is haverhill that bad? (Boston, Lowell: city hall, condo, houses)

[charolastra00]

The new schools all look pretty nice and even some of the old ones are gorgeous (Walnut Square, for instance). I'd be interested to know what happened to Haverhill High. My parents were devastated when they found out it lost accreditation. They both graduated in the mid to late 70s when (from what they say) it was a pretty good school.

[Valerie C]

I graduated in 80, and it was a good school then. The old schools (Walnut Square, Tilton, Greenleaf, Burnham) are beautiful schools. It was really great when there were many neighborhood schools (Smiley, Hannah Duston, etc) but I"m glad they're not tearing them all down. The place where Hannah Duston was (across from HHS) is now home to 2 huge houses, but one of the old brick schoolhouses in Bradford (on Salem Street) has been converted to condos. Haverhill has some GREAT old buildings and homes, wish the historical society would do tours on some of them in the Highlands Area...

[kanatastar]

Originally Posted by r6girl

i suppose i should take a look at the "bad" parts of town to get a sense of those too. does anyone know where these areas are so i can take a (quick) drive (in daylight) through to get a feel for them?

I would be careful about driving around the "numbered" streets at night. I lived on 7th avenue about 8 months, and then on Franklin St (off of 6th and 7th ave).

While living on 7th Ave we didn't really have that many problems. The only main concern that we had was the neighborhood looked trashy (mostly section 8 housing/low income) with junked cars lining the streets, trash littering the streets, broken glass etc...I don't know if you have children or not, but I wouldn't live around there if you do. There seems to be a minimum of at least 4 kids per household and the kids are WILD!!! They run the streets, are rude, disrespectful, and just plain don't care. There were many times that I would even have to cut through other streets/neighborhoods to get to my house because there were so many kids in the street that made it very impossible to drive down it (since they wouldn’t move, and would flick you off if you tried to either tell them to move, or beep at them). My car was hit by almost every kind of ball that kids play with in the street too.

Living on Franklin St was a little more eventful (to say the least). Here’s a list of all the happenings in the 2 years living there.

1. My car was broken into twice.


2. My car was vandalized once.


3. Someone was arrested in front of my apt for trafficing cocaine and possession of a fire arm…during the day.


4. There were at least 4 near riots in the street (people screaming, fights broke out among the 50+ people that gathered in the street) at night. They seemed to like to do this right outside of my apt.


5. Mexican/Salsa music was played all day and all night, all through out the year, so loud that it would shake my floor in the apt.

6. There was a drunk driving accident where the driver crashed into the fence across the street and then took off on foot (only to be caught moments later by the police that always circled Franklin St).

7. I had a friend come visit me, and with in 30 minutes of her being there, one of her tires slashed.

That’s just the things that I can come up with off the top of my head. I hope that none of this alters your feelings about moving to Haverhill. Overall (despite all that I witnessed) Haverhill is a very central location, and has a lot of historical and beautiful houses. You can almost get anywhere you need to within 30 minutes, and is a few miles from the tax free NH border. Any other ?s feel free to DM me.

Good luck!

[buddymass]

Sometimes smaller cities can be overlooked. There are some parts of haverhill that are pretty bad and you have to have some street smarts to survive. Mainly downtown haverhill is pretty busy traffic but not that many people walking around. Down town is very safe, becusae of al the police force concentrating on making haverhill into a safe town. But once you get up into the hispanic neighborhoods behind blockbuster and other places you can get caught in some scarey situations. Most of the crime that goes on in Haverhill are in those areas. There is nearly 15% Hispanic/Puerto Rican, but the good thing is they stick together and if you dont near them nothing will happen. Ive gotten a knife pulled on me in a side street of Haverhill and id like to say I fought the two guys off but i just ran 1 mile down the street into a local bar. its not the worst city but not the friendliest by any means. Especially with surronding cities like Lawrence that over half the population is Hispanic are really tough areas. Basically if you move to haverhill move to the outskirts or near downtown where everything is going on. Haverhill has a lot to offer in the city and is a great place to get a job but stay out of the areas that when you see that it looks scummy, just go antoehr way. dont be a hero and go down into the back roads. your just waiting to be robbed. PLUS HAVERHILL ROCKSSSS!! VERY DIVERSE!! AND A LOT OF PEOPLE! Never a dull moment!

