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I will change my Boston answer from Nubian Square to Grove Hall simply because Grove Hall is blacker and closer to the heart of the bulk black population while still being very close to Nubian Square. The Grove Hall Mecca is indicative of its centrality.
First, welcome back and I hope you enjoyed your birthday. How was your trip? What are your observations of Boston's Black neighborhoods in 2022? Here is the census data for the area around Grove Hall below. I don't know which of these would be considered Grove Hall versus bleeding into another neighborhood so you will have to provide details for that. How do you think the income compares to the other Black Boston neighborhoods?
Bed-Stuy has quite a few small grocery stores and corner stores, in a density that even west of the river DC lacks . There's also multiple Key Foods, Bravo and gourmet supermarket like Metropolitan Citymarket. Retail heavy streets include Fulton St, Myrtle Ave, Nostrand Ave, Bedford Ave, and Broadway. In addition to the restaurants and takeout, I'm not sure we can call Bed Stuy as a whole a food desert or lacking, particularly in comparison to Ward 7 in DC (which is a collection of neighborhoods).
I agree, as I've said, its a difficult comparison because NYC and DC are so different.
The study was talking about issues that exist in many Black communities around the nation. These small grocery stores have a very limited selection and much higher prices. They are also the reason so many Black residents around the nation suffer from chronic diseases because of the availability of junk food combined with the high price and limited supply of fresh food items. The only way for these neighborhoods to get affordable full-service grocery stores is if NYC subsidizes them. The city has the ability to give tax breaks at the very least.
Larger chain stores have the ability to sell items at a cheaper price than smaller stores. That is why the "supermarket" put smaller grocery stores out of business in the 1940-1970's. The only reason small grocery stores still exist in urban cities is because of low automobile use. The rise of "supermarkets" was tied to the ability of the consumer to purchase larger grocery loads which combined with access to more of a selection and cheaper prices made small grocery stores obsolete.
Fast forward to 2022, the ability to have your groceries delivered will put even more pressure on small grocery stores. They will have to continue raising their prices while chains and big box stores can eat the cost of inflation more. Maybe living in DC with so many full-service grocery stores spoils people in DC. I know when I visit NYC which is often, the two drawbacks I already have is the age and condition of the apartments and the lack of options in the grocery stores.
"Hundreds of thousands of New York City residents live in so-called food deserts. They’re low-income areas — usually Black and Hispanic neighborhoods — without large supermarkets and lacking many options for healthy, affordable food. Areas long-considered food deserts include Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, Brooklyn, the South Bronx and parts of Harlem.
People living there often turn to more expensive bodegas and small groceries."
“There isn’t like a fresh salad in these communities,” Meaders said. “Think about when you go into a corner bodega. Think about the options that are inside that store — potato chips, high fructose corn syrup drinks, and everything that is not good for the body.”
"So why aren’t there full-service supermarkets providing fresh produce and other nutritious items.
Supermarket analyst, author and podcaster Phil Lempert said it all boils down to money."
“The reason that they’re now called food deserts is they don’t have full-service supermarkets because they don’t make money there. That’s the bottom line,” he said.
Last edited by MDAllstar; 04-25-2022 at 11:27 AM..
The study was talking about issues that exist in many Black communities around the nation. These small grocery stores have a very limited selection and much higher prices. They are also the reason so many Black residents around the nation suffer from chronic diseases because of the availability of junk food combined with the high price and limited supply of fresh food items. The only way for these neighborhoods to get affordable full-service grocery stores is if NYC subsidizes them. The city has the ability to give tax breaks at the very least.
Larger chain stores have the ability to sell items at a cheaper price than smaller stores. That is why the "supermarket" put smaller grocery stores out of business in the 1940-1970's. The only reason small grocery stores still exist in urban cities is because of low automobile use. The rise of "supermarkets" was tied to the ability of the consumer to purchase larger grocery loads which combined with access to more of a selection and cheaper prices made small grocery stores obsolete.
