Building Community

Community Leads The Way

We as Beacon Hill Council are focused on building and maintaining a welcoming, diverse and healthy Beacon Hill community neighborhood.

We determine our priorities and positions based on community member issues and concerns, changes in the neighborhood, and changes in laws, policies and programs that affect Beacon Hill as a vulnerable population.

We Engage With Community

Community Meetings

Each month we have a community meeting for neighbors to bring up concerns or interests. We listen to and discuss different perspectives on issues. Then we hold our Board meeting so we are can keep the community’s voice in mind when we make decisions. See archived meeting agendas and meeting notes.

Surveys

We want to make sure that we are not just talking to ourselves. In 2016, we conducted a survey in 6 languages to learn more about the priorities of Beacon Hill residents. We mailed the surveys to every household in Beacon Hill and also launched an online version. We received a 9% return (1,117 responses) from our survey. It was not convenient to return – people had to provide their own envelope, address it and put their own stamp on it.

In short, we learned:

47% households spend >30% of their income on housing

24% rent their homes and 74% own their homes

31% have house holds with 4 members or more

33% lived in Beacon Hill for 5 years or less

Many households speak more than one language

Community opinion on the expansion of the North Beacon Hill Village:

55% supported the expansion, although 70% were not familiar with the idea of an urban village

51% supported the proposed zoning changes to single family areas to put the Mandatory Affordable Housing (MHA) program in place

70% supported development of affordable housing near the light rail station

90% supported adding more small businesses

Community priorities for Beacon Hill: