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1. Not sure who would accuse this spot of being particularly vibrant.
2. As far as Roxbury/lack of vibrancy/lagging behind: I've been involved
with planning in this sector. I was present when Tremont Crossing got approved.
We needed 100 cops on the 9th Floor and didn't have them.
It was bedlam. Meeting was suspended for 90 minutes out of concern
for the BRA-EDIC Board's safety. Planning Roxbury is complicated by a mix of
justified fear of gentrification, 1971 style/ local radicals vs a far wiser,
older group of neighborhood Elders.
3. 5 over 1 construction is planned/ongoing at several sites close by--
So Roxbury/JP/Rozzie/Readville are slowly awakening from their doldrums.
Change is slow. Tremont Crossing getting cancelled, and the Lead developer
of the Dudley Square tower passing away in 2016 dealt passing blows to launching
Roxbury/"JP Roxx' " planning initiatives.... Not sure about vibrant!
Militant might be more accurate!!
4. You do make a decent point: It's not isolated: from Coolidge Corner, Cleveland Circle,
parts of Southie, Charlestown, Mission Hill, JP & Rozzie
continued to lag behind. There's hope: Warren Street and Beacon has begun developing....
There's Dot Block.... But mostly, Nimbyism abounds: especially vexing in Roxbury!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mwj119
Just so we’re clear..
None of the above, less Roscoe Village, has any kind of buzz.
Those are predominantly quiet residential areas with NS or EW strips of commercial activity, generally in the form of strip malls or broken up store front.
The most buzz you’ll see in most of those neighborhoods is at a bus stop.
i think we can be quite ok with this, for the most part.
Boston is provincial. You can see a crowd feathering into Fenway,
watch an activist march, a couple blocks over, then down a back alley, catch a Yoga class on a small patch of grass, then walk not together so far and be in Coolidge Corner, and minutes later walking through quiet streets off (Dean St/Brookline) being so quiet, you're wondering if everyone is at Temple/or Mass.
And they probably are, or they're playing with their kids in Warren Field playground. Ain't Christie St/Bowery or Brooklyn.
That's Boston's charm!
Last edited by odurandina; 04-14-2021 at 02:08 PM..
None of the above, less Roscoe Village, has any kind of buzz.
Those are predominantly quiet residential areas with NS or EW strips of commercial activity, generally in the form of strip malls or broken up store front.
The most buzz you’ll see in most of those neighborhoods is at a bus stop.
Ditto Elmwood, Edison, Sauganash, Jefferson. They’re commuter neighborhoods that are probably less busy than Medford or Malden. Suburbs like Elmhurst and Park Ridge probabaly see more concentrated buzz than these north and northwest Chicago neighborhoods.
Speaking of which, for the Bostonians out there. Check out downtown Park Ridge and the adjacent neighborhoods. Very reminiscent of a more modest Newton, but cleaner. It’s a great spot, love it there. Kind of a hidden suburb, even in Chicago as it lives in the shadows of the North Shore.
1. Not sure who would accuse this spot of being particularly vibrant.
i think we can be quite ok with this, for the most part.
Boston is provincial. You can see a crowd feathering into Fenway,
watch an activist march, a couple blocks over, then down a back alley, catch a Yoga class on a small patch of grass, then walk not together so far and be in Coolidge Corner, and minutes later walking through quiet streets off (Dean St/Brookline) being so quiet, you're wondering if everyone is at Temple/or Mass.
And they probably are, or they're playing with their kids in Warren Field playground. Ain't Christie St/Bowery or Brooklyn.
That's Boston's charm!
It's vibrant in that it's a node in Boston that has groups of pedestrians doing things outdoors other than waiting for the bus. Which as we know-isnt very common.
Isn't the North Side of Chicago extremely white, and not that diverse? Furthermore, Boston proper's actual core is very dense and vibrant, but not diverse.
Some of the areas just outside of Boston are very dense, diverse, and vibrant-but i don't think they're part of the "iconic" core...even if they are part of the urban core (Everett Chelsea Malden Revere).
