Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
South End, Downtown Crossing, the Common, and Chinatown are diverse in terms of foot traffic and the businesses there. In some areas of the South End along Harrison Ave and the park's/playgrounds it was idyllic.
Roxbury is more lively than I remember it especially Nubian Swuare. It's “nubian” everything down there Nubian Station, Nubian Gallery, Nubian Markets, Nubian Archery Club, Nubian Square Florist, “Visit Nubian Square”, Nubian Geographic, Nubian Square Farmers Market..etc etc
And lots off foot traffic vendors and music during the day. It's got everything for your everyday needs. Bars, grocery stores, cages, offices for BPS, TACC, ICIC, and other city departments. Technical colleges being built, there's two art galleries, corner stores, Chinese food, good will, social security office, post office, banks, firehouse, etc. there is also a lot of open air drug dealing and tweakers/addicts there: akin to the olden days. Even saw a 24/7 gym. Nubian Square is still predominately black but there are small populations of white and south asian people.
The diversity of the city seems to be growing and the integration levels are improving. There is also more tolerance and permissiveness for informal businesses /selling thing out of the trunk of your car or playing music loudly in square (boom box all day in front of the shuttered Ashmont Grill.
Noticeable- very noticeable- influx of Haitian and Central American people that I resume are form the migrant crisis. Especially in southern Dorchester and Mattapan. I saw many many Amerindian type Latinos in places I never had before.
I went in the beach and got in the water today. Notice a heavy police presence, cars, hores, and on foot. Very diverse beach scene with lots of teenagers. I witnessed some white kids ages 12/13 who attend BC high get chased and repromanded by a South Asian man and East Askan woman. There are laughing and talking about how he was coming and I saw him grab one of the kids. It appears they had been messing around with one of them had a hockey stick. The man told the kids “it's not fair what you are doing” It seems crime on the MBTA a still an issue.
Many more South Asians living in the city in general, especially in Roxbury.
-There are a lot of rats. Lots.
-I notice more graffiti and murals under Wu than I did under Walsh. I thought Menino was better on graffiti removal than either of them.
-The immediate Forest Hills area seems a bit gentrified but the station is the same as ever. The station renovation was a total waste.
-The new Trillium Beer Garden on the common awas absolutely jam packed with people and the crowd was somewhat diverse and the beer wasn't insanely priced but still expensive.
-I saw the Embrace, it was nice. People were engaged with it but it needs better signage.
-Roslindale lost it's RMV.
- Some MBTA facilities like JFK and the Forest Hills Busway are just absolutely ***caked*** in grime and filth and a true and real embarrassment. Yep the stairway out of JFK station is absolutely scary and deplorable. Wow and I believe it was renovated just 25 years ago.
-Downtown Crossing is seemingly 40% vacant and a shell of what it was 10 years ago. Truly sad to see.
-I see a tenfold increase in The # of people of all class origins and backgrounds using vespa scooters to move around the city like Europeans. I also see many bikes, electric scooters and all the blue bike stations are basically fully used. I rode one and it was okay, seat was a little painful.
DX declined terminally after Filene's mother ship closed while The Pit that had been Filene's was left to fester during second half of the Naughties and the Great Recession, which was before Menino's Erection (the Seaport) had been substantially completed. That was an era that was not kind to urban core full service department stores in many places, not just Boston.
Boston will always retain a degree of griminess. There's a Facebook group or two that show old pictures of Boston and the City looked even dirtier back in the seventies and eighties, definitely more working class and industrial than now. I am old enough to have witnessed a part of that time. No one complained then because rents were cheaper and neighborhoods had a sense of family and belonging. The neighborhood drunk or dope head was probably your high school classmate who fell on hard times or just had a nasty habit but you wouldn't rat on him would you? Those who wanted a more stable place to raise their families left for the suburbs. Nowadays Boston has become a city full of newcomers and "I don't know who you ares", rent and real estate have skyrocketed, income inequality has increased, and while some parts of the City have brightened and cleaned up, other parts (including DTX) have deteriorated. There's no escape to the suburbs anymore either because they're all too expensive.
