Is Boston Crime Infested? How Many Houses Have Jail Bars On Windows? (New Bedford: apartment, lease)

[tocoto]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

Sections of South Boston (Southie) are trailer-trash like, and unsafe too...Lots of white on white crime in Southie, and the attitude is commonly if you aren't white and of Irish decent you aren't welcomed/liked. But there's bee a lot of gentrification happening in Southie...so improvements are being made. A buddy of mine that moved to Southie from Ireland was dealt/experienced a lot of theft, vandalism, racism, when he moved to Southie from Ireland. He eventually moved out because it was such a dump. He wasn't well liked/accepted because he didn't posses the same ignoramous/racist mentally that many of the native southies have. So just be very congnizant of certain areas of Southie, which are equally as bad as other "bad" sections of Boston that have a reputation for being dangerous, e.g. Dorchester, Mattapan, etc...

Are you talking about the Southie of 1970?

The neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying certainly many of the beach front sections are practically shi shi.

Boston and its surrounding cities are extremely safe in general.

Almost all the high crime in Boston happens in Roxbury and Dorchester.
2008 homicides in Boston - Boston.com

[heyjude1959]

I am reminded of Jesse Jacksons quote for a few years back, something about hearing footsteps behind him and glad when he see s it is whites coming up behind him and not blacks.

Its too bad that we dont keep criminals locked up as the good people, black/white etc have to suffer because of our systems fear of controlling bad people

[afj617]

I grew up in east watertown (an armenian neighborhood) and lived on heath st. for 2 years.

From heath street to dudley sq and down Blue Hill Ave through grove hall is pretty bad. Theres a good chance (literally) your car will get broken into if you leave it near the right park where they can run away through the park.

there are gangs throughout the city who don't seem to target random people, but murders do happen pretty often. You hear gunshots all the time. I ended up shortcutting through the MH projects all the time, but I kind of look and dress like a crazy homeless armenian guy by nature and don't have much money to be stolen from me.

I ended up chilling with many of my neighbors two or three of whom were dealers, and I was a pillhead. never did business with them, just chilled and had good times, stayed out of each others ****. goes to show that humans are humans when it comes down to it. We ended up being real helpful with each other getting our lives together.


eastern MA has some of the highest alcoholism and drug use rates in the country, which I unfortunately know of firsthand.

alcohol use map:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k5state/gifs/Fig3-3.gif

coke:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k5State/gifs/Fig2-26.gif

weed:
http://home.mindspring.com/~macjohns...bowcolored.jpg

I guess the deal would be that there's more drunk coked out people and H users than most cities and less violence. Still, roxbury dorchester and lots of other cities outside boston are no joke, but not Compton (where my step uncle grew up and lost his brother to gang violence)

[europa7]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

Sections of South Boston (Southie) are trailer-trash like, and unsafe too...Lots of white on white crime in Southie, and the attitude is commonly if you aren't white and of Irish decent you aren't welcomed/liked. But there's bee a lot of gentrification happening in Southie...so improvements are being made. A buddy of mine that moved to Southie from Ireland was dealt/experienced a lot of theft, vandalism, racism, when he moved to Southie from Ireland. He eventually moved out because it was such a dump. He wasn't well liked/accepted because he didn't posses the same ignoramous/racist mentally that many of the native southies have. So just be very congnizant of certain areas of Southie, which are equally as bad as other "bad" sections of Boston that have a reputation for being dangerous, e.g. Dorchester, Mattapan, etc...

There are some Irish-Americans from Southie, Charlestown, West Roxbury, and the area of Dorchester east of "Dot Ave" (many of whom have moved, for example, from Charlestown to Stoneham, or Dorchester to Braintree or Weymouth) who have had family here in the states for several generations yet talk about the "(expletive deleted) Brits" as if they lived in West Belfast or the similar area in Derry City during "the troubles."

Many of these "Irish" have never been, nor really want to go, to Ireland. I am second-generation Irish-American, Boston born and raised, with family in Ireland whom I have visited on several occasions (likewise, they have crossed the pond to visit here several times). Most of the people I met in Galway, Mayo, and Sligo (not just my family members) would feel more comfortable, and probably more welcomed, at the cafes and bistros of Harvard and Davis Squares or Coolidge Corner than in some of the so-called "Irish" neighborhood bars in Southie or Roslindale.

[europa7]

Originally Posted by MIAMIMANEFOSHO

I just wanna find out from locals of Boston on how bad the cities crime problem really is. I would like to have some facts to back it all up because i might plan a trip there also. Please give input as well but back it up with stats because i here alot of northerners say something different than what i see in the statistics....I am from Miami if that factors in at all. Thanx.

As for what you call "jail bars" on windows, the only place I have seen them is from riding the "Dorchester Branch" of the Commuter Rail during the 1980s and 1990s (most Commuter Rail trains running from South Station out to Attleboro/Providence, Franklin, Stoughton, etc., now use the Southwest Corridor, running parallel with the Orange Line. The "Dorchester Branch" I described is still used for "local" trains from South Station to Readville, some of which continue on to Franklin).

