Changing Boston (Cambridge, Brockton, Somerville: low income, real estate, crime rate)

[masssachoicetts]

In the past few years I have noticed Boston has been changing a lot.

Skyline wise, there have been numerous projects that have been in development in the past few years:
1. One Dalton Street
2. The Hub On Causeway
3. Bulfinch Crossing
4. Seaport Development and Housing
5. Back Bay Station Project
6. South Station Tower
7. Copley Place
8. South End Projects
9. Allston Yards
10. Wynn Development Everett
... just a few

The city has been interested in by nearly every tech giant including Amazon's HQ2.
And the population over the past few 6 years has jumped from 617,000 to 675,000.
THe racial makeup of the city has dipped a bit below 45% white for the first time ever.

So, is Boston changing fast to become a nicer, more modern and better overall city?
Do you think that racially Boston will change since there has been a surge in Dominican, Haitian, Asian and Puerto Ricans?

I would love to see Boston turn into a more diverse and larger city personally, do you think it is going in that direction?
Randolph and Brockton seem to be growing African American strongholds, do you see anyother cities or towns in the future to standout or become like this?

Any predictions for 2050?

I predict that by 2050, Boston is roughly 30% White, 25% Hispanic, 25% Asian, 15% Black with about 850,000 residents with roughly 6 million people in the metro area. With cities like Somerville, Chelsea, Revere, Everett and Cambridge seeing a significant growth.

[jpdivola]

Boston has done really well since the recession. I don't know if I would say its undergoing a "transformation" the way places like Seattle or DC are. But, it has seen consistent steady growth and robust new construction. Economically, the city continues to transition into a high tech innovation hub.
Gradually, the sterotypical New England WASP/working class catholic culture is being replaced by a less ethnically distinctive yuppie white population and a growing 1st/2nd gen Asian and Latino immigrant communities.

Its hard to say what the racial demographics will look like in 30+ years. But, I assume the Asian share will be larger and the multi-racial population will probably be the fastest growing demo group.

[BostonBornMassMade]

I think that BOSTON will be more like 35% white 29% Hispanic 17% Black 16% Asian 8% Multiracial. Asians have had very slow growth in Boston proper since 200. Black population has remained steady and in fact ticked up slightly since 2010. Hispanics born in Boston are less likely to move out of the city as Blacks are. African immigration is really picking up. All of the working class whites will effectively be gone this time. It large populations of yuppies will keep us from being less than a third white. 850k seems about right.

[tysmith95]

As far as the white population goes, the working class whites are moving out of the city (to places like Billerica, Weymouth, even NH) while wealthy empty nesters and yuppies are moving in.

[massnative71]

It seems that native blacks are leaving as well, and that gains in the black population are from Haiti, Africa, etc.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by massnative71

It seems that native blacks are leaving as well, and that gains in the black population are from Haiti, Africa, etc.

This is absolutely true. Native born blacks have begun to head back south. Can you blame them? The north in reality is very inhospitable to them. They want to keep you in ghettos up here to be political props. No thanks, they've had enough.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

This is absolutely true. Native born blacks have begun to head back south. Can you blame them? The north in reality is very inhospitable to them. They want to keep you in ghettos up here to be political props. No thanks, they've had enough.

Also, a town grows to 20%+ more in African American populations and the town is suddenly considered "Ghetto" . (ex. Randolph). Beautiful town, crime rate is slightly higher than the surroundings, yet, people in MA associate Randolph with being a no go zone.

Kind of garbage people think that instead of seeing Randolph as an emerging, diverse, city that holds a lot of potential and some of Greater Boston's most diverse neighborhoods. (South Central Randolph near Shaws/RHS/Chipotle is somewhere around 35% Black, 20% Asian, 30% White, 15% Hispanic, with rising minority populations).

i would love to see the Randolph-Brockton-Braintree-Stoughton-Canton area to become a stronghold for dominant Asian, African American and Black populations in the future. I know Canton went from about 1% black in 1990 to about 10% in 2010.

[tysmith95]

Native blacks are going south but they're being replaced by new immigrants, so the African American population of the region has stayed steady.

But basically what I see happening in Boston is that the inner city is getting more and more desirable. Soon much of the city will either be wealthy (and can afford the rents) or relatively poor and can qualify for low income or workforce housing. The blue collar folk and other members of the middle class are getting pushed out to the burbs.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Kind of garbage people think that instead of seeing Randolph as an emerging, diverse, city that holds a lot of potential and some of Greater Boston's most diverse neighborhoods. (South Central Randolph near Shaws/RHS/Chipotle is somewhere around 35% Black, 20% Asian, 30% White, 15% Hispanic, with rising minority populations).

Racism being what it is, white people are going to trash talk Randolph for exactly that reason. There’s another thread here getting a lot of play about Easton being the new Brockton— the same thing with a measure of class superiority thrown in. What would be good is for the community to do some work around real estate steering so that white buyers are encouraged to consider a town like Randolph rather than be told to look in all the still white towns around it. Otherwise I don’t know what’s to keep Randolph from going to virtually all non-white. But maybe things have changed— Hyde Park has been changing for years but is still on the white radar. Progress!

[millerm277]

Development is good, needs to be paired with more investments in the transit system so the people who are getting pushed out by gentrification aren't looking at lengthy/expensive commutes, and so that people can actually continue to get around the area. The highways aren't going to get much bigger.

Do you have a citation regarding the percentage of non-Hispanic Whites you mentioned? Changes in that % since ~2000 have been pretty modest to this point. I think the moderate-term trend is likely that Boston proper is going to get a bit whiter (and modestly more Asian), although the metro area as a whole may become more diverse.

At this point in time, gentrification is starting to push into the Hispanic-heavy areas of the city (most obviously, East Boston) and a lot of that population is likely to get pushed out of the city limits and into neighboring areas. Not leaving the metro area, but it'll affect statistics for Boston proper.