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No offense but you went to Boston in the early 1980s..as a black man...and you were really in Cambridge at Harvard...
I appreciate your like for the city but it’s been a while since you’ve spent significant time there no? Especially in the neighborhoods...
I lived in Allston for three years as well, and in Watertown Square for one. One of those three years, I was a columnist for the now-defunct Allston-Brighton Citizen-Item, and I also worked on Mel King's 1981 mayoral campaign as well as the successful campaign to change the Boston City Council from an all-at-large body to one elected mostly on a district basis. (That was an easy sell in Allston-Brighton, for with a nine-district Council, geography assured those two neighborhoods their own Council district.) Touring the city in support of that measure, I spoke before groups in just about every city neighborhood save Southie (already explained why) and the far southern ones, West Roxbury, Roslindale and Hyde Park.
I also was on the original staff of Bay Windows and dated a guy who lived in a Fort Hill house that contained a collective of gay (white, some of them, like the guy I dated, Jewish) men. I might even have been living there still today had my ex not met me at a Black and White Men Together banquet in Copley Square in 1982 and then dragged me kicking and screaming to Philadelphia in 1983. (This place grew on me, as you should be able to tell.)
But the last time I was back was for my 35th class reunion five years ago (this year's fell victim to SARS-CoV-2). I usually stay with a classmate who lives in the South End when I do come back for a reunion. I also usually stop by a former Allston roomie's Brighton home. (And on my last two visits, I also swung through Davis Square in Somerville; another classmate lives near there, just inside Medford. The arrival of the subway caused that commercial district to take off like a rocket. I also did some outlet shopping at Assembly Square on the other end of that city.)
But no, I have yet to see Dudley Square without an elevated railway through it, or what Southie looks like now (I understand it's undergone a dramatic transformation), to name two changes I'm aware of.
Last edited by MarketStEl; 07-11-2020 at 11:58 PM..
I lived in Allston for three years as well, and in Watertown Square for one. One of those three years, I was a columnist for the now-defunct Allston-Brighton Citizen-Item, and I also worked on Mel King's 1981 mayoral campaign as well as the successful campaign to change the Boston City Council from an all-at-large body to one elected mostly on a district basis. (That was an easy sell in Allston-Brighton, for with a nine-district Council, geography assured those two neighborhoods their own Council district.) Touring the city in support of that measure, I spoke before groups in just about every city neighborhood save Southie (already explained why) and the far southern ones, West Roxbury, Roslindale and Hyde Park.
I also was on the original staff of Bay Windows and dated a guy who lived in a Fort Hill house that contained a collective of gay (white, some of them, like the guy I dated, Jewish) men. I might even have been living there still today had my ex not met me at a Black and White Men Together banquet in Copley Square in 1982 and then dragged me kicking and screaming to Philadelphia in 1983. (This place grew on me, as you should be able to tell.)
But the last time I was back was for my 35th class reunion five years ago (this year's fell victim to SARS-CoV-2). I usually stay with a classmate who lives in the South End when I do come back for a reunion. I also usually stop by a former Allston roomie's Brighton home. (And on my last two visits, I also swung through Davis Square in Somerville; another classmate lives near there, just inside Medford. The arrival of the subway caused that commercial district to take off like a rocket. I also did some outlet shopping at Assembly Square on the other end of that city.)
But no, I have yet to see Dudley Square without an elevated railway through it, or what Southie looks like now (I understand it's undergone a dramatic transformation), to name two changes I'm aware of.
Since you left:
Dudley has become prohibitively expensive. It’s heavily black but almost no vacant buildings, it has a black cultural market, black owned bank, BPS headquarters, and sometimes white people walk around. Heavily international with many Puerto Rican’s and Cape Verdeans. Since 2011 I fill development has taken off. Some young professionals/writers/artists live in the new buildings. Crime is still a serious concern but nothing like it was. Almost all the liquor stores and clubs are long gone. Orchard Park was torn down and 90% redeveleoped as townhomes called Orchard Gardens.
Hyde Park is 75% black and Latino now. West Roxbury is 40-% people of color
East Boston is about 6065% Latino with the bulk of the non Latino residents being elderly Italians and yuppies like my college class mate who moved to East Boston from West Hartford CR in 2016 after we graduated college.
Southie has a median home price of like 900k and two of the large housing projects were torn down and redeveloped. The housing projects in Southie are mostly Dominican. The white people who live in Southie are mostly young professional type people-this intensified after ~2005. The “townies” are a woeful minority And very old.
