Boston Neighborhood price differences (Brookline, Plymouth: condos, houses, neighborhoods)

[lologal321]

I am amazed by some of the prices that I see homes and condos going for around here. My friend put his 2 bedroom condo in the Neponset area of dorchester on the market for 615k last weekend and it's already had multiple offers and is pending. Another friend lives in the moss hill section of JP, has a house he did a lot of work to and put it on the market for 850k and it's pending, offer about to go through. I am FLOORED by these prices and what people can get.

One thing i noticed is that hyde park is still very affordable and I don't quite get what is so different about this part of Boston from dorchester or JP for that matter. I get that JP is nicer, but i see houses in HP selling for 400-450k range and i'm shocked by my friends 850k house price in JP. It's a 3 family 1400 sq ft very basic house!! it has nice updates but come ON. It's still Boston public schools.

HP seems nice to me...why is it so cheap? The part near Mattapan seems undesirable but Readville, Fairmount seem pretty nice. How is it still that so inexpensive compared to everywhere else in Boston?

[tysmith95]

Hyde Park is cheap because it's fairly far out. It's more suburban compared to Neponset or JP. By car Readville is further from Boston then places like Woburn or Stoneham to the north. Those would be better comparisons.

[lologal321]

JP does not seem that close to greater boston. There's no redline. Dorchester at least has the redline.

West Roxbury prices I also don't understand. What is desirable about west roxbury?

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by lologal321

JP does not seem that close to greater boston. There's no redline. Dorchester at least has the redline.

West Roxbury prices I also don't understand. What is desirable about west roxbury?

JP has the orange line. And I personally find JP to be a pretty neighborhood (when you get away from the heath street projects).

[bostonguy1960]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

JP has the orange line. And I personally find JP to be a pretty neighborhood (when you get away from the heath street projects).

West Roxbury is predominantly Caucasian and safe, so that is very desirable to some.

Plus don't teachers, police, firefighters, etc., still have a Boston residency rule -- or has that been relaxed long ago?

[robr2]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

Plus don't teachers, police, firefighters, etc., still have a Boston residency rule -- or has that been relaxed long ago?

There is a patchwork of regulations, union contracts, exemptions that have created a system where only 43% of current city employees are required to live in the city. But almost 66% of all city employees do.

Here is the source of my info.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by lologal321

JP does not seem that close to greater boston. There's no redline. Dorchester at least has the redline.

West Roxbury prices I also don't understand. What is desirable about west roxbury?

West Roxbury borders Chestnut Hill, Brookline, Roslindale, Dedham.
Hyde Park is and borders much less desirable locations.

You seem to not have a grasp of how Boston (or a lot of cities) function. As Bromley Heath was mentioned... It is a complete S4ithole, and the surrounding block seems like a third world country. walk 3 blocks up the street and you have million dollar and up homes. Same can be said for the south end, Dorchester and other parts

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by GeePee

West Roxbury borders Chestnut Hill, Brookline, Roslindale, Dedham.
Hyde Park is and borders much less desirable locations.

You seem to not have a grasp of how Boston (or a lot of cities) function...

...or of Boston geography: Jamaica Plain “not that close to Greater Boston” ? Geez, JP is in the inner ring of neighborhoods around Boston’s core. It may not have the red line but neither does Brookline. Does Brookline seem not that close to Greater Boston? Franklin MA is not that close, Plymouth not that close, etc. Hyde Park borders Milton, very desirable, and Dedham, desirable. It transitions into Mattapan on one side (not desirable) but then Jamaica Plain borders Roxbury. So who knows? I think the racial angle is part of it—Hyde Park being minority white now—but HP wasn’t highly valued relative to other areas back when it was all white. It’s a small, relatively invisible area. Until Menino mayors always came from prominent, influential and/or high-voting neighborhoods— Curley and Collins from Jamaica Plain, Tobin from Roxbury, White from West Roxbury, Fitzgerald, Hines and Walsh from Dorchester, Flynn from South Boston.

