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Old 08-23-2014, 11:49 AM
 
8 posts, read 12,409 times
Reputation: 12

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Hello!

My wife and one year old are in the market for a new house and are mostly looking in West Roxbury. I teach in Newton so our kids can go to school there. We have recently started to look at certain sections of Hyde Park and were wondering if they should be a part of our search. We are looking at single families around 1500 square feet or even smaller with some sort of livable outdoor space.

We know West Roxbury very well and are looking to see if we would get the same kind of feel in Readville or Fairmount. Our money would go much further in these neighborhoods but we were wondering why the prices are so much less. What would we be giving up compared to the more southern parts of West Roxbury (we can't afford to live too close to the downtown from what I can tell)?

Thanks so much!

Trevor
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Old 08-24-2014, 08:02 AM
 
546 posts, read 1,368,529 times
Reputation: 475
Trevor,

Welcome to Boston as you are a stranger here but once. Hope we are good to you. Sections of Hyde Park can be sketchy as far as safety is concerned, but up in the Fairmount Section, that has remained a haven to some degree. I grew up in Hyde Park and am in the Fairmount section quite often still. Still a safe area and holds its value as far as housed. West Roxbury has always been a safer and more desired section of Boston and has held its value. Readville is pretty cool as well.

Best of luck friend
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Old 08-31-2014, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Behind You!
1,949 posts, read 4,398,163 times
Reputation: 2761
West Roxbury is very nice. Readville is nice as well. I'd stay away from Fairmount, although it's nice Truman Hwy sucks and the projects are right up the hill, as well as Mattapan only being a couple minutes down the road. That WILL have in impact on home value even if the area is ok now. HP has been on the decline for years and it's not stopping. I lived there and went to school there and would never move back.
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Old 08-31-2014, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Cambridge, MA
4,882 posts, read 13,750,571 times
Reputation: 6947
I think the neighborhood adjoining the Fairmount commuter rail station to the south is great, a pleasant and well-kept mix of people and housing styles. But the retail district between there and Cleary Square is sputtering at best. An old theater may or may not have reopened - I've lost track, what with all the delays while new attempts at fundraising have been made. There was a very nice two-level Irish pub on the same block of Fairmount Ave, between the station and the theater, but it went out of business and now a replacement is trying to hang on. River St around there has as its anchors CVS and Family Dollar. So it's all pretty "meh" on that front. And even if your kids don't go there, a school has an impact on a community. In the case of Hyde Park, the local high school (no great shakes to begin with) was one of the hardest hit by the busing fiasco. Could that have really been 40 years ago? It stayed in the pits of educational quality after that and finally was closed down last year.

Plus, "certain" people rail (had to say it) against public transportation improvements for fear of new accessibility to "undesirables." The Readville train line - which passes through the Fairmount station - will soon be gaining new stops, all in the nastier sections of Mattapan and Dorchester. Marauding "gangsta" teens and adults are largely a figment of paranoid imaginations. (Look at how the JFK/UMass station was eventually expanded to include the Braintree branch of the Red Line, and the crime and decay that did NOT ensue in Quincy.) "Largely" is not the same as "entirely," though. My cynical take on this is also that the powers that be foresee wave after wave of gentrification and want to encourage it in that direction. What that will do in the very short term is cause displacement - and there, right down the line, with large swaths of lower-cost housing, lies Hyde Park. Fairmount Hill will in effect become more of an "island" than it is already, and a smaller one at that.

Aside from a shabby commercial area and a less than promising future as a residential community, in Hyde Park you'd also contend with having to drive some distance for any large-scale grocery and other shopping. West Roxbury has a much healthier retail and dining scene (albeit more "boring" than JP and even Roslindale), with Dedham just down Washington St. The various neighborhoods of "Westie" still show barely a hint of human diversity. As of now they house about as many Blacks as Mattapan houses Whites, maybe 5% of the population in each case. Its Jewish presence is larger than one might think, since there's no clustering to speak of, but as a rule you'll never forget you're in an Irish Catholic stronghold. So if you're part of neither of those "faith communities" there could be some subtle but real snubbing, not much of an issue for grown-ups but potentially scarring to children. ("Daddy, what's a parish? Brendan's mom just sent us home because we didn't know what ours was before we moved here.") In fairness to Hyde Park, few people go out of their way to send their teens to West Roxbury High. But all the parochial schools there and close by help with maintaining stability.

Am not sure why this thread didn't take off (or how I missed it a week ago), so I thank "s" for keeping it alive.
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Old 08-31-2014, 03:13 PM
 
23,082 posts, read 18,221,633 times
Reputation: 10641
Quote:
Originally Posted by goyguy View Post
(Look at how the JFK/UMass station was eventually expanded to include the Braintree branch of the Red Line, and the crime and decay that did NOT ensue in Quincy.)
Ever been to the Quincy Center T station? Like in the past 25 years? Ever been to Germantown? Really???

Quote:
Originally Posted by goyguy View Post
I think the neighborhood adjoining the Fairmount commuter rail station to the south is great, a pleasant and well-kept mix of people and housing styles. But the retail district between there and Cleary Square is sputtering at best. An old theater may or may not have reopened - I've lost track, what with all the delays while new attempts at fundraising have been made. There was a very nice two-level Irish pub on the same block of Fairmount Ave, between the station and the theater, but it went out of business and now a replacement is trying to hang on. River St around there has as its anchors CVS and Family Dollar. So it's all pretty "meh" on that front. And even if your kids don't go there, a school has an impact on a community. In the case of Hyde Park, the local high school (no great shakes to begin with) was one of the hardest hit by the busing fiasco. Could that have really been 40 years ago? It stayed in the pits of educational quality after that and finally was closed down last year.

