Sheena Collier, founder and CEO of Boston While Black, says that Boston has no trouble attracting talent, with its world-class universities and job opportunities in sectors like tech and life sciences.
But as for keeping that talent here, not so much. One problem, Collier says, is the fact that many see the city’s social scene as kind of a snoozefest.
“There’s a feeling I think of, 'If I’m going to live in an expensive city that has traffic issues, all the things that other major cities have, you also want the amenities of it,'” Collier said.
Soon, Boston’s social life will get special attention from a newly created position informally dubbed the “late-night czar” by Segun Idowu, Boston’s chief of economic opportunity and inclusion.
Idowu told BostInno this week that the position — formally called the director of strategic initiatives — will provide recommendations on issues like extending the city’s night life, helping establish more Black- and Brown-owned businesses and expanding transportation options.
“We cannot force the sun to sit over Boston for long periods of the year,” Idowu said. “But there are other things we can do to make it more inviting.”
A spokesperson for the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion said the position has been approved but has yet to be posted on the city’s career center.
The birth of a czar
Collier said one word she hears people use most often when describing Boston’s social scene is “boring." She had heard that other cities, like London and Amsterdam, have appointed night mayors to manage city night life, and started thinking that maybe Boston could benefit from a similar position.
While hosting the Boston While Blacks mayoral candidate forum last October, Collier asked then-candidate Michelle Wu who in city government would be responsible for changing this image of Boston as a “boring” city.
Wu said she wanted to create new structures and positions within city government and mentioned the prospect of the “chief possibility officer.” When Idowu took office in January, and began reviewing staffing, the ideas came together into this new role.
Idowu said one of the first projects for the director of strategic initiatives to tackle will be the city’s lack of late-night options for events and transportation.
“(The director) will help understand what are the permitting issues, licensing issues, etc. that will make Boston stay up past 10 o’clock at night,” Idowu said.
The new director will look at improving late-night transportation, including options via the MBTA and ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. The MBTA experimented with late-night service more than five years ago, but ultimately cut the program due to high costs and a slight decline in ridership. Most MBTA trains end service by 1 a.m.
Collier said the city’s downtown also needs more options that reflect the music, food and culture of every neighborhood and community.
“Someone visiting Boston and visiting downtown should get a glimpse through what’s happening downtown of what’s happening in the neighborhoods of Boston,” Collier said.
In a continuation of his work while president and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, Idowu said he’s talking with developers to identify spaces being built out where partnerships might bring in more Black- and Brown-owned businesses.
He's also looking at city’s rebate program as a way to defray the cost of rent for nonprofits, like Boston While Black and Amplify Latinx, to activate downtown spaces.
Even when there are events in Boston, Idowu said, people don’t know about them, so the “night czar” could collaborate with offices across the city, like the Office of Arts and Culture, to advertise events and create some form of community calendar.
“It’s tough to find in one place what even is going on in the city, unless you know where to look,” Idowu said. “And we want to change that.”
Idowu said the goal with all of these efforts is to make Boston a city people enjoy living and working in.
“That is one small effort because it’s one person,” Idowu said. “But I think the implications are huge when we figure out what a lot of the issues are.”