As GeePee points out, JP has the orange and a piece of the green lines. JP was a high-prestige area with estates on the hills around Jamaica Pond. Its later development as an urban neighborhood included some very elite sections like Sumner Hill, Moss Hill, Jamaicaway and many of the streets (like Eliot and Burroughs) on the ‘plain’ between Jamaicaway and Centre St. It slipped in the post WWII period but it’s back as a very desirable area. For a long time it was the only area within the city of Boston but outside Boston Proper that had social register families. West Roxbury is desirable but its more elite areas like Belleview Hill are not as desirable as the elite parts of Jamaica Plain. Part of JPs appeal is how it draws people from poor people in housing projects to working class neighborhoods to middle and upper class into a cohesive urban district. It has it all.

[G-fused]

Originally Posted by missionhill

...or of Boston geography: Jamaica Plain “not that close to Greater Boston” ? Geez, JP is in the inner ring of neighborhoods around Boston’s core. It may not have the red line but neither does Brookline. Does Brookline seem not that close to Greater Boston? Franklin MA is not that close, Plymouth not that close, etc. Hyde Park borders Milton, very desirable, and Dedham, desirable. It transitions into Mattapan on one side (not desirable) but then Jamaica Plain borders Roxbury. So who knows? I think the racial angle is part of it—Hyde Park being minority white now—but HP wasn’t highly valued relative to other areas back when it was all white. It’s a small, relatively invisible area. Until Menino mayors always came from prominent, influential and/or high-voting neighborhoods— Curley and Collins from Jamaica Plain, Tobin from Roxbury, White from West Roxbury, Fitzgerald, Hines and Walsh from Dorchester, Flynn from South Boston.

As GeePee points out, JP has the orange and a piece of the green lines. JP was a high-prestige area with estates on the hills around Jamaica Pond. Its later development as an urban neighborhood included some very elite sections like Sumner Hill, Moss Hill, Jamaicaway and many of the streets (like Eliot and Burroughs) on the ‘plain’ between Jamaicaway and Centre St. It slipped in the post WWII period but it’s back as a very desirable area. For a long time it was the only area within the city of Boston but outside Boston Proper that had social register families. West Roxbury is desirable but its more elite areas like Belleview Hill are not as desirable as the elite parts of Jamaica Plain. Part of JPs appeal is how it draws people from poor people in housing projects to working class neighborhoods to middle and upper class into a cohesive urban district. It has it all.

The knowledge and articulation of that knowledge from some of the people here continues to surprise me.

[bostonguy1960]

Originally Posted by missionhill

...or of Boston geography: Jamaica Plain “not that close to Greater Boston” ? Geez, JP is in the inner ring of neighborhoods around Boston’s core. It may not have the red line but neither does Brookline. Does Brookline seem not that close to Greater Boston? Franklin MA is not that close, Plymouth not that close, etc. Hyde Park borders Milton, very desirable, and Dedham, desirable. It transitions into Mattapan on one side (not desirable) but then Jamaica Plain borders Roxbury. So who knows? I think the racial angle is part of it—Hyde Park being minority white now—but HP wasn’t highly valued relative to other areas back when it was all white. It’s a small, relatively invisible area. Until Menino mayors always came from prominent, influential and/or high-voting neighborhoods— Curley and Collins from Jamaica Plain, Tobin from Roxbury, White from West Roxbury, Fitzgerald, Hines and Walsh from Dorchester, Flynn from South Boston.

As GeePee points out, JP has the orange and a piece of the green lines. JP was a high-prestige area with estates on the hills around Jamaica Pond. Its later development as an urban neighborhood included some very elite sections like Sumner Hill, Moss Hill, Jamaicaway and many of the streets (like Eliot and Burroughs) on the ‘plain’ between Jamaicaway and Centre St. It slipped in the post WWII period but it’s back as a very desirable area. For a long time it was the only area within the city of Boston but outside Boston Proper that had social register families. West Roxbury is desirable but its more elite areas like Belleview Hill are not as desirable as the elite parts of Jamaica Plain. Part of JPs appeal is how it draws people from poor people in housing projects to working class neighborhoods to middle and upper class into a cohesive urban district. It has it all.

Good analysis here.