Boston Revives Chinatown Library With New Homes

Quick Smiles:Chinatown gets its first Boston Public Library branch in 60 years, with affordable homes above.The 12-story building will offer rental and subsidized condos for the community.Boston plans more housing-above-library projects in diverse neighborhoods.Development is set to start in Boston’s historic Chinatown, combining a new library branch with much-needed affordable housing above.Chinatown has gone without a Boston Public Library branch for six decades, making this project a meaningful return for local families.The original library and rowhouses were demolished during urban renewal and highway construction, forcing many residents to move away.“Families who live here will not only have affordable homes, they will also have a library just steps away, a place for children to learn, for elders to connect, for workers and students to find opportunity and to do so in community together,” said BPL President David Leonard.The new 12-story building at 55 Hudson St., designed by Stantec, will feature rental units and subsidized condos on the upper floors.Angie Liou, executive director of the Asian Community Development Corporation, reflected, “Seventy years ago, Hudson Street was a vibrant and tightknit immigrant community. If it were not for the organizing of long time activists … we would not have reclaimed these parcels for community uses.”Boston is also planning similar housing-over-library projects, including at the West End and Upham’s Corner locations, bringing more homes and opportunity to diverse neighborhoods.“An essential function of modern libraries is to be a gathering space for residents of the neighborhoods we’re in,” Leonard shared. “By building housing and libraries together, we’re dramatically improving the overall benefit that we’re having on the community.”These vibrant projects represent a hopeful return of spaces for learning, connection, and affordable living right in the heart of Boston.If you’re inspired by this creative approach to community building, learn more and share the news with your friends!Source