The Tim White Way project aims to create a more welcoming and beautiful open space for residents and visitors in the Centre Street business district of West Roxbury. Tim White Way is a pedestrian walkway located in the heart of our neighborhood. However, this project is not simply renovating a walkway. It’s catalyzing what it means to experience West Roxbury’s Main Street district as the dynamic center of our neighborhood. Nestled away from the traffic and under a beautiful tree canopy, this new pocket park will become a favorite meeting spot for safely gathering for coffee, lunch, and group activities.

This project will also support the economic vitality of our small businesses. On each side of Tim White Way, is a diverse mix of local and minority-owned businesses including restaurants, cafes, retailers, and salons. It’s located at the hub of community activity such as the Highland commuter rail station, Roche Bros grocery store, post office, and numerous other community services.

This space for small events, live music, and pop-up markets will further enhance community connections to the neighborhood. By incorporating public art and historical design elements, we’ll further enhance the community’s sense of place and pride. And Tim White Way’s accessible designs will not just make it ADA compliant, but it will be an inclusive and welcoming space for all West Roxbury community members, which includes the highest percentage of elderly residents of any Boston neighborhood.

Read Payette’s Blog Post about Tim White Way and the 2020 MLK Day of Service.

In the Fall of 2019, WRMS’s Design Committee submitted a project proposal to participate in the Payette 2020 MLK Day of Service program. Payette, a renowned and award winning architecture firm based in Boston, selected our proposal along with five other statewide projects to develop a set of design concepts for WRMS to begin reimagining the space and its full potential for the community.

In 2021, working off of Payette’s design concepts, WRMS hired Thriving Places Collaborative to coordinate the project and gather community input to reimagine this pedestrian walkway as a relaxing and engaging pocket park.

In late summer 2021, with the widespread feedback from community members and Tim White Way (TWW) abutters, WRMS hired Goode Landscape Studios to update the initial design concepts. These updated concepts helped WRMS approach the City of Boston about project implementation.

West Roxbury community members, Tim White Way abutters, and City of Boston are very supportive of having more attractive, relaxing, and engaging open space along Centre Street.

In the Spring 2021, WRMS gathered input from community members via online survey, in-person surveys, WRMS Annual Meeting Breakout Room, and informal interviews.

The results showed overwhelming support, with 96% in favor of making enhancements to Tim White Way. For more on community input, see the detailed Community Survey Results below.

Tim White Way is public property owned by the City of Boston, specifically the Boston Transportation Department (BTD). WRMS has engaged with them since early on in the process and a liaison from the Boston Public Realm Program is helping WRMS navigate municipal processes and resources.

WRMS and Thriving Places Collaborative began engaging with site abutters in early 2021. Abutters have expressed support in the project and provided helpful insights regarding desired site uses, as well as landscaping, design, and maintenance. One site abutter, the West Roxbury US Postal Office, has declined to participate in the process.

Tim White Way project will require significant ground work, landscaping, and construction to transform the space into a relaxing pocket park.

As of Spring 2022, WRMS and a number of City Councilors will advocate to include the project in the City’s Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Budget.

March-April 2021 | Total Participants: 264

Survey respondents noted interest in having family-friendly and relaxing pedestrian space, separate from the busy traffic on Centre Street.

15 people wrote that they appreciated that the space is wide and open, and 9 people wrote that they wanted to expand the space.

81% of respondents supported having food and other local vendor pop-ups in the space.

78% of respondents envisioned using the space to eat food from local businesses.

69% of respondents supported having live music in the space and write-in responses indicated that people were particularly interested in acoustic or “low-key” family friendly music.

66% of people expressed that they wanted to have a relaxing space and several respondents indicated that they were concerned that gatherings did not become too crowded or noisy.

Food trucks and vendors, particularly coffee and ice cream, were very popular ideas. 62% of respondents were in support of having food trucks in the space.

Several people expressed that they want more signage in the space, indicating it is a pedestrian shortcut.

Many respondents are interested in learning more about the site history and design features.

About 4% of respondents do not want to see a change in the space.

Adding cafe-style seating is by far the most popular change that people would like to see in the space, followed by adding more greenery/flowers, and improving lighting in the space. Many people also indicated that they enjoyed having benches in the space, so we will likely have a mixture of different types of seating.

Designs should minimize congestion and maintain an open flow to the Post Office and between Roche Bros. and Centre Street. 63% of respondents would like to see more public art in the space. Many respondents wrote that they enjoyed the temporary poster exhibit that WRMS installed in early 2021.

Many people suggested adding color to the space, and 45% of people supported adding a mural. The community suggested that the following themes and ideas would be appropriate for the space: interactive art exhibits, engaging the five senses, preserving an “old timey” feel, celebration of diversity in local businesses, embracing nature, serenity and relaxation. Tim White’s family has suggested a theme of “taking a seat” and/or adding a literary theme, which could include a free little library.

Cleanliness of the space is a large concern, so we will add waste receptacles and make a clear maintenance plan designating responsibility for upkeep of the space.