Category: Neighborhoods

In ‘Buy Nothing’ Facebook groups, Brookline’s gift economy thrives

An antique wood bucket that Buy Nothing member Meirav Wolff-Bar repurposed as a plant holder. Photo courtesy Wolff-Bar.

From doorknobs to limited edition hot dog-themed Red Sox hats, Brookline’s gift economy is thriving, helping residents furnish their apartments and even adopt aquatic pets. Buy Nothing—-a global movement started in 2013 by two friends, Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesel Clark, in Bainbridge Island, Washington, to reduce waste—-encourages 7.5 million participants internationally to offer and ask… Continue reading In ‘Buy Nothing’ Facebook groups, Brookline’s gift economy thrives

‘The lost glove is happy’: A front yard lost-and-found exhibition added to the whimsy of Griggs Park

Susan Schnur looks at the gloves that are part of her at-home installation “The Lost Glove is Happy” in Brookline on April 10, 2025. Schnur has collected lost, lonely gloves in Brookline to display in her glove garden for the past two years. Photo by Taylor Coester

The willow trees in Griggs Park make for a whimsical neighborhood in Brookline, but a short walk up Griggs Road led visitors to another slice of magic among the trees this past spring. Dozens of lost mittens, gloves, and even an odd shoe or sock intermingled with vines and branches as they hung on clothes… Continue reading ‘The lost glove is happy’: A front yard lost-and-found exhibition added to the whimsy of Griggs Park

What’s in a name? Mapping Brookline neighborhoods, with help from readers

Different maps and websites and neighborhood associations have different names for some of the same parts of Brookline. Some of those resources use the same names, but envision different boundaries. But what do the people who actually live in those neighborhoods call them? We decided to ask. Two hundred eighty people responded to a survey… Continue reading What’s in a name? Mapping Brookline neighborhoods, with help from readers

Community gathers to clean up Griggs Park

Neighbors of Griggs Park area work together to free the park’s trees from invasive grapevine at the Eat Rake Play event on Saturday, Oct. 14. Photo by Hannah Baron

This story was published in collaboration with Meghan E. Irons’ Reporting in Depth class at Boston University’s College of Communication. Neighbors gathered at Griggs Park on Saturday to clean out invasive species and plant new bulbs at the yearly “Eat Rake Play” event. “We want to both improve the park and bring neighbors together in order to… Continue reading Community gathers to clean up Griggs Park

From bubblegum rock to bluegrass, Porchfest fills Brookline streets with music

Girl Sküll performs at Brookline Porchfest on Saturday, Sept. 30. Photo by Madi Koesler

This story was published in collaboration with Meghan E. Irons’ Reporting in Depth class at Boston University’s College of Communication. Brookline’s annual Porchfest flooded the town with music around every corner on Saturday as the community joined together to dance in the streets. Porchfest featured over 100 bands from Eliot Street all the way north… Continue reading From bubblegum rock to bluegrass, Porchfest fills Brookline streets with music