Safety of Mission Hill at Huntington and S Huntington (Boston: apartment complex, rent)

[shineyshoes33]

Hello,

I am a student in Boston and I am probably going to be moving to Mission Hill around Huntington/S. Huntington St. I am going to be commuting to downtown Boston everyday. What is the safety level of this specific area? My apt will be just across the street from the T station (Riverway). I am a little nervous about coming home at night.

Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

[shineyshoes33]

Also, is Mission Hill really a part of Roxbury? I don't think it is anymore. Isn't it it's own neighborhood now?

[DowntownTom]

It's fine, in my experience. I lived there (near top of of S Huntington) for a while twenty years ago as a suit-wearing professional without the slightest incident, and things have only gotten better since then. It's more scruffy than Brookline Village, a few short jumps away, but then again, it's also a lot less expensive.

Whether technically Roxbury or Jamaica Plain or Boston from a zip code perspective (the zips meet here) doesn't really matter. Mission Hill has its own vibe.

[Urban Peasant]

25-30 years ago, Mission Hill was a rotten crime infested neighborhood. I grew up in that neighborhood and I remember the corner of Huntington/S. Huntington to always have a beer ad on top of the apartment complex there and graffiti on the walls. Nowadays it is a lot safer, a lot more gentrified, and somewhat cleaner too. You should not have a problem.

[RC1981]

If this were like even 10 years ago I'd tell you to get out of there and go find someplace else, but it's pretty much a "student ghetto" now, meaning that neighborhood has problems with noise, drunken and disorderly conduct, probably a few fights every now and then, and looks rather ugly because, well, students are drawn to it because of the cheap rent and don't plan on staying so they don't really take care of the neighborhood very well.

All of that said, it's not particularly dangerous anymore. I used live in Audubon Circle and walk home from Jamaica Plain alone at night which cuts right through that area and never had any problems. It's really gentrified now with all the students and medical personnel that live nearby. You'll be fine.

[lhk5]

I have a very similar question. I am moving to Boston this fall to start grad school at Northeastern. I am looking for places to live and came across a few in Mission Hill. On Riverway to be specific and what looks like a short walk to the Riverway T station (Google maps says it is 1 min to the T station and about the same to the bus stop at Huntington and Huntington S). While I love this apartment in theory I have a few questions/concerns. My primary concern is safety. I will have mostly if not all night classes and some days won't even get out of class until after 9PM. I am a small female and would be going home alone. I have lived in cities before and know how to stay safe but I am still worried about the area. It seems like this area of Mission Hill has become safer over the years but I want to know how safe. I also worry about taking the T or the Bus at night. Again, I have lived in major cities and have taken public transit but I usually don't do so at night by myself. Are these valid concerns?

[lhk5]

Sorry for the double post I can't figure out how to edit my previous post :-)

I am also interested in Douglas Park. It is located just off of Tremont St very close to Northeastern (and about three blocks from Mass ave.). I have read mixed things about both Tremont and Mass Ave on here but many of them seem to be from a few years ago. NEU has a escort service and the building I am thinking of living in is within the mile and a half radius the service requires but I would like the area I live in to be safe regardless. I am also worried that it will be over run with undergrads. As Boston is basically one huge college town I run this risk everywhere but I would rather not feel like I am living in a dorm (if you google maps it there are two buildings that look like dorms, neither of those are ones I am looking at).

Also, in general how safe are the buses at night? I am looking at places in Back Bay which would require me to take a bus home (again it would be as late as 9:45/10:00). I like Back Bay because it seems like there are fewer students there but I am worried about the commute.

One last worry I had, unrelated to safety (which clearly I am a bit neurotic about), is the reliability of the T Green line (E branch). I know there is a thread on here for that but it wasn't a ton of help. Regardless of where I live the T will be my primary mode of transportation. I have a car but am not going to bring it for at least the first semester (I sadly may be forced to do so after that depending on clinical placements). I dislike driving in general and have heard (and experienced) less than nice things about Boston drivers (no offense guys I love your (soon to be my) city but what is UP with the horn blasting?!?). I ask mostly so I can be mentally prepared and so I can know more about how far places REALLY are from school. The same question applies for the bus system.

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by shineyshoes33

Also, is Mission Hill really a part of Roxbury? I don't think it is anymore. Isn't it it's own neighborhood now?

Yes, Mission Hill is Roxbury, always has been. Some think it's it own neighborhood because the parking permits say Mission Hill.

[thetrainmon]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

25-30 years ago, Mission Hill was a rotten crime infested neighborhood . . .

And yet if you ask most people who didn't grow up in the neighborhood why Mission Hill got such a stereotype, the one and only excuse they'll point to is the Charles Stuart case, arguably one of the biggest blunders in BPD history.

I always have divided the neighborhood into the cliché "good side of the tracks"--everything North and West of the E-Line--and "bad side of the tracks"--everything South and East of the E-Line. The former contains all of the hospitals (except New England Baptist) and leads to "nicer" Brookline and Fenway; the latter contains the all the bars and leads to "rougher" Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The notorious Smith Street gang was a subset of this "South Side" back in the '80s and '90s when Smith Street still had project-ish looking buildings, but there were never any problems during the daytime.

[thetrainmon]

Originally Posted by snatale1

Yes, Mission Hill is Roxbury, always has been. Some think it's it own neighborhood because the parking permits say Mission Hill.

Mission Hill was part of the Roxbury, but at least since the late '80s, most people who've lived there, as well as politicians, have given Mission Hill it's own distinctive identity.