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I'm a 45 years old gay single Latino. I came to Boston 10 years ago and lived on West Newton Street in the South End (between Tremont and Shawmut). The Boston Housing Authority owned that section of West Newton Street until 2019 and is now under a private non-profit owner. That pocket of concentrated poverty in the South End has always been problematic because it's next to Villa Victoria, another low-income community with a fantastic grassroots history but not so great in crime, even with their own private security company.
I always socialized in the general neighborhood out of that section, but I experienced firsthand how classist Boston could be. People can be cruel, and many gays misjudged me when they knew I lived there. The difference between West Newton Street and the rest of the neighboring streets was evident. From the deteriorated railings and front doors to the kind of people in that street compared to the rest of the neighborhood.
I used the opportunity to progress. I completed training in medical interpreting (English/Spanish) and freelanced for hospitals, government agencies, and public schools. Then, I got admitted to Boston University with a scholarship for graduate studies in social work and started classes online because of the pandemic.
West Newton Street always suffered from cyclical gang crime. Still, the last straw was a shooting in front of my building while I was talking a class by Zoom because the new resident of the apartment downstairs was a drug dealer and the private property owner refused to do anything. I had to disconnect from my class and go to the floor suddenly. How come the BHA sells a property to a private developer to end with the same crime as when it was before? Is it not supposed that the private sector does better than the government?
I was lucky to get an emergency Section 8 voucher in 2020 to move out and found housing in Malden Center with a decent landlord willing to work with me. Meanwhile, I continue my studies at Boston University and freelance as before. Malden is a middle-class city where 40% of the population older than 25 have a bachelor's or higher. I don't see the enormous differences in social class like in Boston. I feel now better represented by the demographics. Some characters around the train station during the day, but the area is safe and changing for the best.
I still don't have a car, but I'm happier now. It's quiet, no crime, no gunshots, no addicts prowling my building, my neighbors are great, and my apartment has more amenities than the city for cheaper rent. So, now I only commute to the city for school because I freelance remotely. There is a vibrant nightlife in the neighboring suburbs; I don't need the shrinking gay nightlife from the city. Gay bars are closing without replacement as gays gain general acceptance, a tendency not exclusive to Boston.
I don't see any point in being close to Boston anymore. I don't know if it's because I'm now middle-aged compared to when I came to Boston ten years ago. Don't get me wrong; I have memories from the city that I cherish. The South End was a blessing in terms of having everything so close by walking distance and surrounded by bus routes, and there are still two gay bars remaining in the neighborhood from four in 2012 when I came to Boston. But for what? For seeing the same faces every Saturday night? Boston is too familiar, and the city lost its allure for me.
I might even leave Massachusetts when I graduate. Section 8 is a lifesaver in such an expensive metropolitan area, but it’s financially limiting. I know social work is not a well-paid career. I want to move to a place where I can afford the rent or the mortgage with the money I earn from work without being careful not to go over the income limit.
I’m done with the classism and racism of the wealthy disguised as liberal care for the poor when that’s what keeps Boston as a rich-poor city without middle class. The poor at the bottom of society living from financial breadcrumbs while the millionaire limousine liberals remain in power. Boston is guilty of the gang violence the city suffers, and I’m done with that.
Last edited by diegomar2007; 06-29-2022 at 03:48 AM..
Ummm, you got to live in one of the most expensive parts of Boston mostly on taxpayer dime and you’re whining about Boston not caring about the poor? What do you want, a free One Dalton penthouse?
I feel you in some regards, I live in New Jersey which is almost as expensive... however, you can't just live in one of the most expensive parts of one of the top cities in the country and expect it to be easy. My partner and I make over 120k and still would not even begin to think of the idea to move to the Boston Area, mind you, even that part of Boston. I hear this about NYC, SF, Boston, DC, etc... I think people lack the critical thinking skills on the development of cities.
Many of my gay friends are very realistic about living in Boston and have families out in the exurbs/suburbs (ie, Quincy, Framingham, Newton, Malden). They only make 70-80k each, and know where they can afford.
Boston is one of the best cities in the country with competitive jobs, great diversity, great public transportation, innovation and great dining, all the amenities a large city should offer.. all while providing a very safe Metropolitan Area and high quality schools and hospitals. Demand is high and there are only so much supply. Judging by your other posts, the Northeast USA (Boston, NYC, NJ, DC, Philly...) may not be for you. Its a cut throat, fast paced, do or die, very individualistic place. If you don't meet the cut or can't make it work, they will chew you up and spit you out. There are a tremendous amount of intellectual property in the Boston Area specifically. They don't care. Cities like Boston, Seattle, SF, NYC, DC need to make the world turn.
Some community-based organization (I guess) renovated the brick rows in the Tremont-Shawmut block in the 1970s as low-moderate income housing. The MethUnion Manor brick mid-rise buildings on Columbus Ave are also low-moderate income housing. So is Villa Victoria. The Cathedral project is low income. There was gentrification in the 70s but the income disparity in the South End was nothing like it is today. Too bad there's not much in between the very expensive private housing and the very subsidized public/quasi public housing. Lower Roxbury (Northampton to Dudley St) has potential to be the kind of diverse and mixed income neighborhood the South End was during its long transition from slum to prestige intown neighborhood.
