explore their creative sides, interact with others their own age, and get out all that excess energy. Cost is $ 8 per visit.See here for more information. 5. Add your events: Do you have a great event coming up at your organization or business? If it’s happening right here in the South End, add it to the Events Calendar! I feature great events every single day in the daily email update, on the homepage and on social media, so add yours to the mix and help get the word out to South Enders about what’s happening in their neighborhood.Click here to add an event. Things you can do every day on South End Patch: Share your news with the rest of the community. Click here to add an announcement. Add your events to our events calendar. Click here to sign up for breaking news updates. Want up-to-the-minute news? Click here to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Share your thoughts on your community in a blog. Click here to get started. South End Patch
More Than 1,200 Riders Cited for Fare Evasion This Year
If you’ve ever thought about jumping those MBTA gates to catch a bus, it’s likely you’ll get hit with a fine for evading the fare. MBTA police have issued 1,231 evasion citations system wide so far in 2013, as of Monday, according to MBTA detective Richard Sullivan. Over the same period last year, the MBTA issued 1,267 citations. The fine for a first-time fare evader is $ 50, according to Sullivan; future offenses could be as high as $ 500, according to the law. Operation Fare Game, the MBTA’s initiative to enforce fare laws on the T, from time to time leads to arrests. Christian Fitzgerald, 23, of Roxbury was arrested March 22 after he attempted to dodge a fare at Downtown Crossing by entering through the exit-only gate, according to a transit police blog post. Police intended to issue a citation, but found there were warrants out for Fitzgerald’s arrest. “Fitzgerald was wanted from Boston Municipal Court for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Larceny from the Person and additionally from Fall River District Court for Municipal Ordinance Violations,” MBTA police said in their post entitled “Operation Fare Game gets another one.” SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch