Newlyweds looking in Hyde Park (Boston, Cambridge: low income, houses, neighborhood)

[loveandsqualor]

Hi everyone,

Long time listener, first time caller here.

My husband and I love living in Cambridge, but we've been priced out of the area. We recently found a lovely home in Hyde Park (near the Hyde Park and Fairmont lines), but we know nothing about the area. I'm worried about safety and curious about the social climate of the neighborhood. Can anyone tell me more about it?

Thanks so much!

[professeurpablo]

Welcome!

There are a few other threads describing Hyde Park's demographic shifts and changes over the years, so I won't be too repetitive here. I will say that it is a changing neighborhood and that its character really depends on where you go. There are pretty and quiet spots, particularly in the Fairmount Hill section and the area around Reservation Road, and there have been some recent improvements to business and dining options in Cleary Square. There are some rather rough spots too, especially off of River Street heading toward Mattapan east of West Street.

I don't really spend much time in Hyde Park at all, so maybe someone with more experience could tell you more about what the local scene is like for eating and shopping. The neighborhood is a real melting pot, with many immigrants, particularly from West Africa and the Caribbean, and you can see that in some of the business offerings and local church communities. There are also some older Irish- and Italian-American folks around along with many other folks from all different backgrounds. Transportation is okay, but it should be getting better with the upcoming upgrades to the Fairmount commuter rail line which will make it more useful for getting into Boston. There are also busses to Mattapan Square, which leads you to a long-ish red line ride via the "high speed" line and the Ashmont branch of the red line, and to the orange line at Forest Hills via Hyde Park Ave.

I was looking in Cambridge and Somerville as well and found myself priced out too. I'm more accustomed to things on the north side of the Charles and thus settled in Everett. I feel like Everett, Medford and Malden might be good options for you, and all three are quite a bit better connected to Downtown Boston as well as to the Cambridge/Somerville area, both in terms of proximity and via transit. I've posted a lot about living here too; if you're comfortable searching for that, you can read up on it, or feel free to send a private message if you want to know more about life in the Mystic Valley

[sharencare]

My general impression talking to other Boston parents is that parts of Hyde Park have a family friendly neighborhood feel, especially Fairmount Hill and Readville and there's some nice streets near Stonybrook. Some of the Victorians are absolutely gorgeous, like out of a storybook. I heard there are neighborhood block parties and you may end up knowing many of your neighbors by first name, which is unusual for Boston. There's a lot of green space in Hyde Park, but fewer businesses and playgrounds compared to West Roxbury, JP, and Roslindale. So as a young couple without kids, you might be a little bored, but if you have a car, there's a lot more options available in the nearby towns and neigborhoods. Last year, there were some house break-ins, but the police beefed up their presence and the neighborhood watch became more active, so the incidents went down a lot. If I were you, I would find a neighborhood association and see if you can attend a meeting and get a feel for what your neighbors will be like.

I've just recently got married like you and we're about to start a family. So we've been looking in nearby Roslindale and West Roxbury, but we've started to expand to Hyde Park because the affordability is very good. If you have kids in the future, BPS changed the schooling zones, so now some Hyde Park parents (formerly East Zone) can put their hat in the lottery to send their kids to schools in West Roxbury or Roslindale (formerly West Zone), which tend to have the more highly rated schools in Boston. I heard though that the Roosevelt school in Hyde Park is well regarded by the locals. The Hyde Park branch library has a nice children's section and the Hyde Park YMCA is very popular with families especially since it's newly renovated. (I also have a friend who works there, and it's a warm and happening place.)

A lot of people on this forum, especially the suburbanites, are going to say don't live in Boston because of the schools. So you might want to check out nearby Milton and Dedham. But honestly, if you want to know about the Hyde Park neighborhood, I would join the Yahoo Hyde Park parent listserver or JPMoms on Bigtent and ask families who actually live in Hyde Park how they feel about their neighborhood. You'll feel better about your decision, and you'll probably make a lot of new friends as they some of the Hyde Park parents seem very eager to share information and recruit new neighbors.

Good luck!

[breezy1]

Have you looked into Watertown?

[snatale1]

I lived in HP for a long time, went to the high school, moved out, moved back etc. Fairmount is a decent area, but HP is slowly in the process of going down the crapper. Fairmount will probably go last because there's some pricey houses over there but you still have Mattapan not to far down truman hwy, and that's what hurts it. If children are coming, rule that crap out right now, unless you want to dump major money into private school. Do you drive? Look into Dedham, next town over, good schools and has everything.

[Bob Lanata]

Grew up in Hyde Park and yes, it has changed, but the area you mentioned, Fairmount is pretty safe as any neighborhood goes. Not sure of your question on social climate, as there are not to many bars or social gathering places there. You would need to travel a bit. That area has always been desirable and the further up towards the Milton line you go, the higher the prices are.

Good luck and hope the area is good to you

[DreamworksSKG]

Have you looked into Quincy at all? Quincy is much more convenient via the Red line right into town and affordable housing.

you could also look into the Dedham-Canton-Norwood Area too all have commuter rail.

if you don't mind the North shore you might look into Arlington, Medford , Wakefield , Andover or Reading.

[495neighbor]

If you are okay with Hyde Park, you might want to stretch your search to the lower priced end of the homes in Milton. Last I looked, there were still some in the 300-400K range around East Milton, Milton Center and the area along Blue Hill Avenue. I hear the school system is highly reputable there.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by loveandsqualor

Hi everyone,

Long time listener, first time caller here.

My husband and I love living in Cambridge, but we've been priced out of the area. We recently found a lovely home in Hyde Park (near the Hyde Park and Fairmont lines), but we know nothing about the area. I'm worried about safety and curious about the social climate of the neighborhood. Can anyone tell me more about it?

Thanks so much!

Hyde Park is Randolph but closer to the city and with more Hispanics. Its like a diverse suburb, not much in the way of crime. More so in northern Hyde Park Ave, River Street Cummings High way area. Very family oriented, social climate is bleh. The neighborhood is about 50% Black 25% Latino 25% White. The parts closer to dedham are older, more single family ranch homes, a little whiter but still diverse. Pretty peaceful. Small neighborhood of 30,000 with ~2 homicides a year at this point. Its been prettied up just a little bit the past 5 years. Some decent places to eat, but the Papa Johns in Cleary Square is the best representative unfortunately. Two or three grocery stores (Shaws, Stop and Shop and a PriceRite). But honestly, its been the same for about 10 years now. You might not like living there if youre used to the cosmopolitan urban Cambridge lifestyle. Hyde Park is plain old Boston, no train, three major bus routes, the 32, and the 24/27 and 33, maybe the 30 for a quick second. Its essentially a combination of Mattapan, Milton, West Roxbury, Dedham and Roslindale in terms of culture leaning more Roslindale-Mattapan. The demographics are more that of Dorchester in terms of race, but Roslindale interms of income. The Fairmont area has Milton influences. The Georgetown Area and areas west are more Dedham and West Roxbury influenced. Lots of people from Hyde Park go to Legacy Place in Dedham to the west and South Shore Plaza in Braintree to the South.

Lots of parks baseball fields, basketball courts, laid back vibe, me personally, I love it. If youd like to have kids and raise them in a diverse environment eastern Hyde Park isnt bad. Have to send em to charter or Private school though, the schools in the area are weak and the students mostly low income.

Hope this helps!

[BostonBornMassMade]

Source: Lived there as a kid from 1996 to 2012. Also yea North Western Milton, East Dedham will give you a bit of the same feel if you want better schools. Schools in both those towns are good, but not great like Arlingotn Weston Lexington Newton or whatever.