Thanks To Mayor Spicer For Irving Park Effort: Letter

The following is a letter to the editor and does not necessarily reflect the views of Framingham Patch.

We chose Framingham as our family’s home over a decade ago largely due to its abundant farmland, hiking trails and parks. But we quickly learned that the beautiful green spaces of Framingham are mainly concentrated in the city’s north side, often near expensive single family homes.

Knowing this, we were thrilled when Mayor Spicer’s team announced in 2019 that they had secured a $50,000 grant to turn an old gravel parking lot into a “pocket park” at the corner of Irving and Arlington Streets on the city’s south side. Within two months, Mayor Spicer’s team raised over $55,000 — exceeding their $50,000 goal — unlocking the matching grant and funding the park’s development.

In doing this, Mayor Spicer and her team secured a major win for our city. Urban green spaces like Irving Street Park benefit mental and physical health, offer cleaner air, reduce flooding and create cooler temperatures as a result of a lower urban heat island effect. This helps some of our most underserved communities: the neighborhood of the Irving Street Park has a high concentration of low-income, senior, and disabled housing all within a block of the park site.

Not only will the Irving Street Park help the neighborhood enjoy the benefits of nearby green space, but Mayor Spicer and her team included neighborhood residents, employees, businesses, organizations and interested members of the public in generating the plans for this new park, giving them a voice in the project.

Mayor Spicer and her team have continued moving this project forward, even while addressing a worldwide pandemic and COVID-related material and labor shortages. The opening of the Irving Street Park this fall marks progress for Framingham toward a more equitable city. Another four years of Mayor Spicer will mean another four years of working to ensure residents in all parts of Framingham get to enjoy one of its best assets - abundant green space.

—Kate and Scott Salley, Framingham