April 2006 An eNewsletter from Hyde Park Main Streets
From the Director
in this issue
 
Boston Shines 2006

It’s time for Mayor Menino’s 4th Annual Citywide clean up, Boston Shines!

Please join us on Saturday, April 29th, in Hyde Park or in your own neighborhood across the city, as we all help to make Boston Shine.

There are many ways to get involved! You can register as an individual volunteer or register your neighborhood group or business as a team. For more information call your neighborhood services coordinator at the Office of Neighborhood Services. (Click on Boston Shine Logo for website and contact information.)

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Direct from Our Members...

Patrick Whalen, Greater Boston Constables Office, Inc., told HPMS that a client walked into his office saying that he found the Constable's name off "the website". Not having a website of his own, Patrick realized that his customer had been browsing the Hyde Park Main Streets on- line business directory. Up until that moment, creating a webpage had been a desire but not at the top of Patrick's to-do list. Spurred on by the newly generated business, Patrick signed up immediately for his own web page hosted by HPMS for only $30 a year.

Check out the Constable's new page on the directory link below.

Do you enjoy "Direct from Our Members"? If you are a Member and would like to contribute a quote about your experiences with Main Streets, please e-mail us comments, thank you!

Find Out...




Join our mailing list!

Thanks to all of you who renewed or joined Hyde Park Main Streets! It is not too late to join now and start enjoying the many benefits of membership and to know you are supporting local efforts to foster a vital and thriving downtown district. We have come far over the past 10 years, but we have much more to do together for Hyde Park.

Karen B. O'Connell, Esq. Executive Director

A Small Town In The City


Annual Campaign For Main Streets Seeks Your Opinion

Click on photo to obtain a residential survey from our website.

Spring is the perfect time to look forward--for us as an organization and for all of our members, both residents and businesses. Wouldn’t you like to be part of making changes and improvements in your community? Are you willing to invest in Hyde Park Main Streets to help continue our efforts? What do you see as the future for Hyde Park? What positive changes would you like to see happen this year?

Please take a moment this month to share your vision for our Small Town In The City by completing the resident survey we recently mailed to every household. We will put all the responses into a database (volunteers anyone?) and then have the results professionally analyzed by a marketing consultant. Your opinion counts not only as ideas for projects, but as a way to energize our business community.

Market research helps existing businesses better attract and retain customers and is a great recruitment tool to interest new businesses. You, our Members, fund over half of our annual operating budget, your contribution directly affects the capacity and reach of our Program, let’s together make this the year for Hyde Park, with your support we can go far.


Communicating with you and others around the world!

“Thank you from Japan” read the recent e-mail I received from Midori Nakano of Tokyo. This was in response to a questionnaire I filled out for her on Hyde Park Main Streets. She is conducting research about downtown revitalization in the United States, specifically the Main Streets Program, in order to write a book for Japanese citizens that will serve as practical guide for them to revitalize their communities themselves.

As Ms. Nakano notes, “Many Japanese suburban downtowns (Main Streets) are in very severe condition. Most people shop in major cities and convenient shopping malls...We have known the Main Street Program and visited some cities in US. It is working for local communities! We try to understand the similarities and differences of US and Japanese downtown and how we can incorporate essence of Main Street Program into downtown revitalization in Japan.”

The book will feature case studies with some examples and I was very pleased to be able to share the Hyde Park story. I found the questionnaire to be very thorough and on target, raising many pertinent points. Ms. Nakano is from Hearts Environmental Design Ltd., a firm specializing in Urban Design, Planning and Architecture and has an interesting web site at: www.hearts-design.com (link below)

Communicating to all of you here in Hyde Park just got a lot easier for Hyde Park Main Streets and we have the generosity of David Hanson of Murdoch Mailing Co., Inc. to thank for very graciously offering to print, stuff and labels our 600 plus monthly print newsletter mailing. This volunteer in-kind contribution by Murdoch Mailing Co., Inc. is greatly appreciated.

Another option is the increasingly popular e- Newsletter with all the same information, but is more visually fun to read with graphics and images that we can’t produce on the print version. If you have e- mail please consider switching to the e-Newsletter, you will save us postage and see everything in living color! Let us know and we will switch your mailing preference.


Hyde Park Drug Awareness Forum Sponsored by City Councilor Rob Consalvo

Drugs in your Neighborhood....Let's Talk

Date: April 27, 2006 Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM Place: Fogg Roberts Post, 56 Harvard Avenue, Hyde Park (Refreshments served from 6:00 - 6:30 PM)

  • Is there information avialable on community trends regarding drug use?
  • Where can I find help?
  • What can we do as a community to help?

Presenters:

  • Boston Public Health Commission
  • Boston Police Department
  • South Boston Collaborative
  • Healty Roslindale Coalition
  • Mass. Organization for Addiction Recovery
  • The Medical Foundation

      Questions and answer period following presentations.

      Bring a friend and help us make Hyde Park healthier and safer


      • April/May 2006 Calendar

      ER Committee- Mon, 6:00 PM, April 3rd

      Promotions Committee- Mon, 6:00 PM, April 10th

      Design Committee- Thurs, 6:00 PM, April 13th

      Patriot's Day - Mon, Holiday, April 17th

      Board of Directors - Tues, 6:00 PM, April 18th

      Networking Breakfast- Thurs, 7:45 - 9:00 AM, April 21st

      Boston Shines - Saturday, April 29th, Citywide _____________________________________________

      ER Committee- Mon, 6:00 PM, May 1st

      Promotions Committee- Mon, 6:00 PM, May 8th

      Design Committee- Thurs, 6:00 PM, May 11th

      Board of Directors - Tues, 6:00 PM, May 16th

      Networking Breakfast- Thurs, 7:45 - 9:00 AM, May 18th

      Memorial Day - Mon, Holiday, May 29th

      Missed a meeting? Contact us for monthly minutes compiled by volunteer committee members and available by e-mail.

      If Hyde Park is your home, why not make us your home page at www.hydeparkmainstreets.com and be better connected to your community. *Please note that committee dates are subject to change.


      phone: 617-361-6964