The Mason Square Weed & Seed Site

The site was initiated September 8, 2003–October 20, 2003 and received Official Recognition as a Weed and Seed Site on August 27, 2004.  This section of Springfield is comprised of four neighborhoods: Bay, McKnight, Old Hill, and Upper Hill.  The four neighborhoods make up a section also known as “Mason Square.”  We decided to target this entire Mason Square section of Springfield for a number of reasons.  Because of the neighborhoods' proximity to each other, criminal activity has consistently moved throughout and within the entire Mason Square area. Therefore, it would be more effective to shrink resources for the use of fighting crime in a comprehensive way so as not to work against the efforts in each neighborhood.  These four neighborhoods comprise the Police Department’s Sector F, and are the neighborhoods targeted by Project Safe Neighborhoods.  Since Project Safe Neighborhoods has targeted the Mason Square section, and because of the similarities between their initiative and Weed and Seed, we saw the two as complementary and knew both could benefit from sharing the same resources.  We incorporated the work done through the Project Safe Neighborhood, specifically the community sessions.  

Mason Square’s population is 20,863, which represents 13% of Springfield's total population.  It is 3.1 square miles.  It is located in the Hampden County, Springfield, MA and is located in the middle of the city.