Boston Ghettos/Bad Neighborhoods (Cambridge, Somerville: sales, quality of life, to live)

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by BitofEndearment

I mean, the whole thing is a joke. You don't go to any of these places, and if you do you drive through. The area immediately north of Central Square? Like Prospect St, Sennott Park, Broadway, Norfolk? Like I can't believe out of all the opinions people receive they receive this one, like possibly the most ignorant statement there could be. I just can't fathom, as someone who is in that area every week all the time, some telling people to avoid this part of Cambridge, which has a Whole Foods and a bunch of kids playing in a playground and students biking and skateboarding all over the place. It's so daft. Just cause this is Area IV, DONT GO. Like what? Stop commenting on threads please

The area around Norfolk, Columbia, and Washington is not very good, particularly since there's a housing project right in the area. Prospect and northwest of there is notably better, and the Whole Foods is fine. And all bets are off in many areas of Cambridge late at night unless you're on a major street.

I've walked in the general Central Square area more times than I can count, so you can't say I "don't go to any of these places, and if you do you drive through." In fact, I don't even own a car.

And I'll comment on any thread of my choosing here, thank you.

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by such sweet thunder

I think the answer is yes. Whoever this dude is also posted the same general thing in 2009:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/12181872-post27.html

I've noticed that in many of these "dangerous parts of Boston" type threads you see regular bumping posts by people who seem very intent on talking trash about historically minority neighborhoods; the thing being, their descriptions of the neighborhoods don't quite connect with how the areas are actually set up. I honestly think there may be somebody or multiple non-local people who see it as their duty to try to use these boards as a way to reverse racial intermingling or have some other bizarre motivation.

I think the tipoffs that bachslunch may never have been to Boston are as follows:

1) bachslunch begins the post by ripping on the historically black neighborhood of Mattapan and large parts of Dorchester, except for Lower Mills. The problem with this is that a large portion of Lower Mills is in Mattapan not Dorchester.

2) He rips on the "areas between East Cambridge and Inman Square, and the area immediately north of Central Square." Cambridge literally borders Somerville at Inman Square on Beacon St. So bachslunch is basically saying, avoid living in the middle of the road on Beacon St., which I guess is rather sound advice when you come to think of it. As to the area immediately North of Central Square, that's also the area of what is now immediately North of the Cambridge tech corridor, which is probably the most successful commercial development in Massachusetts in the last decade. You can find two bedrooms in that neighborhood that area that have sold for over 1.2M in the last couple of years.

Have already addressed the "north of Central Square" issue in another post. The area between Inman Square and East Cambridge, specifically running along Cambridge Street and the various streets coming off it (Willow, Harding, Berkshire, Warren) gets much less good as you leave Inman Square about to the train crossing, then starts to improve (it didn't used to improve, but that stretch of East Cambridge has gentrified over the last few years). And the Somerville line is one to two blocks north of Cambridge Street from Inman Square to the train tracks -- it does not run along Cambridge Street in that area.

Lower Mills is located in both Dorchester and Mattapan, and I've never experienced any issues wandering in the Dorchester part of it (specifically in the area of Dot Ave. down to the Milton trolley stop). Didn't at all like the part in Mattapan I've been in, though (Morton St., River St.).

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by drro

I just did some very quick streetviewing in those areas and although they look dodgy here and there they really don't look that bad compared to the real deal like Detroit or Baltimore.

Hyde Park isn't "real deal" bad, but it's scruffy. The worst parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan are pretty bad, though. Not at all a big fan of wandering around areas like Geneva Ave. or Blue Hill Ave. in these neighborhoods.

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by such sweet thunder

I honestly think there may be somebody or multiple non-local people who see it as their duty to try to use these boards as a way to reverse racial intermingling or have some other bizarre motivation.

If you're wondering why I posted, it's because I've seen an influx of people on forums like this who seem to think there are no bad parts of town anywhere and actively shout down those who don't agree. I think they're no more helpful than the drive-through nervous-nellies from the suburbs who think anyplace urban is dangerous. Some parts of the Boston area have indeed gentrified over the years, but there are still places that aren't good.

And people who will find such info most useful are tourists and relocating people who don't know the region, and I think they deserve a fair picture of the general area.

[flowbe202]

Originally Posted by bachslunch

...gets much less good...

Not sure I'll ever be on the same page with someone who uses this kind of language

Originally Posted by bachslunch

Didn't at all like the part in Mattapan I've been in, though (Morton St., River St.).