[MA Mom]

Originally Posted by Valerie C

Both of my parents were raised in Haverhill as well, as was I from 4 yrs old. I went to several of the schools: Burnham, Fox, and St. James schools and the High School. My son also attended HHS, and it was just a couple years after he finished that the school lost accreditation because of some of the conditions. It appeared very run-down when I would go in for parent-teacher conferences, not sure what it looks like these days.

Haverhill has some older schools, but has also done a great job with building several new schools in the past 10 years or so (Golden Hill, Silver Hill, Pentucket Lake and one in Bradford, off Salem St. which I can't remember the name of.

Haverhill's been called "ghetto" on this board, but I have to say that to this day, I can go into pretty much any neighborhood and feel pretty safe. It's a city, it has city problems and urban elements, so you keep aware of your surroundings if you're in an area that is known to have issues. The city really does have alot to offer. Two train stations, a revitalized downtown (anyone know if Origamido is still open?) with some great restaurants, and some great neighborhoods.

Hi Valerie,

I live on Salem Street in Bradford, and the school is, simply enough, 'Bradford Elementary School'. My daughter is only 3, so we're not at that point yet though.

We shop in downtown Haverhill at the Market Basket, or we go to the Riverside Market Basket, and my advice to r6girl would be keep an eye out for your surroundings - common sense stuff, like you would in any city - and you'll be just fine. I come from a VERY small town in Maine, and have had no problems whatsoever in Haverhill/Bradford, we've been in our house for going on 5 years.

Welcome and good luck!

[jaj67]

Hi ValarieC,

I was reading your reply and was wondering what you thought of Arlington street overall? But more toward the Mill street end.

[Valerie C]

jaj67, Arlington Street has come a long way from the drug and crime-infested area that it was in the 70's and 80's. I grew up not far from that area, and I can remember not being allowed to walk on Arlington St, from Webster St. to Main St. Over the past decade or two, and/or converted to condos. Going from Webster toward Mill St. there are many beautiful old Victorian homes, some of which have been divided into condos, others are still magnificent single family homes. Personally I like the area--not suburban, not urban, but a nice in-between area...

[Phouchg]

I posted this on the other thread:


I grew up in Haverhill - and actually my first address was on Windsor St. just off Arlington St. near Mill St.

For much of the 70s and 80s Arlington St. was a very run-down neighborhood. Lots of drug activity and abject poverty. It got substantially nicer once you got past Highland Ave. (the area you mention). I believe it is much the same now. Upper Arlington St. has lots of the old Victorian era homes from the late 1800s which I image are quite pricey.

I would say that if you had to pick an area, Arlington St. from Highland Ave. to Mill St. is probably the better choice.

[luvthatmouse]

My husband grew up in Haverhill in Riverside across from the Building 19 Plaza. I moved there from NY city in 95 and fell in love with MA. I was there for 9 years. Now we are in Orlando and I miss it up there. I am ready to move back! Houses have gone way down (one of the big reasons we moved to FL.) We lived in the Viewpoint and it was great to be able to walk downtown. Lots of places were closing when we left in 04 so when we come back to visit I hope to see Haverhill doing well.

[Samcat50]

I will be moving in late summer to eastern MA and am looking at condos in a number of towns. Can anyone tell me about the Bradford section of Haverhill. What about the condos at Farwood, Riverbank St, Casablanca Court and South Pearson St. Any suggestions of where to look would be helpful. I am single, 57 and will be telecommuting from home.