As for the area, I have posted a link to a Google Map of the area.

42.29201,-71.07813 (Boston, Dorchester Branch Commuter Rail crossing Talbot Avenue) - Google Maps

Please scroll north, along the railroad tracks, from Talbot Avenue to Uphams Corner station, just north and west of Columbia Road. My recollection was, of the 100+ houses I saw on the side streets (notably, Greenwood and Alexander), perhaps 20% were vacant and boarded up; of the remaining 80%, it's hard to quantify, but I would say roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of the houses had "bars" on the windows.

No offense to anybody who lives, or has lived, in that area, but that area of Dorchester, bordering on Blue Hill Ave, Talbot Ave, Columbia Rd, and roughly 3-4 blocks west of Dorchester Ave (aka "Dot Ave"), is arguably the worst neighborhood in Boston for crime, poverty, and other "social ills." This area is what gives Dorchester a "bad reputation."

FWIW, I have never seen bars on windows in other "sketchy" areas of Boston, i.e., Mattapan
and Roxbury, nor on my few journeys through the seedier areas of Suburban Boston (parts of
Brockton, Chelsea, and Lowell; the downtown/South Side of Framingham; even the "ghetto"
sections of Cambridge lying literally between Harvard and MIT)

As for the rest of Dorchester, along and to the east of "Dot Ave" are relatively racially integrated (by Boston standards, which, sadly, isn't saying much), although the Neponset/Ashmont area is still largely a bastion of "old school" Irish-Americans. Both of the aforementioned areas are well kept and the neighborhood south of Gallivan Boulevard and east of Dot Ave (Neponset/Cedar Grove) is solidly middle to upper-middle class.

[nocturnal rooster]

Originally Posted by afj617

I grew up in east watertown (an armenian neighborhood) and lived on heath st. for 2 years.

From heath street to dudley sq and down Blue Hill Ave through grove hall is pretty bad. Theres a good chance (literally) your car will get broken into if you leave it near the right park where they can run away through the park.

there are gangs throughout the city who don't seem to target random people, but murders do happen pretty often. You hear gunshots all the time. I ended up shortcutting through the MH projects all the time, but I kind of look and dress like a crazy homeless armenian guy by nature and don't have much money to be stolen from me.

I ended up chilling with many of my neighbors two or three of whom were dealers, and I was a pillhead. never did business with them, just chilled and had good times, stayed out of each others ****. goes to show that humans are humans when it comes down to it. We ended up being real helpful with each other getting our lives together.


eastern MA has some of the highest alcoholism and drug use rates in the country, which I unfortunately know of firsthand.

alcohol use map:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k5state/gifs/Fig3-3.gif

coke:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k5State/gifs/Fig2-26.gif

weed:
http://home.mindspring.com/~macjohns...bowcolored.jpg

I guess the deal would be that there's more drunk coked out people and H users than most cities and less violence. Still, roxbury dorchester and lots of other cities outside boston are no joke, but not Compton (where my step uncle grew up and lost his brother to gang violence)

That alchohol and coke map doesn't have a label. How do I know it's not the percentage of people that have joined the mile high club?

[TomDot]

Pretty informative Europa but I do not think the poster intended (Original Post 5/2007) to visit the Franklin hill area.

[pekinduck]

Originally Posted by Celticz617

I laugh when people ask about crime espacially tourists.

As long as you arent a gang member, arent into drugs, and are just street smart lock doors, dont leave stuff in your car

Celticz617 has it spot on. If you go looking for trouble you'll find it, but Boston is a pretty safe city. Sure, be a little more careful in Dorchester, Roxbury and Southie but they arent as bad as there made out to be. (A lot of people seem to base their opinion of Boston on their recollection from the 80's and 90's, when it was a bit more dangerous)

[jreibel]

What are your thoughts on Andrews Square? I am considering buying a condo in the area.

[Jstine103]

I've lived in Boston all my life, grew up in Jamaica Plain. lived in Fenway, downtown on Tremont, N.end, Beacon Hill, Southie, Brighton. Went to school at Suffolk and NorthEastern, where I lived in mission hill. Then i moved out to Dedham, Hopkinton, Lexington, Sharon, Newton.
I've been ALL around this city. I've visited probably every inch of it.. I've stumbled around drunk with college friends ridiculously late at night around downtown, the north end and fenway. I had to walk home through the projects in Southie (short cut) Nothing has ever happened to me, i've never even seen anything other than a drug deal or 2. Boston is by far one of best compared to other cities i've been..and I've been all over the country. There are no bars on windows, even in the worst neighborhoods (where i've also been) I've only seen that thick tempered glass in some shops. but bars? no.
You wouldnt want to go to Mattapan or Roxbury or the JP projects. Would you want to visit any project housing though? And dorchestor has a reputation for being rough, is definately has a bad area. but The lower mills area has had a huge turn around.

Boston IS a city. It does have crime, like any other city. but in comparison it's definately safer.. without a doubt. Additionally, if your going to be visiting Boston, i highly dount you will be taking a tour through the rougher areas. There is absolutely nothing to worry about in tourists areas. nothing