Safe areas in Dorchester: exact names of neighborhoods, please (Boston: apartment, condos)

[Kanoodle]

I'm thinking of moving to Dorchester and I know there are some great areas as well as high crime/gang infested ones. Please list the actual names of the neighborhoods or streets that are geared to the young-ish professionals.
For example, I hear the following are good:
Polish Triangle
Jones Hill
Savin Hill
Popes something or other
Adams village
Neponset
Parts of Lower Mills

Thx for ur help!!

[missionhill]

I think you've got it! I wouldn't say Popes Hill or Neponset were geared to young-ish professionals the way Savin Hill and Jones Hill are but I could be wrong. Lower Mills is more so I think, if not as much as them. Ashmont, right around the subway station, has some buzz. Ashmont Hill, west of Dot Ave, is beautiful, and there are nice streets off Ashmont St east of Dot Ave too. Lots of professionals in the Melville Ave-Park Street area too between Dot Ave and Washington St.

[goyguy]

For "young-ish professionals" (presumably without kids) Savin Hill is definitely the best of the bunch. The gathering spots of the neighborhood are strung along Dorchester (aka "Dot") Ave and Savin Hill Ave. You'll find everything from one of my favorite breakfast joints anywhere, to an Indian "bistro," to pricy trendy dining in "gay-friendly" surroundings - cheek by jowl with grungy Asian grocers, auto parts dealers, and Burger King. It's a community stuck in neutral, gentrifying on the one hand but decidedly downscale on the other. To my way of thinking that makes it all the more enriching for everybody. While this aptly describes one portion of Savin Hill - that being west of the Red Line and expressway - the other portion (universally known as "OTB," or Over the Bridge) is another story entirely. All commercial activity is left behind upon your crossing 93. The southern sector is heavy with "3-deckas" (not a few of them now condos.) A couple of townhouse clusters and a large complex of saltine-box apartment/condos hog the expressway views. Beyond these areas there is an inviting mix of houses arrayed around Savin Hill Park, a glacial drumlin with sweeping vistas of the harbor and no "improvements" like picnic tables - save for basketball and tennis courts at the bottom of the hill. "Sleepy" is a great one-word adjective for Savin Hill OTB, yet you're a hop skip and jump from the subway and the retail/dining options just beyond.

[pennyone]

That "sleepy" part of OTB Savin Hill is probably my favorite part of Boston next to the Jamaica Way area. It's really a nice place tucked away in the city of Boston.

[mezzodiva54]

"Polish Triangle"? I've lived here 25+ years (Jones Hill, before the yuppies), and that one's new to me (unless we're talking about the dinky area between Boston Street and Dot Ave as they converge at Andrew Square, which I guess is a triangle, now that I think of it, duh).

[goyguy]

You got it! Columbia Rd is the third boundary line, but undoubtedly you already knew that. Don't feel awkward about not being familiar with that label for the neighborhood. Sometimes who you are or who you know determines what name you attach to an area. What better illustration of that is there than what you run into in Dorchester? (I say Cedar Grove, you say St Brendan's Parish...)
mezzodiva, my non-solo caliber baritone self wonders about both the Polish Triangle and Jones Hill. Media-fueled perception of the former is that it's getting to be slightly more gritty, right down to the occasional homicide. And Jones Hill appears to be a perpetual "island" with its uncomfortable closeness to stubbornly rough areas like Uphams Corner. For those reasons I've held off on recommending the Triangle much lately and have caveats ready when mentioning Jones Hill.

[mezzodiva54]

Goyguy, All I know is what I observe around me (and I am known as the Witch of Upham Ave., I protect my little half block of turf with ferocity and have the Mayor's hot line on speed dial, and I know my neighbors do likewise). In all the years I've lived here, housing values rise, housing values fall, but from Columbia Rd./Stoughton Street up it's good, and from Columbia Rd./Dudley St., it's dicey (although, that being said, I shop at the little market and get my prescriptions filled at the CVS and have never experienced the slightest whisker of a problem). My take is that if one has congress with the element that is prone to violence, one lets oneself in for trouble, and if not, well, the two worlds exist cheek-by-jowl but seldom do the twain meet. It's too bad; there are some gorgeous old houses on that side of Columbia Rd., but I would not feel comfortable walking those streets after dark.

I had not heard that the Polish Triangle was a trouble spot; in fact, it's always seemed like a little piece of no man's land, although one does have the projects on the other side of Dot Ave. approaching Andrew Square, so I would imagine there could be some seepage. But on Jones Hill proper, we are gentrifying as fast as developers can buy the Victorians and 3-deckers up and paint everything in neutral tones. I feel quite safe here.