The density in these areas lack in comparison to the loop or much of the North Sie of Chicago but it's still very impressive.
Northside: Between the Chicago River & Lake Shore Dr. and from Lincoln Park to Rogers Park/West Ridge-
White/non-Hispanic- 62.1%
Black/non-Hispanic- 10.4%
Asian/non-Hispanic- 10.2%
Hispanic/Latino- 13.6%
Population- 494,192(2018)
Northwest side: West of the Chicago River and from Logan Square/Belmont Cragin to Edison Park/O'hare-
White/non-hispanic- 44.4%
Black/non-hispanic- 2.4%
Asian/non-hispanic- 6.3%
Hispanic/Latino- 44.3%
Population- 568,448(2018)
Source: cmap.illinois.gov
As a whole, the northside does have a white non-hispanic majority(not overwhelmingly, rather is close to the Chicago MSA average), following latinos representing over one-fourth when taking into account the northwest. Logan Square in particular has seen significant shifts in the last twenty years, going from two-thirds hispanic to recently over fifty percent white non-hispanic according to 2019 estimates(not released yet). It follows a similar pattern to what has happened in West Town(which I didn't include into the northwest figure), back in the late 2000s/early 2010s. West Town was 62.7% white non-hispanic according to 2018 estimates, and Wicker Park is 70-75% white. Median HHI is on par with Lincoln Park at this point. It's incredible how so few blacks are residing northwest, considering how large of a population( 82% of Boston) is in the area.
I haven't crunched the numbers for the northern suburbs completely(too many), but I know that north/northwest suburban Cook is around 16% Asian. Skokie may possibly be Chicago's most ethnically diverse suburb.
Last edited by Chicagoland60426; 04-15-2021 at 09:08 AM..
This is emotional, inaccurate, resentful nonsense-- a sour grapes reaction to what, having to live in New Brunswick?
Didn't mean to upset you, but lets dissect it a little further.
Boston's Metro West is extremely underwhelming. Compare it to other regions of Boston's Metropolitan Area, or virtually anywhere else. CT's Gold Coast, NJs Suburbs, Westchester NY, Chicago's North Side, etc...
It's overpriced, the quality of housing stock is average/below average at best, diversity/vibrancy is extremely limited compared to other regions.. I just can't wrap my head around choosing to live there. Outside of great schools (Which you can get really in any top tier suburban ring).. what is the draw to Boston's MetroWest?
To further my point. Yes Weston is gorgeous. Sure. But its sprawly, rural and lacks the charm/allure New England has. Why not live in Marblehead, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Cohasset, Hingham, Belmont, etc.. somewhere where you get either a little more diversity, charm OR access to ocean... for a significant less price.
Now compare Chicago's North Side suburbs (In this case..)... vibrant downtown cores, far less rural, less expensive, just as great (if not, better..) public schools and better transit with a lot less classism. It seems like a pretty straight forward answer here. Theres also more to do in these North Shore towns, and I believe there are greater diversity/inclusivity. Also, the built environment is far bette with amazing Craftsman houses. It has it all. (Bar, weather..)
IDK, after living in six states and just being around to all major US Cities and seeing their built environment.. MetroWest isn't it chief. And the poll shows that too... Chicago blows it out of the water. But people in MA are sorely obsessed with MA and think it is the say all/end all.. it isn't. Maybe it is becuase I am in my 20s, but I can't think of somewhere I would want to live less.. than the really low density sleepy Boston MetroWest suburbs. That sounds like udder torture.
But seriously Boston posters... the unnecessary boosting definitely hurts the credibility of your posts.
Also.. I don't live in Canada?
Last edited by masssachoicetts; 05-10-2021 at 09:05 AM..
Didn't mean to upset you, but lets dissect it a little further.
Boston's Metro West is extremely underwhelming. Compare it to other regions of Boston's Metropolitan Area, or virtually anywhere else. CT's Gold Coast, NJs Suburbs, Westchester NY, Chicago's North Side, etc...
