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Southern New England has a bunch of them. I used to live in Andover so I'm very familiar with that one.
Brockton MA / Easton
Barrington RI / East Providence
Longmeadow MA / Springfield
Hartford CT / West Hartford
I'm in middle/upper middle class suburbia a mile and a half from the city line and first housing project. When each city & town runs their own public school systems and zoning pretty much kills high density housing in the suburbs, you get those abrupt transitions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lrfox
Some of those transitions aren't that abrupt though. A few examples above are talking a transition within a quarter of a mile, or even a block or two. I can't think of too many places in New England where the change happens that fast. Mattapan Square to Miltion may be the closest. You can see the impact of different zoning laws on the Fall River/Freetown Line pretty easily too - This is the first thing you see in Fall River, and this is Freetown, just a few feet away. The Fall River setup is not exactly "hood," but it's not high end/single family either.
If we're talking purely urban to suburban, Euston St. in Boston is one of my favorite. This is the best spot, right on the Boston/Brookline line looking towards Boston. Rotate 180 degrees, and it's a completely different world. Zoning is an interesting animal.
Barrington to East Providence (you even been there?) is not exactly drastic either, neither is Brockton (West Side) to (South) Easton. Brockton (N Main) crossing into Avon is actually a greater contrast.
Outside the Milton to Mattapan contrast, another New England example would be Boylston to Worcester. You drive down Rte. 70 through the leafy suburbia of Boylston, the second you cross the Worcester city line you are right at Great Brook Valley (the worst projects in the city), followed shortly after by Lincoln Village (a massive low income development).
Brookline to Boston's Mission Hill section also used to be a HUGE day and night difference, not so much anymore as Mission Hill has dramatically gentrified.
Outside the Milton to Mattapan contrast, another New England example would be Boylston to Worcester. You drive down Rte. 70 through the leafy suburbia of Boylston, the second you cross the Worcester city line you are right at Great Brook Valley (the worst projects in the city), followed shortly after by Lincoln Village (a massive low income development).
I didn't think of this one, but it's a good example. The whole environment changes right at the line (But isn't that actually Shrewsbury to Worcester, not Boylston there)?
Lawrence to Andover / north Andover is pretty abrupt but it depends on which way you travel. I think the most is if you get off the highway on exit 44 you can basically take a left or a right. If you take a right you're here
Naturally the pan handlers are always the left side of the road. However the mill buildings you see in pic 1 have been renovated and turned into lofts since then and the change is considerably less jarring as a result of that.
I think that from a visual perspective the milton / mattapan transition is the most abrupt even compared to the South End. You pretty much have five long blocks from Tremont to Melnea cass where the transition takes place. It's extremely common to see homeless / addicts on any of these blocks sleeping on stoops or milling about in general despite the high rents in the neighborhood.
There is also a decent amount of violent crime from the projects on Camden and Shawmut (at least during the time I lived in that area some years ago) which effects everything SE of Tremont.
this is a pretty good one. Although not as good as that Chester one most recently posted
Its not quite a 1 block area, but if you drive West out of Philadelphia along Lancaster Ave (Route 30), you go from some of the city's roughest sections to some of the nations wealthiest suburbs in probably a 3 mile stretch.
You literally see the change when you cross over the border from Philadelphia County into Montgomery County.
Yes, that stretch kind of smacks you in the head. Another local route of interest, and again, not a block-to-block transition, is Germantown Avenue. This runs from Chestnut Hill, one of the city's toniest 'hoods almost to Center City (our "downtown"). Start at https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0774...=en&authuser=0 and "drive" down the Avenue toward downtown. Fascinating transition from high income to upper/middle, to The Hood, then an upward blip in prosperity toward the end.
I didn't think of this one, but it's a good example. The whole environment changes right at the line (But isn't that actually Shrewsbury to Worcester, not Boylston there)?
You're right, you cross though a small sliver of Shrewsbury headed into Worcester.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars
Crossing the bridge over the Potomac River from Oxon Hill/Forest Heights into Alexandria.
Crossing the Anacostia is a more obvious example, but the stuff on the northwest side is more gentrified-urban than quiet-suburban.
Forest Heights and Oxon Hill don't really have hood/run down housing stock at all. For what we consider our local "PG hoods" it's actually pretty middle class.
Forest Heights and Oxon Hill don't really have hood/run down housing stock at all. For what we consider our local "PG hoods" it's actually pretty middle class.
but yes PG hoods are really wayyyy over blown in the DMV.
Oh yea that's Eastover. Not pretty at all, but if you ask someone from certain parts of SE they will say that that's not too bad.
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) is not exactly drastic either, neither is Brockton (West Side) to (South) Easton. Brockton (N Main) crossing into Avon is actually a greater contrast. 
