It's funny how so many people perceive the neighborhood that come from outside the area. I never heard that poem in all the years living in the City and I was born and raised there. Geez, I must have led a real sheltered life! The funny thing about it is, my friends from there are all Italian, every one of them and one of them is even Lebanese! There's only a few Irish out of all of them over there, that I know! This is America don't forget, the melting pot of the universe! Hey do you know, there's a lot of Polish that live in Southie by the way and another thing I wanted to make sure you guys knew too, my former landlady was Lithuanian, and if she heard you, she'd flip right out!
To the first poster, you'll be safe on the East side. The West side or the "lower end" as it used to be always called when it WAS just that is all built up now with renovated newer condos and loft style apartments and such, it's much much nicer than it used to be ever before. It's not the Southie of yesteryear at all, it's SO convenient to live in that neighborhood, the MBTA is right there, either the train or the bus right at your fingertips. The beach area is still beautiful to walk, no matter what time of year and if you can get a condo along here? Good luck to you, because they're worth a fortune now. For example, the East Broadway area has some stunning property worth over $700,000, if not more. If you live on this side of Southie and can find an apartment or condo to even rent for under $1600 a month then consider yourself lucky because most of them are going for well well over $2000 a month now, if not more. IF you can get a condo for under $350,000 then consider yourself lucky because there's nothing under that price range that's even decent to look at. It's much more upscale now than you think in Southie, trust me on that last message.
I personally don't think it's as nice as Charlestown though and I lived in both parts of the City. The property value is even more in Charlestown and the area is much more historical and charming as it's part of the Freedom Trail and also it's a lot closer to looking like parts of Beacon Hill than ever before with the renovations that have been done to the homes. In fact the nickname for parts of Charlestown is mini-Beacon Hill these days! The thing that you'll really like about South Boston is the beach! It's great for walking, riding your bike, rollerblading you name it, it's ideal. That's ONE thing that is lacking in Charlestown, and that's probably the only difference, so therefore if I had to pick out of the two places? I'd still pick South Boston for this main reason!
Good luck!
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