South End (Boston, Cambridge, Harvard: crime, houses, neighborhood)

[AnnieM96]

Hope this isn't too repetitive

My husband and I have lived in Cambridge for the last 7 years (Porter and Harvard). We are going to be looking at a place to buy in the South End. I am pretty unfamiliar with this area and was looking for some general thoughts about the neighborhood. The place is on Mass Ave just below Tremont St at Chester Park. I know it's pretty different from where we are now, but my main concern is crime and being able to walk safely around the neighborhood.

Thank you so much!

[Northman]

I lived in Back Bay in 2006 and used to walk to work at BMC right past the area you're looking at on Mass. Ave. Truth be told, I thought it was a pretty seedy area in comparison to Back Bay and Cambridge. The one thing that I remember most vividly was the garbage people used to pile on the sidewalks down there.......I guess that part of town didn't have any kind of ordinance against that - could have changed by now for all I know.

Not trying to be a snob, but my recollection is that the further south you go on Mass Ave. past the Symphony, the seedier it gets. Not to say all parts of the South End are like that, though....

[WannaGoHome]

the south end is the nicest between dartmouth and berkeley, columbus and washington. Since you are in Cambridge, I would just take a sunday afternoon stroll of the area so that you can see what i mean. the closer you get to the hospital, the shadier it gets. just my $.02

[hiddenboston]

That isn't the best part of the South End, but it's not all that bad, either. It can be a little rough as you get closer to Newmarket Square, however (heading south on Mass. Ave.), and that's not far from that area at all.

In general, the closer you get to downtown Boston in the South End, the nicer it tends to get, but is gets a lot more expensive, too.

[goyguy]

My main "negative" about that area is that it's choked with traffic 24-7. I live in Cambridge m'self, so Mass. Ave is the most direct way home from just about any point to the south. No matter that it may be 3 or 4 in the morning, the vehicles are still backed up. You stand little chance of being able to engage in Boston's "national pastime" of jaywalking around there. As far as sleeping is concerned, if the bedroom(s) are in back it's a non-issue. And in South End rowhouses, they always are unless a whole separate level is devoted to them.
There was talk going on for a spell about bringing back Chester Park itself by tunneling Mass. Ave underneath. Until about the 1950's, there was a big greenspace where that six-lane street is today. The arrangement of the houses on both sides of the street is the remnant of that. But the talk quieted down, and the cynic in me surmises that the idea was shelved due to cost. Even if the park did get restored, you have to figure that years of construction noise and worse-than-ever traffic snarls would be the price to pay in the meantime. And once the work was completed, long gone are the days when parents would be OK with their kids' "camping" there overnight.
The reality of crime in that vicinity is far better than the perception. Muggings and store holdups are mainly perpetrated around BMC and along Washington St - or on the Lower Roxbury side of Mass. Ave. Gang stupidity is centered around the Southwest Corridor Park or in and near the "developments" - Villa Victoria, the Cathedral projects, Tent City, Methunion Manor, et al. For the most part, the South End is fully gentrified and has thriving night life. There are just too many people on the streets for crimes of opportunity to be possible. What adds to the perception of danger is the large number of "homeless" folk who wander around with their junk-filled shopping carts and badger motorists for money. They'll soon recognize you and leave you alone. I've lived out this scenario in Central Square, so know this to be true.
New York Pizza at Tremont and Mass. Ave makes good grub, the Beehive on Tremont is the newest "place to be" for jazz while Wally's has always been cool, MBTA service is excellent when your destination's too far to walk to, it's a buyer's market. I say, "Go for it."