I don't like Somerville because of its preponderance of vinyl siding, roads that magically only lead to Union Sq and virulent urban planning; I, at least, admit to my biases so others may understand my perspective and assess if it matches their values and expectations.

So far, only communities of color are blessed with your "scruffy" descriptor.

Originally Posted by bachslunch

If you're wondering why I posted, it's because I've seen an influx of people on forums like this who seem to think there are no bad parts of town anywhere and actively shout down those who don't agree. I think they're no more helpful than the drive-through nervous-nellies from the suburbs who think anyplace urban is dangerous. Some parts of the Boston area have indeed gentrified over the years, but there are still places that aren't good.

And people who will find such info most useful are tourists and relocating people who don't know the region, and I think they deserve a fair picture of the general area.

We've already addressed the Cambridge comment, so let's address the ever popular Dorchester equation.

"Non-scruffy" neighborhoods are not predicated on gentrification. That's a ridiculous and false statement. Boston (and Dorchester) is unlike other areas of the country—our cities and neighborhoods are smaller and more dense. Street safety in Boston is based on a street by street basis and NOT like other cities where entire sections are "totally" dangerous.

There are plenty of neighborhoods in Dorchester that were safe and stable well before the latest real estate bump.

There are many neighbhorhoods that have been slowly changing over the past 20 years.

And, now, there are areas within Dorchester that will be dramatically changed over the next three years thanks to Boston's aggressive real estate market.

Dorchester is a wonderful, active culturally and economically diverse mix. It is the largest neighborhood in Boston. It is the most diverse Boston neighborhood.

Those of us who actually live in Dorchester are working to ensure it does not become what the South End is now—a community of haves and have nots.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by bachslunch

The area around Norfolk, Columbia, and Washington is not very good, particularly since there's a housing project right in the area. Prospect and northwest of there is notably better, and the Whole Foods is fine. And all bets are off in many areas of Cambridge late at night unless you're on a major street.

I've walked in the general Central Square area more times than I can count, so you can't say I "don't go to any of these places, and if you do you drive through." In fact, I don't even own a car.

And I'll comment on any thread of my choosing here, thank you.

This is one of the most ignorant statements I've read. I can't think of a single place in Cambridge I wouldn't walk in, or haven't walked along, at 1-2 in the morning or had female friends walk in without fear. As about as safe as an urban area you can get.

[flowbe202]

IDK, OP has a point. That Whole Foods can get pretty tough when the gluten-free wasabi peas go on sale...

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by flowbe202

So far, only communities of color are blessed with your "scruffy" descriptor.

Not true. I mentioned the housing projects in Southie and Charlestown above (places like Old Colony and Bunker Hill). Last I checked, those were both predominantly white and not safe places to wander around in.

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by timberline742

This is one of the most ignorant statements I've read. I can't think of a single place in Cambridge I wouldn't walk in, or haven't walked along, at 1-2 in the morning or had female friends walk in without fear. As about as safe as an urban area you can get.

Not necessarily at all. I know several people who have been mugged in the back streets around Porter Square very late at night (ca. 11 PM and later) over the last several years, including someone in a building I lived in who was beaten and robbed just a couple years ago. And there has been a history of repeat muggings on Banks Street (in the Cambridgeport/Harvard Square area) the past few years, particularly on people walking between the Harvard campus and the Peabody Terrace residences. Fortunately, that hasn't been the case in the last year.

And these issues didn't even occur in the not-so-good areas I mentioned above in Cambridge.

Sure, it doesn't happen all the time to everyone who walks the back streets in Cambridge late at night. But it can, and it certainly has.

[bachslunch]

Originally Posted by flowbe202

There are plenty of neighborhoods in Dorchester that were safe and stable well before the latest real estate bump.

There are many neighbhorhoods that have been slowly changing over the past 20 years.

And, now, there are areas within Dorchester that will be dramatically changed over the next three years thanks to Boston's aggressive real estate market.

Dorchester is a wonderful, active culturally and economically diverse mix. It is the largest neighborhood in Boston. It is the most diverse Boston neighborhood.

Those of us who actually live in Dorchester are working to ensure it does not become what the South End is now—a community of haves and have nots.

Of course there are good neighborhoods in Dorchester, and I said so above (Savin Hill, Lower Mills). Some parts of Dorchester have improved over the years, too. And let's get something straight -- it's not an all-or-nothing thing. Plenty of nice people (of color and not) live in even the worst parts of Boston. Unfortunately, it only takes a relatively small number of folks (of whatever color) to cause problems. And sadly, they do.