If your post was highlighting some problems and making constructive, realistic suggestions, I'd warm to it. But it's all just complaining, plus you are saying that crimes are only the fault of the city government and the landowners, not the fault of the people who are actually committing the crimes - I can't get on board with that worldview either. Yes, city policies and programs can have some effects on crime (good and bad), but (1) the city can't just control the behavior of the citizens with some easy dial they can turn - "just turn down the crime dial!", and (2) surely there has to be some fault and accountability placed with the people who actually commit the crimes?
It reminds me of when people in a bad neighborhood say that it's "racist" that there aren't any good shopping options in the neighborhood - when in fact that reflects a reluctance of business people to locate their business in a neighborhood where they and their employees are subject to shoplifting, robbery, looting, assault, and possibly murder - who wants to do that??? In reality a lot of the power and the control in the environment is in the hands of the neighborhood thugs, but some people hold them harmless and never say a wrong word about them. Have some balance, a more holistic and realistic perspective.
Last edited by OutdoorLover; 06-29-2022 at 08:43 AM..
I'm a 45 years old gay single Latino. I came to Boston 10 years ago and lived on West Newton Street in the South End (between Tremont and Shawmut). The Boston Housing Authority owned that section of West Newton Street until 2019 and is now under a private non-profit owner. That pocket of concentrated poverty in the South End has always been problematic because it's next to Villa Victoria, another low-income community with a fantastic grassroots history but not so great in crime, even with their own private security company.
I always socialized in the general neighborhood out of that section, but I experienced firsthand how classist Boston could be. People can be cruel, and many gays misjudged me when they knew I lived there. The difference between West Newton Street and the rest of the neighboring streets was evident. From the deteriorated railings and front doors to the kind of people in that street compared to the rest of the neighborhood.
I used the opportunity to progress. I completed training in medical interpreting (English/Spanish) and freelanced for hospitals, government agencies, and public schools. Then, I got admitted to Boston University with a scholarship for graduate studies in social work and started classes online because of the pandemic.
West Newton Street always suffered from cyclical gang crime. Still, the last straw was a shooting in front of my building while I was talking a class by Zoom because the new resident of the apartment downstairs was a drug dealer and the private property owner refused to do anything. I had to disconnect from my class and go to the floor suddenly. How come the BHA sells a property to a private developer to end with the same crime as when it was before? Is it not supposed that the private sector does better than the government?
I was lucky to get an emergency Section 8 voucher in 2020 to move out and found housing in Malden Center with a decent landlord willing to work with me. Meanwhile, I continue my studies at Boston University and freelance as before. Malden is a middle-class city where 40% of the population older than 25 have a bachelor's or higher. I don't see the enormous differences in social class like in Boston. I feel now better represented by the demographics. Some characters around the train station during the day, but the area is safe and changing for the best.
I still don't have a car, but I'm happier now. It's quiet, no crime, no gunshots, no addicts prowling my building, my neighbors are great, and my apartment has more amenities than the city for cheaper rent. So, now I only commute to the city for school because I freelance remotely. There is a vibrant nightlife in the neighboring suburbs; I don't need the shrinking gay nightlife from the city. Gay bars are closing without replacement as gays gain general acceptance, a tendency not exclusive to Boston.
I don't see any point in being close to Boston anymore. I don't know if it's because I'm now middle-aged compared to when I came to Boston ten years ago. Don't get me wrong; I have memories from the city that I cherish. The South End was a blessing in terms of having everything so close by walking distance and surrounded by bus routes, and there are still two gay bars remaining in the neighborhood from four in 2012 when I came to Boston. But for what? For seeing the same faces every Saturday night? Boston is too familiar, and the city lost its allure for me.
I might even leave Massachusetts when I graduate. Section 8 is a lifesaver in such an expensive metropolitan area, but it’s financially limiting. I know social work is not a well-paid career. I want to move to a place where I can afford the rent or the mortgage with the money I earn from work without being careful not to go over the income limit.
I’m done with the classism and racism of the wealthy disguised as liberal care for the poor when that’s what keeps Boston as a rich-poor city without middle class. The poor at the bottom of society living from financial breadcrumbs while the millionaire limousine liberals remain in power. Boston is guilty of the gang violence the city suffers, and I’m done with that.
I agree with many of your underlying sentiments. The city has lost a lot of its charm and character. It's a corporatized wasteland and home to a lot of pretentious faux-liberals who overvalue their significance to the world, and the many people who have been conned into thinking they need to depend on them.
Ummm, you got to live in one of the most expensive parts of Boston mostly on taxpayer dime and you’re whining about Boston not caring about the poor? What do you want, a free One Dalton penthouse?
I'm guessing the section 8 is based on medical disability (but I dont know), but either way it wasn't Boston that gave it to him it was Dick Nixon.
I feel you in some regards, I live in New Jersey which is almost as expensive... however, you can't just live in one of the most expensive parts of one of the top cities in the country and expect it to be easy. My partner and I make over 120k and still would not even begin to think of the idea to move to the Boston Area, mind you, even that part of Boston. I hear this about NYC, SF, Boston, DC, etc... I think people lack the critical thinking skills on the development of cities.
That's smart. Per a report released last week, the income needed to afford the median house in Greater Boston is now (an obscene) $181K.
I'm not sure how someone who is given section 8 and living in a place most people pay a LOT to live in should have much to complain about. If you dont like Boston go somewhere else. It sounds like you have a pretty deal in life in that you have section 8 and are studying at BU. Given that you're middle aged I guess you have some time to get a career but it will be harder for you to break into at your age.
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