Priorities

Improve Environmental and Public Health Problems Facing Urban Residents.

Boston, and Chelsea residents are exposed to a multitude of public health and environmental hazards, including auto emissions, dense populations, and a lack of open and green space. In addition, they are suffering from the highest urban asthma rates in the state.

Decrease Lead Poisoning through Education and Prevention Programs.

Many residents have access to poor quality housing with bad indoor air quality and a high incidence of lead poisoning. 90% of Boston children under six have been tested for lead poisoning. The greatest number and most severe cases of lead poisonings occur in non-white neighborhoods. 2,191 children have severe lead poisoning in North and South Dorchester and Roxbury. Asthma and bronchitis together are the leading cause childhood hospitalization in urban Boston, making it 178% higher than the state-wide rate.
Tackle Overpopulation and Lack of Open Space.

In Boston, the proportion of African-American to white low birth weight incidents in 1996 was 2.3 to 1. Roxbury had the highest percentage of low birth weight babies. Boston's Chinatown is the most densely populated neighborhood with only .6 acres of open space per 1,000 residents. This is nine times higher than any other Boston neighborhood. Chinatown is surrounded by major expressways, and local residents live with more traffic than any other residents in the city. East Boston is also a multi-racial community, with 32,000 people living on 1.5 square miles of land.
Goals for 2001
Goals for 2000
Goals for 1999
Goals for 1998