Results from an important community survey are in, and they reveal what many of us thought they would: that East Boston residents are very skeptical of a casino development. In fact, among survey respondents, only 26% support the casino outright. (and that was last summer) Frank Conte has listed the highlights from the report on his site, which also contains a link to the original report.
Monday, February 25, 2013
East Boston groups release community survey on waterfront development and casino proposal
Highlights of the Community Alliance Survey (Released February 25, 2013)
- From May 2012 through August 2012, residents from across the neighborhood
distributed surveys on paper and online in English and Spanish to their
neighbors, at neighborhood association meetings, at community events, and via
online networks. In the end, 360 surveys from East Boston residents were
collected.
- Overall, the survey found that knowledge about the waterfront projects is
highest in Jeffries Point, Eagle Hill, and Orient Heights. Residents who live in
Maverick Square or Central Square, as well as Latino residents, are least likely
to know about any of the proposals for waterfront redevelopment.
- Support for waterfront development is high, with most residents expecting
positive changes in the neighborhood once those developments are completed.
However, residents are also concerned about the potential for
gentrification.
- Over half of residents surveyed are opposed to the proposed casino. Only
one-quarter of residents support the casino. Importantly, opposition to the
casino is higher among registered voters than the general population. Opposition
to the casino is wide across each section of East Boston, with the exception of
Central Square.
- Most of the respondents are US-born residents, are in the working-age range,
and include a largely equal representation of different income groups in the
neighborhood.
- The most important difference between the population of East Boston and the
residents who completed the survey is that more than half of East Boston's
population is Latino but only 30% of survey respondents described themselves as
Latino.
- The overwhelming majority of respondents are currently registered to vote in
East Boston.
- Almost two-thirds of residents surveyed stated that they knew about at least
one of the proposed waterfront development projects. However, knowledge of the
waterfront projects varied considerably across the neighborhood. Knowledge of
the projects is highest in Jeffries Point, Eagle Hill, and Orient Heights. Fewer
than half of the residents living in Maverick Square and Central Square reported
knowing about any waterfront development projects compared to 71% of the rest of
the neighborhood.
- The only section of East Boston in which Latino knowledge of the waterfront
proposals was similar to non-Hispanic White knowledge was in Jeffries Point. In
all other sections of the neighborhood, Latinos are the least likely to know
about these projects. Over 70% of Latino residents in Maverick Square and
Central Square reported that they did not know about any of the proposed
projects.
- Similarly, low income residents across East Boston are least likely to know
about any of the waterfront development projects compared to other income
groups. About half of the low income residents did not know about any of the
waterfront development projects. With the exception of Jeffries Point, low and
middle income residents were much less likely than high income residents to know
about any of these projects.
- Most respondents have positive expectations about what the waterfront
redevelopment will bring to East Boston.
- Many residents were very concerned that the developments will result in
displacement of current residents, as well as loss of affordability. Many
residents are concerned about how these developments will change the fabric of
the community
- The overwhelming majority of residents surveyed know about the casino
project. Over 50% of residents are opposed to building a casino in East Boston.
Only one-quarter of residents stated that they support a casino with the rest
either having no opinion or not having enough information to form an opinion.
Opposition to the casino is highest among registered voters.
- Support for a casino in East Boston is highest among residents with a high
school education or less.
- Residents who completed the survey expect higher crime, more traffic, more
air pollution, more noise, and less parking. Over 40% of residents expect pride
in the neighborhood to decline. However, residents do expect that there will be
more jobs from the casino.
Full Survey at Eastboston.com. 
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