Jamaica Plain gentrified and afternoon peaking in diversity during the 1990s is majority white again like the South End.
Roslindale is a less hipster extension of Jamaica Plain and is now more diverse than Jamaica plain. It’s majority minority mostly due to spill over from Hyde Park.
Mattapan is probably the same just far more Haitian today.
Dorchester is about 35% foreign born. I assume most resident of Dorchester are f1st or second generation. In 1990 Dorchester was 50% white in 2000 it was 36% black and 32% white. Today it’s 44% black 19% Latino 10% Asian and 28% white 9% other. Most of the white people in Dorchester are still Irish Catholic and live in Southeast Dorchester but about 40% are young professionals priced out of South Boston, and gay men.
Mission Hil is now firmly considered its own neighborhood. is stil very diverse but much safer and much much more ‘worldly’ Mission Main housing projects were torn down and redeveloped townhome style. Whittier Street project are being torn down and redeveloped presently.
Don't forget the new shiny areas in Boston, like Seaport, Charlestown and South End are primarily white. A few years ago a stat along the lines of 82% of buyers and new renters in Seaport were white. Boston is 42% Non Hispanic White. Greater Boston is 67% White. This is not a good Statistic. Boston fails in attracting POC to the new hip areas. Cambridge Crossing is the next new area to come to Boston.. and I can almost guarantee that it will almost all be White graduates.
These posh new areas are verrrrryyyy heavily white dominant. Granted I hate Seaport, but a lot like it, there is such a lack of culture there. Its a shame.
I'm scared for Roxbury, as Boston was ranked third most gentrified city.. Roxbury is the most prone to the dirty G.
I really like the Seaport area in Boston. I have to travel up there from North Jersey for business once every 2 months and always stay in that area. I could totally see and feel what it must've been like in it's grittier days and they did a nice job of incorporating some of that feel into all that ultra swanky high rises and bars/restos along the piers there. Got a little South St Seaport vibe going on. I enjoy it.
Don't forget the new shiny areas in Boston, like Seaport, Charlestown and South End are primarily white. A few years ago a stat along the lines of 82% of buyers and new renters in Seaport were white. Boston is 42% Non Hispanic White. Greater Boston is 67% White. This is not a good Statistic. Boston fails in attracting POC to the new hip areas. Cambridge Crossing is the next new area to come to Boston.. and I can almost guarantee that it will almost all be White graduates.
These posh new areas are verrrrryyyy heavily white dominant. Granted I hate Seaport, but a lot like it, there is such a lack of culture there. Its a shame.
I'm scared for Roxbury, as Boston was ranked third most gentrified city.. Roxbury is the most prone to the dirty G.
South end isnt shiny and new and only like 55% white.
But many of the regular neighborhoods that are decent bright and very livable are very diverse (JP Roxie Eastoe Roxbury, Dorchester, Allston.
The shiny new areas are heavily white yes. But mostly because of the tech and finance ondustries being dominant and the exorbitant COL.
The next new area after Cambridge Crossing is Suffolk Downs which will undoubtedly be more diverse.
South end isnt shiny and new and only like 55% white.
But many of the regular neighborhoods that are decent bright and very livable are very diverse (JP Roxie Eastoe Roxbury, Dorchester, Allston.
The shiny new areas are heavily white yes. But mostly because of the tech and finance ondustries being dominant and the exorbitant COL.
The next new area after Cambridge Crossing is Suffolk Downs which will undoubtedly be more diverse.
Most of the South End has been heavily gentrified and Harrison Ave is completely filled with brand new apartments. I have seen maybe 3 black people on the stretch from InkBlock to the Beehive and I've been there a lot. Yeah, most of the south end has been gentrified and been redone. The South End looks nothing like it did 15 years ago. And that's exactly my issue. The new areas and complexes of Boston, unlike most cities, are overwhelmingly and heavily disproportionately white.
I'm skeptical about Suffolk Downs. Sure it will come online roughly 8 years from now, but they also said 20 years ago the Seaport would foster a diverse neighborhood being next to Downtown. Yeah Suffolk Downs is in Eastie and Revere, but the type of people who will pay for $2,500-5,600 rents are usually in one demographic.
Most of the South End has been heavily gentrified and Harrison Ave is completely filled with brand new apartments. I have seen maybe 3 black people on the stretch from InkBlock to the Beehive and I've been there a lot. Yeah, most of the south end has been gentrified and been redone. The South End looks nothing like it did 15 years ago. And that's exactly my issue. The new areas and complexes of Boston, unlike most cities, are overwhelmingly and heavily disproportionately white.
