As 2009 draws to a close, the decade itself is ending – and a new one is about to begin. In political terms, the first decade of the New Millennium has been defined by Jay Ash. With one decade finishing and another starting, the Jay Ash decade persists. The city’s modern history bears Ash’s considerable mark, and through his work, he has enabled Chelsea to do what it has always done well – bring together individuals from all backgrounds to our city and maintain it as a place where every man woman and child can express themselves, grow and live in peace. While not without flaws, the city has emerged over these ten years as a model that other communities aspire to emulate. Chelsea’s schools have become increasingly effective at making a difference for the city’s struggling children – and they have. Throughout the decade, test scores have risen, though they can never reach our desired levels given that Chelsea serves as an entry point for countless people who do not speak English as a first language. The transformation of the city over the past ten years has been dramatic. Even to those who arrived at the decade’s start, the place looks entirely transformed and somewhat unrecognizable even to relative newcomers. As longtime residents pass and new arrivals grow in number, the city’s ever-shifting demographic reshapes it. Despite the presence of poverty, ignorance and crime that harm the city’s residents, this remained a place during the past decade where people lived among one another without the rampant slaughter and crime so visible in some of Boston’s neighborhoods. This was a decade marked by numerous new businesses establishing themselves here, creating thousands of local jobs and strengthening the city’s tax base. Growth characterized this era for Kayem, for Demoulas Marketplace, for real estate companies who built hundreds of new units here and for businesses along the waterfront and along the length of Eastern Avenue. Local real estate reached unprecedented value – then the recession arrived, bringing repossession and bankruptcy to many of the city’s struggling homeowners. The outlook ahead is encouraging, a promising sign for the coming decade. Tolerance and humanism, taking care of all kinds all the time became the city’s hallmark during the past decade. Never before has so much local energy come to exist to aid those who need help in their lives. As the new decade arrives, Chelsea remains vibrant and alive, friendly and open, relatively safe and changing almost daily.
Out with the Old, in with the new
