South End/Roxbury Crossing (Boston, Orange: low income, real estate, high crime)

[MovingTruck]

Hello!

I was looking to see if anyone has any opinions/information on the area around Hammond/Lenox street in the South End/Roxbury Crossing area. I see the prices dropped and looking to find out if it is a good place.

[bostongymjunkie]

It's considered Lower Roxbury and elitists would poo-poo it because it's not cute and pretty enough for them. If you are looking for raw urban living, this is what you will find there. This means noise from nearby Mass Ave, addicts from nearby "methadone mile" and various criminal activity. It's also close to the Lenox Street Housing Projects which isn't itself "bad" but, like most low-income developments, brings its share of disorder. The upside is that it is still relatively diverse, proximate to Northeastern University, and close to the Orange line as well as the very walk-able South End/Mass Ave corridor. My opinion is that it greatly depends on a) what kind of situation you are looking for and b) the prospective building you are looking at, what kinds of tenants live there, and the reputation of the management company. If it's a secure building with decent tenants and you are getting a good deal it may be worthwhile. Some people would automatically nix Lower Roxbury as an option. I find that it's usually because they are seeking more suburban living within an urban environment.

[redplum33]

It's the ghetto.

[bostongymjunkie]

It's clear some people have never seen a real ghetto in their charmed sheltered lives.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by MovingTruck

Hello!

I was looking to see if anyone has any opinions/information on the area around Hammond/Lenox street in the South End/Roxbury Crossing area. I see the prices dropped and looking to find out if it is a good place.

No, it's not a good place. Very high crime area.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

It's clear some people have never seen a real ghetto in their charmed sheltered lives.

I live in Baltimore and go through the worst areas of that city. I would still classify my that Lennox area in Boston as a ghetto. Because of the culture/crime in the area, easily.

IMO your naive To say otherwise. It’s but a terrible unsightly ghetto but it’s a concentrated area of criminal activity, income inequality and acute social challenges and dysfunction characteristic of a low income urban area.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

IMO your naive To say otherwise.

I know Baltimore well. Comparing Baltimore to this section of Boston is naive in my view. Other than the yuppie enclave that is Inner Harbor, Baltimore is a hundred times worse. Just because a particular section of the city hasn't been gentrified to the extent that it has driven all the lower-middle income residents out, doesn't imply ghetto. In addition to the projects, that neighborhood is home to many moderate-income residents including many local college students. As I said, there is a mix of criminal activity, city noise, addiction and other disorder. It's by no means a ghetto. If you want to call the nearby Lennox Street development a ghetto, I would probably go along with that. The entire neighborhood? No. The private real estate alone could hardly be described as "slums" which would be characteristic of a true ghetto. I suppose it would be better if it were all gentrified so all the moderate income residents are displaced by yuppies and strollers and pet stores and CVS? That would be okay? As I alluded to in my first post, it's not a paradise--there are none in Boston--but it depends on the building and it's specific characteristics along with what the tenant wants and/or is willing to live with and can afford. If you need a shiny and yuppified neighborhood littered with chain stores and sameness, this isn't it.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

I know Baltimore well.

BBMM lives in Baltimore. You've watched The Wire.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by redplum33

BBMM lives in Baltimore. You've watched The Wire.

I realize your habit is to pass qualitative, subjective opinion off as hard fact. That says more about you, than others.

[id77]

Today, that area is lower-income and gritty, though the part of Lenox closer to Tremont is better than the part over by Harrison. That said, it's on the edge of serious gentrification and if you are ok with playing the long game that area has a decent shot at upward movement and urban renewal. It certainly has at least as much potential as the concrete wasteland between Melnea Cass and South Boston, and we're already seeing gentrification around South Bay.