Fast forward to 2022, the ability to have your groceries delivered will put even more pressure on small grocery stores. They will have to continue raising their prices while chains and big box stores can eat the cost of inflation more. Maybe living in DC with so many full-service grocery stores spoils people in DC. I know when I visit NYC which is often, the two drawbacks I already have is the age and condition of the apartments and the lack of options in the grocery stores.
"Hundreds of thousands of New York City residents live in so-called food deserts. They’re low-income areas — usually Black and Hispanic neighborhoods — without large supermarkets and lacking many options for healthy, affordable food. Areas long-considered food deserts include Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, Brooklyn, the South Bronx and parts of Harlem.
People living there often turn to more expensive bodegas and small groceries."
“There isn’t like a fresh salad in these communities,” Meaders said. “Think about when you go into a corner bodega. Think about the options that are inside that store — potato chips, high fructose corn syrup drinks, and everything that is not good for the body.”
"So why aren’t there full-service supermarkets providing fresh produce and other nutritious items.
Supermarket analyst, author and podcaster Phil Lempert said it all boils down to money."
“The reason that they’re now called food deserts is they don’t have full-service supermarkets because they don’t make money there. That’s the bottom line,” he said.
In addition to the bodegas/small groceries, there's multiple Key Foods, Bravo Supermarkets, C Town, and gourmet supermarkets like Metropolitan Citymarket among others. We can debate the quality of these stores but their presence, as well as Bed Stuy's proximity to other neighborhoods with better quality stores makes it no comparison to EOTR DC.
I don't agree that DC is full of great grocery stores. Anecdotally, groceries seem to be cheaper in NYC/NJ than DC/MD/VA as well. I miss the Caribbean groceries as well but obviously that's due to demographic differences.
First, welcome back and I hope you enjoyed your birthday. How was your trip? What are your observations of Boston's Black neighborhoods in 2022? Here is the census data for the area around Grove Hall below. I don't know which of these would be considered Grove Hall versus bleeding into another neighborhood so you will have to provide details for that. How do you think the income compares to the other Black Boston neighborhoods?
Population: 3,133
Land: 0.1 sq. miles
Median Income: $31,250
Race: 53% Black (30% Hispanic which I assume is Black Spanish Speaking?)
Bro the trip was so good. The new RoadRunner Venue in Allston is AMAZING. Perfect audio (so good), two-floor with decent bench-style seating in the mezzanine. the ceiling was probably 90 feet high. Railing are U-shaped to fit your drinks, wonderfully diverse crowd, and about 2000 people in attendance for a Boston line Up headlined by Cousin Stizz. Although TonyShhnow from Atlanta was there.
South Bay Mall on my 3rd time there is always surprisingly black in its clientele given how upscale it is. Definitely at least half the pedestrians. There's Dorchester Brewery, the Pearl (Black-owned), Wahlburgers, AMC Theaters, Target, 4-story Niketown, Panera, and much more. Lots of kids/teens/families.
I notice more white people in Roxbury and Dorchester these days for sure. Each time I come back. Mostly single young men who don't appear to have a lot money. More white junkies too. My AirBnB had a white landlord or guest. But no change in retail or whatever. Definitely still very predominately black.
Also, it just reaffirmed the idea that trying to divide Spanish and Black and West Indians in Boston is pointless. Everyone is in black culture. There's not really much Hispanic culture despite their numbers. It's mostly how it was- they're just part of the black culture and run the corner stores. hey speak English, it snot like Grove Hall has signs in Spanish or Latino Cultural Institutions. There was a woman at Mcdonald's in the Mall of Roxbury who was very clearly Puerto Rican taking my order and there was a linguistic (accent) issue. But seriously people are way too ethnically ambiguous to even have to pertain to some of the convos we have on here. Some of the Hispanics are black some are lightskin, none are central American, all of them speak English, some better than others. Hella hella black-latino intermignling and dating. Bordering on the norm. The Celtics Watch party in Hyde Park was hosted by a girl whos my age- Cape Verdean and Honduran but she just looks peanut butter brown-black. She speaks perfect English, not like this was a Latino event. If not for flags in her bio you simply wouldn't know what her race or ethnicity was. No one talks about that.
