Working on Geneva Ave (Boston, Wellesley: real estate, condo, crime)

[Calpurnia33]

Hi again--

Thanks to everyone being so amazingly helpful with regard to housing in Boston. I don't mean to take up too much time of others, but one other quick question if that's ok.

I've heard that Geneva Ave in Dorchester is not the greatest area; I am thinking of working for a non-profit there and wanted to see how bad it is. Do you think it's dangerous for a female to work in that location?

Thanks!

[lone traveler]

geneva ave area is in one of the most violent parts of boston, unless you are in a gang or drugs you should be alright but if you look at all shootings and crime maps that area within a mile radius of Geneva ave is a pretty bad area....btw dont listen to half these posters they have never had a boston address in there life, they just come to the city to work most likely 7 miles from Dorchester/roxbury


heres what to do....take a drive in the generel area and side streets and see for yourself what your getting into

[TomDot]

Originally Posted by Calpurnia33

Hi again--

Thanks to everyone being so amazingly helpful with regard to housing in Boston. I don't mean to take up too much time of others, but one other quick question if that's ok.

I've heard that Geneva Ave in Dorchester is not the greatest area; I am thinking of working for a non-profit there and wanted to see how bad it is. Do you think it's dangerous for a female to work in that location?

Thanks!

It is a fairly busy street so you will be fine. Besides, most of the action takes place on streets just off Geneva Ave.

[bgrasser]

I once was in business on Bowdoin St., which crosses Geneva Ave., and I wouldnt go near that general area on a bet.

[eevee]

Originally Posted by TomDot

It is a fairly busy street so you will be fine. Besides, most of the action takes place on streets just off Geneva Ave.

ditto this. and again, most of the violence in Boston is gang related, so don't hang out w/ any gangbangers or go to a stranger's house party, and you'll be fine. if you still feel uncomfortable, ask the people that work at the non-profit you'll be working at how they feel about the commute

BTW, I wouldn't take much stock in the ranting of a poster who once posted he was going to become Amish and parachute into the Alaskan wilderness to build his own utopian society

[Calpurnia33]

hmmm, this area doesn't sound amazing. If I worked there, I think I'd be gone by 7:00 PM. I wouldn't be joining any gangs (that's for sure!), but I'd be working with the local low-income population...

[goyguy]

No part of Geneva is "good," but the farther east the better. If commuting by MBTA, pass on using the loooooong ramp that descends from the outbound side of Fields Corner. Leave the station and walk down Charles St - quickly - instead. For safety's sake I recommend having at least one co-worker see you to the station when you leave in the afternoon or evening.
Dorchester continues to be an experiment in urban pioneering for many people, at least in its eastern sections. The results have been decidedly mixed. Fields Corner - at least along and west of "Dot Ave," and the Meetinghouse Hill neighborhood between there and Bowdoin St, are two places where the experiment has flopped. Starry-eyed (and/or profiteering) gentrifiers snapped up "fixer-upper" single-family houses, and condo-converted 3-deckahs, at a rapid clip well into the '80s. At the time the turmoil brought on by demographic shifts and cross-district school busing had quieted down. Some people saw economic opportunity and an ideal urban lifestyle in the community: reasonably-priced, if not dirt-cheap, real estate convenient to traffic arteries and mass transit; local shopping and entertainment with the potential for much more; and matchless views out to the ocean from the blocks bordering Ronan Park. What did in the experiment was crime and violence; never absent from the area, it only worsened with the early-90's crack epidemic and continues to be a plague on the neighborhood today. Two highly publicized murders outside the park, both of pioneer types who'd remained in residence, appear to have brought on the final chapter of that story.
In contrast to that sad scenario, the Melville-Park enclave which Geneva Ave brushes next to at its eastern end persists as a "good address." Although a few streets such as Tonawanda have lost much of their melting-pot ethnic composition and are looking raggedy in places, most of the area still looks great and feels (and is) safe to walk around in. In fact it'd be a nice way to rejuvenate after a tough day at the office, once warm weather returns, to amble down Waldeck St and around the streets whose names end in "Park" (Wellesley, Paisley...)
All of which is to say, you should be A-OK if you don't tarry outside too long or go far unescorted when on Geneva itself or in the vicinity of the T stop. And that's if your employment is at or near Fields Corner. If it's at or toward the Bowdoin St end, the presence of secure parking should be your dealmaker or dealbreaker. I proceed with caution when in the one area and steer completely clear of the other. While it's true what others have said about the places you go and the company you keep, bullets can't find their target by themselves. All these middle-school kids taking shots at one another for no fathomable reason at any time of day have of course never spent time on a firing range developing accuracy with their ill-gotten "pieces." Why be a statistic and a Herald headline?

[Calpurnia33]

What an informative and helpful reply, Goyguy! I really appreciate it. You seem to be an amazing expert on the area. :-)

I'm not too sure about the East-West setup of the street, but the non-profit would be located near Geneva and Olney.

I don't plan to have a car (I've heard you have to be nuts to try driving in Boston, and I don't want to spend my whole paycheck on parking). Is taking public transit there going to be ok? Thanks.

[TomDot]

Hmm.
That's near Columbia road and it's not real close to a good transit option.
Try to get work hours where you won't have to walk around in the dark.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by Calpurnia33

I'm not too sure about the East-West setup of the street, but the non-profit would be located near Geneva and Olney.

I don't plan to have a car (I've heard you have to be nuts to try driving in Boston, and I don't want to spend my whole paycheck on parking). Is taking public transit there going to be ok? Thanks.

Olney St is toward the west end of Geneva, definitely the sketchier end, between Bowdoin St (bad) and Columbia Rd (worse) But any agency which exists to assist ought to be situated where the help's needed. That section is about a half-mile from Fields Corner, not necessarily too far to walk. In fact, you might well end up making the morning trip on foot once the weather improves. Think about it - how often do you hear about street crime, anywhere, happening before 9 or 10 in the morning? It doesn't. All the evildoers are still asleep. The worst thing you'd encounter would be "acting-up" kids walking to school or to the subway to go to school or waiting for a school bus. That's what kids do, make noise and horse around. But it'd be a different story in the afternoon and evening. Luckily there's an MBTA bus route (#19) which can deliver you right to and from Fields Corner. Visit mbta.com to view/download its schedule.
Also, where driving and parking are concerned, you wouldn't have to worry about feeding a meter or paying a lot fee around there. But if there isn't SECURED off-street parking, leave the wheels at home.