Come Back to Jamaica Plain

Our new urban home! *

Thanks to the friendly, efficient and strong crew from Isaac’s Relocation, Susan and I are now officially citizens of Jamaica Plain in the city of Boston, MA!

Apart from owning property instead of paying rent, our new home has considerable advantages.

First is location, location, location! Within a short walk are three major green spaces – the Arnold Arboretum, Forest Hills Cemetery, and Franklin Park. And if that’s not enough there’s a playground/ballfield around the corner. Overall, JP is far greener than Somerville which is rather devoid of trees.

Second, there is a T stop just five minutes walk away. No more will I wait on street corners for capricious buses to come early so I just miss them, come late so I wait and wait and wait, but rarely come on time. I’ve already timed it and the all subway trip to Harvard Square takes about the same time as the two bus + subway trip from Somerville although it covers a much longer distance. And I’ll never have to look at a bus schedule again. On the down side, I still haven’t figured out a safe, easy route to work by bicycle.

Finally, I feel like we’re more in the heart of things. There are plenty of shops, restaurants and services within walking distance and there always seems to be something going on in JP. We’ve already met and talked with our neighbors who seem very friendly. A lot of them have children too, which is a good thing since this is the first home our child is going to know.

I added a whole new section to the blogroll of websites, resources, and blogs related to Jamaica Plain. If you’re the author of any of these sites and you drop by and read this, I say, “Hello neighbor!”

Anytime you move there are some mysteries and JP has presented a few posers:

• .East of Forest Hills Station, Washington Street mysteriously ends and becomes Hyde Park Avenue. On a parallel road, South Street turns suddenly to the right, but if you go straight you’re on Washington Street. It’s as if a ghost road of Washington Street mystically passes through Forest Hills T-stop with no rhyme nor reason.
• There are signs for the West Roxbury Courthouse, parking for the courthouse, lawyers and winking judges in Java Jo’s, but I can’t seem to figure out where the actual courthouse is. Perhaps it’s that cupola that hovers over the trees in the distance?
• Where do JP’ers shop for food? It seems that if you need to buy groceries, you have to shop in <gasp> Brookline!

Well that’s it for now. I feel like I should change the name of this blog to Panorama of the Plain in tribute to my new residence, although as in Somerville we live on a hillside.

* If you don’t get the reference in the title and first line of this post, watch this classic commercial from the 1980’s sung to the tune of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over,” or is it “Stewball?”