Hey, there! Log in / Register

Groups propose new recovery campus at Widett Circle to relieve Mass and Cass pressure

Although Boston still wants to re-open the Long Island treatment campus and the state is planning a new recovery center at Shattuck Hospital, both are year's away, say Mass and Cass business owners and residents, who today pitched the idea of building a recovery campus at Widett Circle - the isolated collection of food-processing plants off I-93 that few had heard of until the failed 2024 Olympic group wanted to build a giant stadium there. WBZ reports.

Neighborhoods: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Interesting.

I'm a Long Island treatment fan. Some say that it's shunting a problem out of sight, but I think that it's a way to remove temptation from those who need to avoid temptation.

Widett Circle could work, or it could become the Methodone Mile (sorry, I use the older, relatively more accurate term) just more isolated from the average person. That latter result is not a solution.

up
Voting closed 0

That's really what these people OBSESSED with long Island.

up
Voting closed 0

The City of Boston's facilities on Long Island helped the vulnerable of the region for decades until the City of Quincy decided to thwart the efforts of Mayor Menino to ensure access to the services by fixing the bridge. Luckily, his successors have kept the quest going.

That you didn't care about these things before 2014 is on you I guess.

up
Voting closed 0

Time to crack down on these people. Accept help or go to jail. The area around Mass and Cass is disgusting and they are breaking the law. Suck it up - yes - we don't want to see them anymore. They are ruining the city including the area around Copley.

up
Voting closed 1

Why do people think this is such a clever thing to say? Stop centering unrelated people in this discussion. This is about the health and well-being of the people in need of treatment and the residents and businesses in the area. It's not about making sure everybody else has to be aware of the misery around them, I guess? To learn some sort of lesson or something? Who cares! If a solution is good for the stakeholders, it matters not at all who else has to look at it.

up
Voting closed 0

If you go back and read the coverage of the islands closure you'll see that plenty of the folks in need of it liked the isolation of the island, made it easier to resist temptation. Not everyone but enough that it should come back as ONE option among many.

up
Voting closed 0

This would offer almost immediate relief to the neighborhood. The MBTA owns 24 acres so it is large enough to accommodate both a rail yard and some housing and services, even temporarily. The bridge might be ready in 6 - 7 years. The rail yard? Who knows.

I doubt that this will get done. Too many other interests.

But it will be interesting to see where the opposition comes from.

Neighbors? Not many in the BTD tow lot.

up
Voting closed 0

Addict and alcoholic here who will testify it was exercise and working out and volunteering that got me sober longterm. And I've seen what exercise, coaching, and eating properly can do for transforming others. Stay away from the places that just want to do meetings and methadone or suboxone. Get up and really move the body. I hope a real gym and a track will be included in whatever they decide.

up
Voting closed 0

Who could oppose this?

How about anyone who works in Widett Circle currently?

up
Voting closed 0

Widett is an insane proposal.

up
Voting closed 0

I thought the food businesses that were there relocated after the MBTA bought the property.

up
Voting closed 0

From what I understand, this is supposed to relocate the problem from one location to another. Who's to say that Widett Circle won't just be an annex for Methadone Mile?
Given what has been going on along Southhampton Street and it's vicinity, it's apparent to me that the current policy of so called "harm reduction" isn't working. Instead, the centralizing of services has turned into a regional magnet for the lost souls who inhabit the area and the criminal element who prey upon them.
I live in the Andrew Square area. I see drug addicts in the neighborhood. They are stealing packages, breaking into cars and shooting up in the streets. I can't say I have a solution, but the current way of thinking and of handling this needs to change.
Have a nice weekend everyone.

up
Voting closed 0

We are still in the war on drugs a few local policies that blunt the most violent edges of it doesn’t meaningfully mean we are in a new policy era. If anything isn’t working it is the continued criminalization of drug use.

up
Voting closed 0

if the City doesn’t do anything and appears unwilling to tackle this problem.

up
Voting closed 1

Will be how easily drug dealers can access and exit the area without heavy police surveillance. Congregating a population with a high proportion of users en masse where drug dealers can do that easily is a profound disservice to everyone except drug dealers.

up
Voting closed 0