I'm skeptical about Suffolk Downs. Sure it will come online roughly 8 years from now, but they also said 20 years ago the Seaport would foster a diverse neighborhood being next to Downtown. Yeah Suffolk Downs is in Eastie and Revere, but the type of people who will pay for $2,500-5,600 rents are usually in one demographic.
Boston can do better.
You don’t see black people in the south end?? To me it’s the exact same as it was 15 years ago. It was gentrified even then. I’d say for the past 20 years... it’s totally different from maybe 1990. But the gentrification train arrived in the south end in the 70s...
You don’t see black people in the south end?? To me it’s the exact same as it was 15 years ago. It was gentrified even then. I’d say for the past 20 years... it’s totally different from maybe 1990. But the gentrification train arrived in the south end in the 70s...
I don't see many black people in the South End. the InkBlock area really does not have that many Black People. I'm sure the older parts of the South End may, but the newer areas are 80-90% White. It's mostly white newly grads in the 25-34 age cohort who graduated from Regis, Northeastern, BU, BC or Suffolk..
South End had 2,300 million in redevelopment in the 2010s, more than quadruple the 2000s. I'm sure the redevelopment arrived early, but as recent as 2005 the South End had a rough name. And the redevelopment really took off in the 2010s. Still would like a a more vibrant, diverse and inclusive community
Don't forget the new shiny areas in Boston, like Seaport, Charlestown and South End are primarily white. A few years ago a stat along the lines of 82% of buyers and new renters in Seaport were white. Boston is 42% Non Hispanic White. Greater Boston is 67% White. This is not a good Statistic. Boston fails in attracting POC to the new hip areas. Cambridge Crossing is the next new area to come to Boston.. and I can almost guarantee that it will almost all be White graduates.
These posh new areas are verrrrryyyy heavily white dominant. Granted I hate Seaport, but a lot like it, there is such a lack of culture there. Its a shame.
I'm scared for Roxbury, as Boston was ranked third most gentrified city.. Roxbury is the most prone to the dirty G.
The stats for Philadelphia aren't all that different:
City of Philadelphia: 44.8% White (34.3% non-Hispanic), 43.5% Black/African American, 15.2% Hispanic/Latino, 7.8% Asian, 0.9% Native American, 0.2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (2019 Census estimates)
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE MSA: 61% non-Hispanic White, 20% Black/African American, 10% Hispanic, 6% Asian, rest less than !% each (2018 Census estimates)
I don't know what the demographic breakdown is for the Millennials who moved into the city in droves in the 2000s (Philadelphia's Millennial population surged by about 40% in that decade, the largest percentage increase of any of the country's largest cities), but I strongly suspect the overwhelming majority were white.
As of now, gentrification has hit two predominantly Black neighborhoods: Francisville in North Central Philadelphia, where local community leaders welcomed it, and Point Breeze in South Philadelphia, where many fought it. Philadelphia's answer to Dudley Square is the intersection of Broad Street with Erie and Germantown avenues, an intersection roughly resembling Times Square in physical layout, and while gentrification appears a ways off, there is some development, most notably the conversion of an abandoned 13-story office building into a hotel (rumored to be a Marriott run by an iconoclastic hotel operator; I don't know whether the COVID outbreak has put these plans on hold), and one now sees white tourists popping up occasionally at Max's Steaks here, which had a cameo in "Creed," Sylvester Stallone's reboot of the "Rocky" franchise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by masssachoicetts
I don't see many black people in the South End. the InkBlock area really does not have that many Black People. I'm sure the older parts of the South End may, but the newer areas are 80-90% White. It's mostly white newly grads in the 25-34 age cohort who graduated from Regis, Northeastern, BU, BC or Suffolk..
South End had 2,300 million in redevelopment in the 2010s, more than quadruple the 2000s. I'm sure the redevelopment arrived early, but as recent as 2005 the South End had a rough name. And the redevelopment really took off in the 2010s. Still would like a a more vibrant, diverse and inclusive community
The South End had a rough name in 2005?
In the late 1970s/early 1980s, it seemed to me that the South End enjoyed a rising reputation; it also contained a sizable number of LGBT residents, and while most of the clubs were in the Back Bay, in terms of residents, it was Boston's Gayborhood (a term first used in Philadelphia in the early 1990s).
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