Map of "class share" of the creative, service and working classes in Boston.

Mapping Jamaica Plain’s ‘Creative Class’

A new study confirms what you already know: Jamaica Plain is full of creative types. Demographer Richard Florida argues this "creative class" represents a new kind of class divide. Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and one of the study’s authors, says that class is an inescapable presence in America. And he makes a point that class is embedded in our geography; there’s a clear relationship. “The Divided City: And the Shape of the New Metropolis” intends to help people better understand the relationship between class and geography since it’s an inevitable factor in our way of life, according to the study.

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Airbnb to Get Hard Look From City Council

Rise and shine, JP. Here's your Morning Memo for Wednesday, Aug. 20. Airbnb in the Crosshairs: When the City Council takes up items that might affect JP residents, I try to give you a head's up. One such item is an order to be discussed at the Wednesday City Council meeting.

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The back of a Hyde Square billboard still sports remains from what is probably an anti-displacement sign from the era of the Whole Foods battle

Tattered Banners, Ghosts of Gentrification Battles Past, Still Hang Over Hyde Square

While walking to a meeting Monday night, I glanced at the back of the billboards above JP Knit & Stitch. Shreds of banners from the 2011 Whole Foods fight hang there still. That was the year the Whole Foods Market in Jamaica Plain became a flash point for the debate over the neighborhood's gentrification. The banners appeared in March 2011, as neighborhood discussions focused on the proposal for the upscale grocer to move in to the Hi-Lo Foods space. The owners of Hi-Lo sold after many years serving a primarily Latino clientele.

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Brad Brown at the State of JP forum, Feb. 27, 2014

JP — ‘The Greatest Place to Live in North America’

Thursday night, more than 250 gathered for a forum addressing racial justice and equity. Here are a few short clips of residents reflecting on the "State of JP." Betsaida Gutiérrez

These comments, from perhaps JP's most well-known advocate of affordable housing, are in Spanish. Scroll to the bottom for a rough translation into English. Native speakers, let me know in the comments if I missed anything!

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