brockton ma neighborhoods (Boston, Cambridge, New Bedford: section 8, apartment complex, condos)

[Beachcomber4]

I've never understood the need to compare one place with another- usually the absolute worst place one can think of (that isn't even being considered) in an effort to negate or discredit what others, who know an area, are saying about it.

Can you just explain that to me? Not trying to be fresh, I've had this happen in conversation too and I don't get it.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

I've never understood the need to compare one place with another- usually the absolute worst place one can think of (that isn't even being considered) in an effort to negate or discredit what others, who know an area, are saying about it.

Can you just explain that to me? Not trying to be fresh, I've had this happen in conversation too and I don't get it.

They could of say if you have kids don't move to Brockton the school system is not good although there some desent parts such as South side, East Bridewater for etc but the surrounding towns are much better.

[massnative71]

Cross Brockton, Stoughton, Randolph and Holbrook from your list. Anywhere else around there should be OK (Easton probably the nicest). Avon does not have bad crime, I don't know what that is all about.

[Austin023]

Not just the crime is high in Brockton but the if you have kids and are intending on sending them to the public schools....look elsewhere. The schools are terrible; the high school is among on the of the largest on the east coast (at something like 4,000 students) and is poor performing. While they used to be worse, they are still decidedly lousy...at one time they were the worst rated in the state performance wise.

[MassNative2891]

Randolph, Stoughton and Holbrook are fine as long as you can afford Private School. The stigma associated with towns in MA with higher minority populations is absurd.

Randolph, Stoughton and Holbrook are all suburbs associated with Brockton and in Randolphs case; Middle Class Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. All three towns are growing and increasing their tax base. People on this site just love to stereotype.

If you have ever lived in Holbrook, Stoughton, and Randolph; you'd know none of them are ghetto.

OP if you're a "minority" these aforementioned towns are just fine. Downtown Stoughton is sketchy, but overall it's a family town. Stay away from the big apartment complexes (As in don't rent in them) but it's not the wasteland the previous posters would lead you to believe. To be honest, visit the towns. You'd learn way more than you could ever on CD.

[MassNative2891]

Originally Posted by Austin023

Not just the crime is high in Brockton but the if you have kids and are intending on sending them to the public schools....look elsewhere. The schools are terrible; the high school is among on the of the largest on the east coast (at something like 4,000 students) and is poor performing. While they used to be worse, they are still decidedly lousy...at one time they were the worst rated in the state performance wise.

Brockton High gets state’s top rating - News - The Enterprise, Brockton, MA - Brockton, MA

Brockton High wins top honors in national, state musical competitions - News - Wicked Local Brockton - Brockton, MA

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/ed...pagewanted=all

Five School Districts Reinvented | Scholastic.com

Brockton High is not that bad. I am definitely not advocating for someone to raise a family there. However let's not just make statements.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by MassNative2891

Randolph, Stoughton and Holbrook are fine as long as you can afford Private School. The stigma associated with towns in MA with higher minority populations is absurd.

Randolph, Stoughton and Holbrook are all suburbs associated with Brockton and in Randolphs case; Middle Class Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. All three towns are growing and increasing their tax base. People on this site just love to stereotype.

If you have ever lived in Holbrook, Stoughton, and Randolph; you'd know none of them are ghetto.

OP if you're a "minority" these aforementioned towns are just fine. Downtown Stoughton is sketchy, but overall it's a family town. Stay away from the big apartment complexes (As in don't rent in them) but it's not the wasteland the previous posters would lead you to believe. To be honest, visit the towns. You'd learn way more than you could ever on CD.

Randolph has had poor schools and a crime problem for years. Stoughton has seen crime continue to grow. Holbrook is smaller than the other two, and it has a very high tax rate with very little to show for it (the tax base is poor). It is not a town I would buy in.

I don't know who mentioned anything about minorities, I mean Holbrook is still very white I believe. Unfair stigma or not, there are better places to live near Brockton.

[ladyalicemore]

People who are looking for homes on Trulia (where I search) need to check the crime stats. I was shocked by those in Brockton and Stoughton. I love both those places, but a home purchase is a big investment and I am intending to grow old in the place where I retire.

