Where do you live in Boston and how arevyou approached by homeless people? (Cambridge: 2014, apartments)

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Homeless people generally do best in areas where lots of people and businesses are. I don't see that park as being a logical choice at all.

Tompkins Square Park in the East Village is where you'll see lots of homeless people. And in the subway.



Walk through the Common during the night.

(Actually, don't...it's not safe.)

The common at night? Bruh. Relative to other cities... its childs play.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

The common at night? Bruh. Relative to other cities... its childs play.

Have you walked through the Common at night?

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Walk through the Common during the night. L

I do. Fairly regularly, actually. There are homeless people there (particularly around the Boylston and Park St. stations and the pathway leading from Park to the State House), but it doesn’t really compare to the concentration of homeless people I’ve seen in other cities, nor do I feel unsafe.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Walk through the Common during the night.

Originally Posted by lrfox

I do. Fairly regularly, actually. There are homeless people there (particularly around the Boylston and Park St. stations and the pathway leading from Park to the State House), but it doesn’t really compare to the concentration of homeless people I’ve seen in other cities, nor do I feel unsafe.

Please don't mislead. You're talking about the very edges, and I'm sure you're also talking about the very early evening before it ramps up. Unless you're homeless, a junkie, a drug dealer, or a criminal...there's no reason to be in the Common during the night. Never mind fairly regularly. Anyone who has ever actually been in the Common during the night knows that it's like Mass and Cass on steroids...and it's anything but safe.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Please don't mislead. You're talking about the very edges, and I'm sure you're also talking about the very early evening before it ramps up. Unless you're homeless, a junkie, a drug dealer, or a criminal...there's no reason to be in the Common during the night. Never mind fairly regularly. Anyone who has ever actually been in the Common during the night knows that it's like Mass and Cass on steroids...and it's anything but safe.

I'm telling you what my personal experience is and how I feel about my own safety, how is that misleading? The edges area where most of the homeless in the park congregate. My route is typically between the State House stairs and the Charles/Boylston intersection (well into the park) and I often do it fairly late in the evening (after shows, dinner/drinks, etc.). It's a pretty common (hah!) place to cut through between a number of central Boston neighborhoods - even at night - and many people use it exactly for that purpose. There are also two busy MBTA stations on the edges and the 24/7 parking garage pedestrian entrance (not on the edge) which is very popular for people going to Theatre District shows, restaurants, etc. So it's not some desolate, empty death trap at night.

Apart from the edges, the Bandstand is really the only other spot where homeless congregate in significant numbers (they're regularly relocated and not right next to passersby). I'd advise anyone in the area to use common sense when walking anywhere in the city at night and if you feel unsafe, avoid it. But I've been doing the walk at night several times per month for years and it's a non-issue.

[id77]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Please don't mislead. You're talking about the very edges, and I'm sure you're also talking about the very early evening before it ramps up. Unless you're homeless, a junkie, a drug dealer, or a criminal...there's no reason to be in the Common during the night. Never mind fairly regularly. Anyone who has ever actually been in the Common during the night knows that it's like Mass and Cass on steroids...and it's anything but safe.

The Common is the shortest path from points in DTX to points in Back Bay or Bay Village. It's also the shortest path for employees who work at MGH but live in the South End or Bay Village. It's not as bustling as during the day, but to assume the only reason to be there is to be homeless or do something illegal is just as misleading.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Have you walked through the Common at night?

yeah... alot. Again, relative to other cities? The common is Child's Play lol

You keep forgetting a lot of us moved outside of Massachusetts. We have experiences in other cities. When we see such a sheltered comment like this, it simply dumbfounds people. Sure there is homelessness there, but relative to literally any other comparable city? Nahh.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

yeah... alot.

Not sure why you would (maybe you were intoxicated and traveling with a group of 20???), as everybody who knows Boston would advise against that. But I'm telling you, it's dangerous.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Not sure why you would (maybe you were intoxicated and traveling with a group of 20???), as everybody who knows Boston would advise against that. But I'm telling you, it's dangerous.

Its perhaps dangerous on a Boston level... compared to the equivalents? Newark Penn Station at night? Belleville Park at night? Hoboken at night? Central Park at night? Rittenhouse Square at night? The waterfront of Philly at night? Millennium Park at night? etc...

Maybe I have just lived in a lot of different places, idk.. but trying to make the Common at night seem like Skid Row is odd.

[bostongymjunkie]

There have definitely been a lot of assaults in the Common in the wee hours of the morning. It ebbs and flows. During certain summers there can be groups of street people young and older who can be perpetrators, and and many of the more vulnerable homeless also become victims. You definitely take your chances walking through there after midnight depending on what's going on that particular time and how capable you are of handling yourself physically and/or running away. Not something I would recommend the average person walking alone.