Sketches of a Re-Imagined Mass. and Cass
By: Emily Xing
Mass. and Cass’ tents, from an article detailing the importance of transitional housing.
Since Fall of 2023, the tents of Boston’s largest informal encampment have been removed, displacing the unhoused people who reside there. This encampment, also known as Mass. and Cass, is a collection of neighborhoods off MBTA bus stop Melnea Cass Boulevard intersection. Although around 80 people were moved into shelters from these street tents, a significantly lower number felt safe in the places they were forced to go.
For some, Mass. and Cass serves as a stigmatized symbol of crime, crisis, and controversy. This stigma has prompted displacement, forced treatment, and policing that have further marginalized the people that reside there. As such, Mass. and Cass reflects a public safety system that endangers those most in need of security. A series of proposals by local initiatives, however, have sought to imagine alternative public visions for Mass. and Cass of hope, dignity, and compassion for those who reside there. In this project, I hope to re-imagine what Mass. and Cass may look like, and how its residents may interact with the space, if and when these programs are implemented.
The MASS Design Group’s master plan, of a new Mass. and Cass neighborhood.
There are many initiatives seeking to help Mass. and Cass, including the MASS Design Group, a team of health experts, designers, and advocates working to implement design as a healing tool. Currently, they are collaborating with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to re-imagine equitable public health designs for Mass. and Cass as a part of Mayor Martin Walsh’s 2016 Working Group on the Issues of Homelessness and Addiction at Massachusetts Ave and Melnea Cass Blvd plan.
See You in the Future is a public art initiative at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning that helps share Mass. and Cass community stories. The project focuses on spatial justice as a means of recovery through research and arts programming. The area’s Engagement Center embraces the "political and material power of storytelling and design at the scale of neighborhoods."
This collection of sketches builds upon design principles of justice, community, hope, and healing, seeking to utilize art as a tool of changeand transformation. Much of this is idealized, and by no means an attempt to overlook the hardships unhoused residents of Mass. and Cass face daily. Rather, I hope to illustrate a beautiful and growing collective goal for a public response that treats Mass. and Cass’unhoused communities with care, understanding, and humanity, rather than more fear and violence.
The Encampment Ban, 2023
This photo was taken October 2023, when Boston began clearing tents off of Mass. and Cass streets. Re-imagined, this space is full of greenery with a community garden, fruit trees, and other means of sustenance. Murals as created in See You in the Future’s workshops decorate the walls and art rooms for the initiative’s recovery workshops and group therapy sessions are publicly accessible.A public bus stop, bike rack, and trash and recycling cans promote environmental wellness, and tents with sitting and living spaces, durable with heating capabilities to serve as shelter from harsh weather provide comfort and dignity. Furthermore, community billboards and public rooms in which health counselors as well as mental health, sexual health, and other health resources are made readily reachable.
A Shelter Solution, 2024
This photo was taken February 2024, capturing the shelters throughout Mass. and Cass, that many undocumented immigrants also take refuge in. Re-imagined, this space humanizes those who are seeking shelter. It’s full of bunk beds that are comfortable, athletic courts to promote community togetherness and physical play and well-being, a kitchen, windows with visible greenery and beautifying artwork, readily available medical staff and medications and care, group spaces for therapy and bonding workshops, and an atmosphere that promotes rehabilitation, rather than punishment.
Childhood Neighborhoods, 2021
This photo was taken in January 2021 as part of an interview with Yahaira Lopez, who grew up in Mass. and Cass and has been scared by the changes she’s witnessed in her neighborhood. Re-imagined, I hope this place becomes a solace again for young children with upbeat and relaxing music, playful sidewalk chalk that cultivates creativity, fruits and greenery, mom-and-pop shops that provide water, snacks, fruits and band-aids for those with injuries, and other necessities. It’s a place where children can compassionately and justly be children again.
Rather than displacing the individuals in Mass. and Cass, our public resources should be focused on building support systems for both unhoused individuals as well as the neighboring communities most impacted by homelessness.Communities can grow together and promote the safety of children and adults alike by investing in spaces with medical access, public play infrastructure, and more. Ultimately, as I have sought to demonstrate in this project, there is dignity in recognizing the stories of all people, and utilizing art as a vehicle for change.