It all just feels black to me. They dress black, talk black idk. Maybe they smile more- cuz people seemed happy. I think I hear don Haitian accent on the train..I think. The latinos its the same- there were so many instances was tryna delineate light skin black from Dominican from CV that it kinda reminded me why I don't do this in the first place. At the Pearl, we had all type of black people there all looking to spend $$$. PLaying mostly 90s/200s neo-soul and some modern rnb.
The brothers were out in Grove Hall, and about 4 of them were passing out Final Calls, I got one from "Brother Mel" THey also accept Cash App payments lol. They charge $2 feel free to donate to Brother Mel X $MelCheeks or tinyurl.com/fcndonation (lol) Went to Maxine on St James and there selling Bean Pies now. (used to happen at the old Nubian Notion).
The Celtics watch party at Zaz in Hyde Park was dope. I guess the Celtics have the owner a bunch of T-shirts for the event. You could take as many as you wanted for free. Zaz also got a liquor license - so they had beer wine and champagne there as well. This had a predominately black crowd as it was sponsored by the Black-owned LowKey Dispensary coming to Codman Square. However, whit people from the industry were there. Crowd was pretty much in line with hyde park demographically, very upscale inside.
I saw flags from Barbados, Trinidad, Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, Haiti, St. Kitts, and Jamaica while there. JAMN 945 plays a mix of modern hip hop, early 200s throwback and West Indian music. B87 is playing mostly West Indian and classical, with a little hip hop they were promoting Cranium whos starting his tour in Boston. JAMN 945 was promoting Jay Critch and a party at Goodlife Bar. I went to Good Life Bar downtown and it was a mix of more of the same hip hop, dancehall with some Dominican reggaeton. Lots of Saweetie and Nardo Wick. But also El Alfa and that weird "Boston Fusion" club music I only ever hear in Boston. It s like a mix of electronic, tropical and hip hop. People were DANCING. Hard, I had to go out several times. The top floor had two dance floors but the basement was claustrophobic.
The after Hours spot I go to Moon Villa was filled with people from the MasQUErade ball, and Boston Sneakers fashion convention (Sponsored by SparkFM and Park 54). You also had a lot of Asians and even a few white people. THey serve up sit-down Chinese in Downtown Boston till 4 am in a very gritty/grimy section of the city. But definitely, a very fly crowd. Even saw one of my friends there with his line brothers, all suited and zooted. But it's the type of place where the dboys are also outside.
Spent some time in Brookline as well and Newbury Street/Copley Place. I forgot and always forget how large and very urban Bostons core is. I was with my girlfriend who is from Jersey City and she said she loved it and hadn't expected Boston to be such a big and urban city. She just didn't know the scale was going to be ike that and I think even I forget that because I was raised there. she kept saying much of it reminding her of Queens (in general) and Irvington. It really is on a higher level of urbanity due to all of the very dense satellites cities and the # of highrises in the core. That lack of a grid also makes it feel very claustrophobic. The pedestrian activity during the day is pretty intense. Especially on the Boston Common/Public Garden. And the little indoor downtown minimalls are cool too.
Downtown Crossing was the same as ever but with more tourists. Police presence has been heightened down there due to what they say was a black-on-white hate crime by some Boston teens on a white girl. Reports of "Boston teens" tasing and cutting customers in Macy's just for fun. While I was there 2 people were stabbed in the Theatre district between Chinatown and Downtown Crossing. It had some additional abandoned storefronts. White people seem to have gravitated toward the North End and Seaport whereas Downtown Crossing and Chinatown are maybe the majority-POC pedestrian environments.