Plus, "certain" people rail (had to say it) against public transportation improvements for fear of new accessibility to "undesirables." The Readville train line - which passes through the Fairmount station - will soon be gaining new stops, all in the nastier sections of Mattapan and Dorchester. Marauding "gangsta" teens and adults are largely a figment of paranoid imaginations. (Look at how the JFK/UMass station was eventually expanded to include the Braintree branch of the Red Line, and the crime and decay that did NOT ensue in Quincy.) "Largely" is not the same as "entirely," though. My cynical take on this is also that the powers that be foresee wave after wave of gentrification and want to encourage it in that direction. What that will do in the very short term is cause displacement - and there, right down the line, with large swaths of lower-cost housing, lies Hyde Park. Fairmount Hill will in effect become more of an "island" than it is already, and a smaller one at that.

Aside from a shabby commercial area and a less than promising future as a residential community, in Hyde Park you'd also contend with having to drive some distance for any large-scale grocery and other shopping. West Roxbury has a much healthier retail and dining scene (albeit more "boring" than JP and even Roslindale), with Dedham just down Washington St. The various neighborhoods of "Westie" still show barely a hint of human diversity. As of now they house about as many Blacks as Mattapan houses Whites, maybe 5% of the population in each case. Its Jewish presence is larger than one might think, since there's no clustering to speak of, but as a rule you'll never forget you're in an Irish Catholic stronghold. So if you're part of neither of those "faith communities" there could be some subtle but real snubbing, not much of an issue for grown-ups but potentially scarring to children. ("Daddy, what's a parish? Brendan's mom just sent us home because we didn't know what ours was before we moved here.") In fairness to Hyde Park, few people go out of their way to send their teens to West Roxbury High. But all the parochial schools there and close by help with maintaining stability.

Am not sure why this thread didn't take off (or how I missed it a week ago), so I thank "s" for keeping it alive.
You pretend to know that area, but you DON'T. Please don't mislead people on the forum.
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Old 06-07-2015, 12:36 PM
 
3,268 posts, read 3,299,543 times
Reputation: 2682
So I came across this thread after going to visit some friends in the fairmount hill area. This area is really nice! Much nicer than readville I thought. It's too bad that people seem to judge hyde park just by the area that is close to mattapan. Fairmount hill had lots of big old Victorians, very well manicured homes clearly people who care about their houses. As I was driving I ended up in milton amongst a few mansions. It really seems like this area is undervalued. Although I found a home on milton ave in hyde park for 650k so that's not exactly cheap. This area is not anywhere near where crime would occur. Made me wonDer why there is so much hype lately about dorchester neighborhoods? Some of The neighborhoods in dorchester are far worse than anything in hyde park. I guess it's because dot has the redline...however fairmount is zone 1a. Clearly sq really could use some sprucing up. It's almost maddening that there are so many vacant store fronts. One of them next to fairmount would be prime real esate for a starbucks ! People catching the train could stop there in the am and it would bring in people from milton/deham for sure. I don't get why there's so much vacancy. Does the city not care about hyde park?

I'm not sure why people think the train will bring in more riff raff? It seems like people from dedham and milton use fairmount if anything to get to work.

I'm not sure where the OP bought but I don't see the overwhelming appeal of west roxbury. The neighborhoods are nice and the price tags show that but what is there really to do there? It's not close to boston proper and there is no traIn. Why not just move to a suburb? Especially if you have kids and don't want to use bps. You'll pay a good amount for a house plus you'll get a tuition bill. at least hyde park is cheaper.

Last edited by Whatsnext75; 06-07-2015 at 12:50 PM.. Reason: added
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Old 06-07-2015, 12:47 PM
 
3,268 posts, read 3,299,543 times
Reputation: 2682
'Hyde Park you'd also contend with having to drive some distance for any large-scale grocery and other shopping. West Roxbury has a much healthier retail and dining scene (albeit more "boring" than JP and even Roslindale), with Dedham just down Washington St.'

There are 2 stop and shops in hyde park, one on Truman and one on Cummins highway. I believe w. Roxbury just has a Roche bothers. Hyde park especially readville is very close to dedham particularly legacy place.
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Old 06-08-2015, 08:31 AM
 
3,268 posts, read 3,299,543 times
Reputation: 2682
Also found this link on Fairmount Hill which is geared towards keeping their community nice:

Fairmount Hill Neighborhood Association | Making a neighborhood together...
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Old 06-10-2015, 01:06 AM
 
Location: Scituate, MA via Dorchester
19 posts, read 28,695 times
Reputation: 49
I wouldn't purchase there.

I will put it to you this way,

Westie is what Hyde Park's past looked like and Hyde Park is what Westie's future looks like. Essentially they are both in states of decline but Hyde Park is farther along.
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Old 06-10-2015, 07:27 AM
 
3,268 posts, read 3,299,543 times
Reputation: 2682
Interesting. Well based on west roxburys prices they don't seem to be on the decline. I'm suprised their prices are as high as they are. I would think they'd be more on par with roslindale. why is west roxbury getting worse yet roslindale is getting better?
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