This is a once in a generation opportunity to create a new and diverse community with a substantial neighborhood identity and deep cultural roots.

There’s something fucking awesome about going to a Bodgega or restaurant in Eastie / Chelsea, a market or restaurant in Chinatown, walking through a feast in the North End, getting geeked out on Vietnamese coffee st Saigon Night Market, eating Pierogis to pure despair in the Polish Triangle, or ducking into a dark bar for a few pints in Southie.

And this should be no different at all.

I can see Nubian having just insane Afro-centric ingredients (okra, rice, jerk, etc). I imagine markets with fresh and raw ingredients catering to the recent African and Caribbean immigrants. I can hear late night jazz and blues bars and/or a book store / coffee shop that has slam poetry. Block parties with incredible food and dancing and music. Great late 19th and early 20th century architecture offset by murals. A sense of community and belonging and a proud identity. “Yes you’ve heard of Nubian Square, but from a travel blog, not the 6pm News with a backdrop of Police Tape.”

But this hinges on balance. Advocates were long hosting sit ins for more affordable housing, and are now back peddling against “concentrated poverty.”

This requires smart development, and a balance of outside help with buying in from the community.

I worry that the loudest will disguise their motives with “activism” (just like the loudest of the North End and South Boston) and ruin it.

But I’m honestly rooting for it because it adds an incredible dimension to the tapestry of Boston. A community with pride and prosperity benefits everyone.

EDIT: Fixed some grammar once I got responses.