I went into a college friends loft in the Leather District- very nice and large 4 bedroom loft with a lovely rooftop deck. She owns another property in the city and rents it but has multiple roommates here- I thought that was strange. But may be that’s the realities of Boston nowadays
Boston will always retain a degree of griminess. There's a Facebook group or two that show old pictures of Boston and the City looked even dirtier back in the seventies and eighties, definitely more working class and industrial than now.
Search for Dirty Old Boston and Old Dirty Boston. It's more than merely Facebook.
South End, Downtown Crossing, the Common, and Chinatown are diverse in terms of foot traffic and the businesses there. In some areas of the South End along Harrison Ave and the park's/playgrounds it was idyllic.
Roxbury is more lively than I remember it especially Nubian Swuare. It's “nubian” everything down there Nubian Station, Nubian Gallery, Nubian Markets, Nubian Archery Club, Nubian Square Florist, “Visit Nubian Square”, Nubian Geographic, Nubian Square Farmers Market..etc etc
And lots off foot traffic vendors and music during the day. It's got everything for your everyday needs. Bars, grocery stores, cages, offices for BPS, TACC, ICIC, and other city departments. Technical colleges being built, there's two art galleries, corner stores, Chinese food, good will, social security office, post office, banks, firehouse, etc. there is also a lot of open air drug dealing and tweakers/addicts there: akin to the olden days. Even saw a 24/7 gym. Nubian Square is still predominately black but there are small populations of white and south asian people.
The diversity of the city seems to be growing and the integration levels are improving. There is also more tolerance and permissiveness for informal businesses /selling thing out of the trunk of your car or playing music loudly in square (boom box all day in front of the shuttered Ashmont Grill.
Noticeable- very noticeable- influx of Haitian and Central American people that I resume are form the migrant crisis. Especially in southern Dorchester and Mattapan. I saw many many Amerindian type Latinos in places I never had before.
I went in the beach and got in the water today. Notice a heavy police presence, cars, hores, and on foot. Very diverse beach scene with lots of teenagers. I witnessed some white kids ages 12/13 who attend BC high get chased and repromanded by a South Asian man and East Askan woman. There are laughing and talking about how he was coming and I saw him grab one of the kids. It appears they had been messing around with one of them had a hockey stick. The man told the kids “it's not fair what you are doing” It seems crime on the MBTA a still an issue.
Many more South Asians living in the city in general, especially in Roxbury.
-There are a lot of rats. Lots.
-I notice more graffiti and murals under Wu than I did under Walsh. I thought Menino was better on graffiti removal than either of them.
-The immediate Forest Hills area seems a bit gentrified but the station is the same as ever. The station renovation was a total waste.
-The new Trillium Beer Garden on the common awas absolutely jam packed with people and the crowd was somewhat diverse and the beer wasn't insanely priced but still expensive.
-I saw the Embrace, it was nice. People were engaged with it but it needs better signage.
-Roslindale lost it's RMV.
- Some MBTA facilities like JFK and the Forest Hills Busway are just absolutely ***caked*** in grime and filth and a true and real embarrassment. Yep the stairway out of JFK station is absolutely scary and deplorable. Wow and I believe it was renovated just 25 years ago.
-Downtown Crossing is seemingly 40% vacant and a shell of what it was 10 years ago. Truly sad to see.
-I see a tenfold increase in The # of people of all class origins and backgrounds using vespa scooters to move around the city like Europeans. I also see many bikes, electric scooters and all the blue bike stations are basically fully used. I rode one and it was okay, seat was a little painful.
Interesting feedback.
So...were you overall impressed, disappointed...?
If finances are not an issue, would you like to live in any particular neighborhood nowadays vs ten, twenty, thirty years ago? Or only in a suburb for you?