I go by crime stats b/c I will be retiring and have been mugged several times even when a young thing in Manhattan. I don't want to be knifed or mugged again. Nothing to do with race. I happen to work in a delightful multicultural university at the moment and will miss the rainbow of different backgrounds when I leave. It's what I have missed when I have lived in the UK. Bad crime stats are my deal breaker.

My sister always tells me that Brockton High is doing so much better and winning awards. I am so glad to hear that, as is my brother who used to teach history there.

But 4000 students? That is a lot of kids. Why would someone put in for that, if their taxes could get them to a school with a smaller student body? I don't understand why a school system wouldn't build to avoid that kind of massive student body. I am a teacher myself. Shy kids must get lost or bullied. I don't believe it is a good environment for many children, though some will not be intimidated.

[massnative71]

^I think it was actually rated the best urban HS in America not too long ago.

[MassNative2891]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Randolph has had poor schools and a crime problem for years. Stoughton has seen crime continue to grow. Holbrook is smaller than the other two, and it has a very high tax rate with very little to show for it (the tax base is poor). It is not a town I would buy in.

I don't know who mentioned anything about minorities, I mean Holbrook is still very white I believe. Unfair stigma or not, there are better places to live near Brockton.

Randolph has a crime problem? In 2008 the town passed an override to increase the police presence due to paranoid elderly folks and an insurgent amount of "gang-related" activity. That gang activity was about 30 individuals who just were into that life and most have moved (Out of town).

The town is also a major hub for many heavily used throughfares (Route 28, 128,24,138) and Route 139 is close too. RPD constantly aprehends suspects from Brockton, Boston, Quincy, etc. due to this. So a lot more drug bust occur in town. Not to mention the cheaper housing prices relative to Norfolk County (Which have been increasing quite rapidly, btw) that allow for unsavory characters to purchase homes. Most residents in town don't snoop into their neighbors business unless it's obnoxious, and the RPD has no problem cleaning up.

The last time the town had a homicide it was similar to the one that recently happened in Waltham and that was 2012. A young adult was setup and shot. Not to mention the perps were a bunch Brockton folk. The victim was a Randolph native who was hanging with the wrong crowd.

There was a stretch between 2007-2009 that the town had a few high profile homicides (3 to be exact). Two of the murder victims were from Boston, one was a town native. One Boston victim was shot at a party near the Holbrook line, the other had recently won a high profile case for false imprisoment against the Boston Police Department and turned up dead a few months after release. The Randolph kid was shot on N.Main St. It was that homicide that set up the whole narrative. As for the police work after, one case was unsolved (BPD case) and the other two tried to flee but were caught (one on his way to Haiti, the other at his house in Mattapan).

It was a perfect narrative, minorities move in; the town is now "Ranbury". Wasn't true then, isn't true now.

If you don't live in the town, your assessment will be biased by the media. The entire South Shore has a Heroin problem, and Randolph is not even close to being the epicenter of it. Braintree, Weymouth, Quincy are ripe with druggies; however they're still perfect towns, right? Please.

The statistics do not tell the entire story, and even then Randolph has below average property crimes. Stoughton does have a number of druggies and I don't feel like explaining why Stoughton as well is still NOT an unsafe place to live (Downtown is reminiscent of the Gateway Cities though). Just drive through there.

Holbrook, unsafe? Really? The only time people knock Holbrook, it's due to its working class nature. Nothing wrong with that. Holbrook and Avon are planning on a Regional School District; the town is heavily elder and not that young so they can't fill all the seats, and the schools need repair.

Randolph and Stoughton are filled with socially mobile families which have a lot of children. Teacher to student ratios are terrible in both towns. However both towns are still large contributors to the local Parochial, Protestant, Charter and other non-town schools. Blue Hills Regional is heavily composed of Randolph and Holbrook students.

All towns in MA can't be Upper Middle Class.

They're not perfect; however they are still fairly close to Boston though and have cheaper housing (with said property taxes and lack of a great tax base). Real middle class towns (and Lower Middle Class) in MA always get demeaned on C-D. It is, what it is.

The way people are beginning to refer to Norwood, Rockland, Waltham and Malden are perfect examples. Welcome to the club guys. BTW sorry for the rant MassNative71.