It's overpriced, the quality of housing stock is average/below average at best, diversity/vibrancy is extremely limited compared to other regions.. I just can't wrap my head around choosing to live there. Outside of great schools (Which you can get really in any top tier suburban ring).. what is the draw to Boston's MetroWest?
To further my point. Yes Weston is gorgeous. Sure. But its sprawly, rural and lacks the charm/allure New England has. Why not live in Marblehead, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Cohasset, Hingham, Belmont, etc.. somewhere where you get either a little more diversity, charm OR access to ocean... for a significant less price.
Now compare Chicago's North Side suburbs (In this case..)... vibrant downtown cores, far less rural, less expensive, just as great (if not, better..) public schools and better transit with a lot less classism. It seems like a pretty straight forward answer here. Theres also more to do in these North Shore towns, and I believe there are greater diversity/inclusivity. Also, far more scenic with amazing Craftsman houses. It has it all. (Bar, weather..)
IDK, after living in six states and just being around to all major US Cities and seeing their built environment.. MetroWest isn't it chief. And the poll shows that too... Chicago blows it out of the water. But people in MA are sorely obsessed with MA and think it is the say all/end all.. it isn't. Maybe it is becuase I am in my 20s, but I can't think of somewhere I would want to live less.. than the really low density sleepy Boston MetroWest suburbs. That sounds like udder torture.
Also.. I don't live in Canada?
I don't disagree with you about Metrowest but that's not what's being questioned right now. You were referring to Boston's core, per the thread title, right? Metrowest isnt the core at all. Unless you call North Brookline and Cambridge Metrowest...
Metrowest (except Framingham/Waltham) is a nightmare for a young person who values diversity/urbanity/affordability. Same as you- very few urban areas I'd want to live in less.
The draw is access to the 128/downtown Boston job market, great schools, job market a, extreme quiet and guaranteed socioeconomic homogeneity. And you get to say you're "from Boston"
I don't disagree with you about Metrowest but that's not what's being questioned right now. You were referring to Boston's core, per the thread title, right? Metrowest isnt the core at all. Unless you call North Brookline and Cambridge Metrowest...
Oh yeah see this goes back to the first page where I weirdly assumed the North Shore Chicago suburbs were being compared to the MetroWest. I think I caught my error in the last page. I saw North shore and Iconic and assumed that was what were being compared. Whoops
Now its all coming back to me. Basically inside 128ish roughly vs North of Loop to Evanston area. Makes sense.
But if we were comparing MW to NS Chi, that would be my response lol
Like MJW119, I have lived in both; liked both; and could live in both interchangably. But the living is easier I think in Chicago. I lived in Brookline, the beginning of Metrowest, and enjoyed its charms and its access to Jamaica Plain and Boston in general. I now live in an upscale west suburb of Chicago which reminds me of Boston with its New England like downtown, large trees, and traditional homes, almost like moving Wellesley to the Midwest.
But the difference is the North side of Chicago, which just dwarfs Boston. There is just so much to see and do, and you can go from the river north up to Highland Park and have an uninterrupted adventure of nice areas, neighborhoods and lakefront enjoyment going north, with all sorts of experiences along the way. No contest really when you have put the poll in this light.
Like MJW119, I have lived in both; liked both; and could live in both interchangably. But the living is easier I think in Chicago. I lived in Brookline, the beginning of Metrowest, and enjoyed its charms and its access to Jamaica Plain and Boston in general. I now live in an upscale west suburb of Chicago which reminds me of Boston with its New England like downtown, large trees, and traditional homes, almost like moving Wellesley to the Midwest.
But the difference is the North side of Chicago, which just dwarfs Boston. There is just so much to see and do, and you can go from the river north up to Highland Park and have an uninterrupted adventure of nice areas, neighborhoods and lakefront enjoyment going north, with all sorts of experiences along the way. No contest really when you have put the poll in this light.
Your second paragraph is spot on. North Side Chicago blows Boston away. The concentration of diversity is unparalleled. Great urbanity, vibrancy and of course... food lol
The street system alongside the El just put the icing on the cake. 12/10
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