MOST OF Greater Boston’s densest neighborhoods have their own subway stops. But there is one community, located closer to downtown Boston than Harvard Square, with density comparable to Cambridge’s central neighborhoods, which has never had a subway station: Chelsea, which has over 40,000 people squeezed into 1.8 square miles of residential neighborhoods.
As the state prepares to spend millions of dollars repairing or replacing the Tobin Bridge, which connects Chelsea and Boston, it’s time to ask: Can we use this opportunity to give densely populated Chelsea the high-quality transit that it deserves?
At 27,000 people per square mile, Chelsea is comparable in density to Cambridge’s neighborhoods along the MBTA Red Line, such as Wellington-Harrington and Mid-Cambridge. In fact, across the region, neighborhoods with density similar to Chelsea, including the North End, East Boston, and areas along Commonwealth Avenue, are virtually all served by subway or Green Line stations within walking distance…