Finally, did you walk and drive in daylight only or also at night? Did you feel generally safe in Downtown Crossing and the Common -- even in Nubian Square and the former Ashmont Grill area you mentioned?
Did panhandlers and homeless seem out of control or aggressive, or what you expected?
I'd be interested in your answers to any of these questions, or even more observations.
(I can't recall how long or which years you lived here.)
I was somewhat impressed with the vibrancy of the neighborhoods residentially, but I really was only on 'my side' of Boston, I didn't go west of Forest Hills or the Common and didn't go north of Downtown Crossing other than to go back to the airport. So I can't speak on half the city really.
I was impressed with how well used the city bikes were- my goodness! Every station is near empty.
Quote:
If finances are not an issue, would you like to live in any particular neighborhood nowadays vs ten, twenty, thirty years ago? Or only in a suburb for you?
I would probably move to the South End, along Harrison Ave or Tremont Ave- south of Mass Ave, Rowhome apartment.
Quote:
Finally, did you walk and drive in daylight only or also at night? Did you feel generally safe in Downtown Crossing and the Common -- even in Nubian Square and the former Ashmont Grill area you mentioned?
I walked and took the T the entire time. I only drove back from a Bar in Roxbury to my friend house in Dorchester where I stayed after we watched the NBA Finals. I didn't go deep into the Common but it was very active during the day. I felt safe. Downtown Common was also during the day and it was feeling like a shell of it former self- for the first time I had no desire to linger there. It didn't feel unsafe but you did get a weird sort of energy there. My friends said that the Macy's is the worst Macy's in the world nowadays and that it just bad and feels dirty.
Quote:
Did panhandlers and homeless seem out of control or aggressive, or what you expected?
Certainly more homeless and panhandlers, an ongoing trend in Boston. Virtually every bus or train had at least one. There were also quite a few crackheads and heroin addicts on one particular part of Nubian Sqaure- Warren Street.
Quote:
I'd be interested in your answers to any of these questions, or even more observations.
I lived in Boston from birth until late 2017.
I generally notice fewer construction starts, greater integration, and a clear emphasis on 'fun' via the programming and FB ads I got on my phone promoting things like open Temple Street block parties and the like.
I notice city of Boston has gotten very very uniform with its typeface, color palette, and helpful services. Its communication with residents seems to be improving and simplifying. It's the same familiar reassuring look, with big, bold legible letters everywhere you go. The typeface started under Walsh but has been expanded upon in an extreme fashion under Wu.
Quote:
(I can't recall how long or which years you lived here.)
This should sum it up.
The negatives :
-a very very noticeable lack of new construction. I feel like other than South Station Tower, the nearly done Michael Haynes Arms in Roxbury I saw no new construction. I don't think I notice any cranes.
-choking, suffocating auto traffic
-a slight increase in homelessness/vagrants (ongoing)
-Perhaps a slight increase in #of buildings standing vacant/burnt in Roxbury and Dorchester (ties back to construction issues I'm sure) and more graffiti.
-Some MBTA stations continue to decline/appears crime is probably an issue like I perceived it to be based on the news. Seeing the tale end of an assault or harassment within 20 seconds of switch platforms at Andrew Station wasn't a good sign.
Positives:
-Clear and effective communication from the city to residents
-Good foot traffic everywhere but DTX
-More bars and entertainment than in recent years(Trillium Beer Garden being one good example, but Buy the Block back 2 in Roxbury, and Open Streets ads)
-Still a well-maintained and clean city
-I think the overall expansion of bike lanes is good. As is the introduction of speed humps
-More people using mopeds, and bicycles. Far more- seems like a response to the bad MBTA
-I was able to rely on the T without any headaches
- UMass Boston looks fantastic as it slowly redoes its campus.
There is large building construction in other parts of the city, but I would expect that's because it was already in the pipeline.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
