South Norwood Residents Express Frustration Over Proposed Central Business District Study-October 24, 1977

Residents Alleged Neglect as Town Proposes $12,000 Downtown Business Study

Following the announcement of a planned comprehensive study for Norwood’s central business district, residents and town meeting members from South Norwood voiced growing frustration, arguing that their neighborhood continues to be overlooked in municipal planning and capital improvements.

“Just one year ago we complained to selectmen that all the improvements stop short of South Norwood at Subway Hill, and now we hear this $12,000 study will also stop at Lenox Street,” one District 6 town meeting member remarked. The proposed study—unveiled by A. Franklin Swift, chairman of the Industrial Development Commission—calls for a $12,000 evaluation funded equally by the town and the Norfolk County Development and Tourist Council. The project is designed to analyze traffic patterns, parking, and retail layout upgrades to handle heavy traffic congestion. While the county has committed its $6,000 share, the town’s portion requires appropriation at an upcoming special town meeting.

Coming on the heels of previous grievances, the timing of the downtown study reinforced local perceptions that tax dollars disproportionately benefit “uptowners.” District 6 members emphasized that South Norwood is in desperate need of local services like a bank and a drugstore, with Shirley Reardon noting, “The request for $6,000 does seem unfair since the main street, Washington Street, does go all the way through town to Morse Hill.” Mary Frederick, temporary chairman of the District 6 group, added, “Once again our problems will be dropped. They will appropriate $6,000 for the uptown area but not here.”

Commission Defense and Community Concerns Over Neighborhood Needs

In response to the criticism, A. Franklin Swift maintained that municipal improvements benefit the entire community, emphasizing, “We are not talking about two separate Norwoods, we are one town.” Swift explained that the study’s geographic scope extends southward to Walnut Avenue and eastward to Lenox Street, naturally excluding the southern commercial district. Furthermore, Swift noted that District 6 representatives had never previously sought assistance or guidance from the Industrial Development Commission regarding past proposals, such as requests for underground electrical wiring on Washington Street or a traffic light near the Balch School.

The underground wiring proposal—which Town Manager John P. Mogan estimated would carry a prohibitive price tag of roughly $3 million—drew mixed acknowledgments from local advocates. While District 6 member Monica Phillips Bartell conceded that the multi-million-dollar wiring estimate was unrealistic, she stressed that pressing neighborhood priorities remain unaddressed: “There are a lot more important things to be done here such as improving the streets, parking, and the playgrounds.” Most South Norwood representatives indicated they would likely drop the underground wiring push to focus on more urgent infrastructure needs.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger