Above, Mike Prokosch, chair of Codman United’s steering committee. Seth Daniel photos
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After nearly two years of organizing with a focus on displacement concerns and other changes in Codman Square, the grass-roots Codman United group has issued a multi-goal plan of action and is looking to partner with the city in implementing it.
Members of the group gave an update on where things stand during a Codman Square Neighborhood Council (CSNC) meeting on Sept. 2.
“Our report is out and it’s very detailed,” said Mike Prokosch, who chairs the group’s steering committee. “It’s ambitious. It’s a far-reaching plan that will take a lot of effort to carry out…We’re going to need help bringing it to neighbors.”
The plan highlights six priorities: building a vibrant business district; creating more affordability and stability for youth, seniors, and renters; making existing help easier to access; growing local ownership of land, homes, and businesses; strengthening neighborly support and connection; and building community knowledge, power and capacity.
Sarah Riddle, co-president of the West of Washington Coalition.
The effort’s roots emerged three years ago, when neighbors, organizations and civic groups loudly voiced opposition to the city’s official Squares + Streets re-zoning process for Codman Square and Four Corners. The feeling by many was that those who had laid out the city’s plan were inexperienced and weren’t listening to neighbors.
And that while the concept was fine, it was being crafted in a way where, they said, many existing residents and businesses would be displaced.
City leaders eventually paused the initiative, and the newly formed Codman United undertook the creation of a grass-roots plan funded by private entities. Since 2024, they have hired anti-displacement “ambassadors,” engaged youth focus groups, and sat around kitchen tables to engage with their concerns.
“It’s the classic, you improve the neighborhood and then they turn it around…This is the moment where either we keep it or we lose it,” one resident is quoted as saying in the report.
“It’s hard to have a healthy neighborhood without a healthy business district,” Prokosch said. “There are also services and programs to help people afford to stay in the neighborhood, and people don’t know about them. Helping walk people through the process is very important. We’re developing a technological tool and getting the city to come out and talk to us about all the programs they have. We’re looking at a navigable Community Connector program.”
Another key piece to the strategy is helping senior citizens stay in “family homes” to prevent their loss along with the wealth creation they represent.
“Seniors own one in seven properties in the neighborhood and most are paid off and they live with extended family,” Prokosch noted. “If they sell to a developer, there goes all that affordable housing and wealth building….If we don’t do something in the next five years, we’re going to lose one-seventh of the affordable housing in the neighborhood. That’s a big thing.”
He and other organizers said the key will be grass-roots action and not waiting on the city to take the baton and run with it. They said they will focus on their priorities first, rather than try to do everything at once.
“This project is not going to be a matter of asking the city to bail us out,” Prokosch said. “As with the merchant’s association, we are the ones that have to take the first steps…Finding the solutions is up to us and it’s a multi-year project. The housing crisis took a long time to develop and it will take a long time to resolve.”
To see the full report or learn about Codman United, go to their website at codmansquareunited.org.
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•The annual Heroes and Sheroes Gala will take place on Nov. 21 in the Southline building, 135 Morrissey Blvd., from 4 to 8 p.m. The event is now in its second year of moving from the Great Hall in Codman Square to Southline due to the event’s growth in popularity.
“We have outgrown the Great Hall and have had to move to a bigger location,” said CSNC President Cynthia Loesch-Johnson. “It is a good problem to have.”
This year’s winners include Millennium Award winner Andrea Major of Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts; Neighborhood Leadership awardees Gardy Dorneval, Micah Prescott, and retired C-11 Officer Michael Keaney. Civic Leadership awardees are Cassandria Campbell/Jackson Renshaw of Fresh Food Generation and Jennifer James of Jamaica Association of Massachusetts. Youth Leadership Awards and scholarships went to Ashley Barosy-Alzate, Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, Makayla Bembury, and Mason Braxter.
The annual event seeks to highlight neighborhood leaders who are doing great things quietly, and also to award youth with scholarships in the name of the late Rev. Dr. Bill Loesch.
•Police Activity…A resident said that they would like to see the McDonald’s in Codman Square become more involved in the community and also clean up the dining room. The resident said her adult son was “jumped” in the dining room by several youths and no one from the McDonald’s intervened or called police. The resident said she has filed a police report. Other residents said it follows a trend of a lot of “riff raff” and assaults happening in the McDonald’s.
“I think it’s time the McDonald’s got back involved with the community and the neighborhood council,” said Loesch-Johnson.
Police also reported that their special investigations unit and the FBI Gang Task Force executed a search warrant on Torrey Street Aug. 20 at 8:30 p.m. Officers allegedly found a firearm, drugs, and the suspect.
•The Codman Square branch library announced that it will hold its annual Back to School Ice Cream Social on Sept. 24 at 4 p.m., at the library.
•Sarah Riddle, co-president of the West of Washington Coalition (WOW), shared with the CSNC that they will be having a groundbreaking for a new city park at noon on Sept. 19 at the corner of Park and Norwell Streets. It will be named the WOW Family Park.
Copyright © 2026 Boston Neighborhood News, Inc. This content may not be re-published or re-used without written permission.
