Residents map out East Somerville how they see it
By George P. Hassett

   The community that is often suffocated by McGrath Highway and Route 93 is finally beginning to get some air. East Somerville is beginning to get the attention it deserves thanks to the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) and the neighborhoods‚Äô own young residents.
   Tonight at the main branch of the Somerville Public Library, SCC will unveil their East Somerville Community Map ‚Äì a reference tool for all things East Somerville. The detailed map not only denotes the neighborhoods‚Äô landmarks and icons but also informs its observers of how residents feel about their corner of the city.

  ‚ÄúWe wanted to include the voices and opinions of the people of East Somerville on the map. We surveyed 274 residents in the summer heat about which places in the neighborhood were special to them, which places had been neglected and which places were the most dangerous,‚Äù said Leah Madsen, a community organizing intern at SCC.
    Red flags on the map represent where residents feel the danger areas are, blue flags represent sites where leisure time can most be enjoyed, and black flags signify locales neighbors feel have been neglected. Foss Park had the most red and blue flags.
     Deja Williams and Sidia Escobar are two Somerville high school students who have worked on the East Somerville Community map since the project began in May. For one month, four times a day, they each went out to different sections of the neighborhood and recorded that section‚Äôs activity.
     ‚ÄúWe counted how many people, cars, even dogs passed by. The count of activity gives a sense of the daily life of East Somerville, and also brings up the question of why people use certain parts of the neighborhood more often than they use others,‚Äù said Williams.
     Meredith Levy, the Director of Community Organizing for SCC, said the project was designed to raise and answer questions about a neighborhood that some feel is consistently overlooked.
     ‚ÄúEast Somerville is dominated by McGrath Highway and Route 93. But nestled in between those two major highways is a really interesting neighborhood,‚Äù said Levy. ‚ÄúPeople there often feel like they don‚Äôt have a voice. In this project we wanted the residents to determine how their neighborhood was portrayed. All the information on that map came from regular folks in the neighborhood. This is a real grassroots way to understand a space and what it means to the people who live in it.‚Äù
     Williams said going out into East Somerville to collect data and then transferring it onto the community map was a perfect way to understand the city she lives in.
      ‚ÄúI live right next to East Somerville and I consider it part of my community. I had no idea there were so many interesting little things about the neighborhood. This job was a great way for me to learn more about my community and the people who live here,‚Äù she said.
      Escobar agreed.
     ‚ÄúMy main experience in East Somerville was walking up Broadway to go to church at St. Benedict‚Äôs. I never bothered to get to know the people there. This project helped me to look closer at the neighborhood. There‚Äôs more to East Somerville than the highways, there are a lot of great stories there,‚Äù said Escobar.