Also in providence lot, more black people eating out in Little Italy (where I went with my mom) than even I would have expected. i was like damn-where we all coming from?
The Biggest changes I can think of since I lived there full time in 2017? :
More Asian as a city in general
Much more Graffiti and beautiful Murals
More Homeless people in general
More Traffic
More whites in black neighborhoods
More blacks in white neighborhoods
More single young blacks and fewer black families. In that way, it's beginning to mirror the white population's age breakdown more.
Even fewer abandoned properties
More diverse in general
More bikers
Black Political power has risen relatively, major white political drop off . But they still are 100% of the people you see on DuckTours.
In addition to the bodegas/small groceries, there's multiple Key Foods, Bravo Supermarkets, C Town, and gourmet supermarkets like Metropolitan Citymarket among others. We can debate the quality of these stores but their presence, as well as Bed Stuy's proximity to other neighborhoods with better quality stores makes it no comparison to EOTR DC.
I don't agree that DC is full of great grocery stores. Anecdotally, groceries seem to be cheaper in NYC/NJ than DC/MD/VA as well. I miss the Caribbean groceries as well but obviously that's due to demographic differences.
EOTR in 2022 is a major food desert. There are tons of articles about it. That is why DC is investing in grocery stores to begin with. Bedstuy is nothing like that. I was only making a point that change is needed in Bedstuy too. We know what is coming to EOTR. I don't know of any plans to bring full-service grocery stores to Bedstuy. In the same 3.2 sq. mile footprint, DC is building 5 grocery stores that offer everything you need within 1/2 mile walking distance of everyone living in that area. When I have grocery shopped in Bedstuy, the prices were definitely high. Can't speak for other parts of the metro area.
DC has 75 Full-Service grocery stores and 72 of those are located west of the river. West of the river neighborhoods are adding even more as we speak. We are talking huge major grocery stores that sell everything. Those programs as vital to bring 50,000 to 80,000 sq. foot grocery stores to Black neighborhoods east of the river. Without them, those chains would not come. Those large grocery stores are part of the grocery store ecosystem which combines with smaller stores like Good Foods Market. Are you saying you prefer bodega shopping than living across the street from a Harris Teeter, Giant, Safeway, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Wegmans, Target (DC Version with Groceries), or Walmart(DC Version with Groceries)?
My good friend and college/HS teammate/classmate who was born in Jersey but grew up in Mattapan lives here now with his two cousin. They rent out two of the floors. They got this property from their grandfather. https://goo.gl/maps/3ZQ45NFuYFa5anxk6
^he and his cousin cleared and cleaned this property themselves and refused to let elders know the family sell it(which is what they wanted). His backyard is literally Franklin park- no fence or anything. Next door neighbors are sown yuppies who are part of a bee network cooperative in Boston and give them free honey after the bees come to their hive.
His parents now live in this general neighborhoods in Randolph. I went to the cookout/dinner or there. One of his cousin is dating a black girl originally from Houston who went to Duke and is now a pediatricians in Boston at age 27….she says she’s been loving Boston.
I also was able to shop at three black owned dispensaries..High Profile x Budega (Afro Latino, infused ramen seasoning $25 vapes, $4 pre rolls) in Dorchester. Pure Oasis -100% Black American Owned (Roxbury) and Legal Greens- Haitian, first black woman owned Dispensary east of the MS River, amazing low prices $5 pre rolls (Brockton).
Sidenote: there are still a real lack of black faces at the most common tourist spots. Black folks should come up more, wish they would. We were at the museum of science and my girlfriend was like why do people not like Boston and New England and not visit?- it’s a bangin ass city..I told her to ask them..she said she recommended her brother and his family come visit up there
Bro the trip was so good. The new RoadRunner Venue in Allston is AMAZING. Perfect audio (so good), two-floor with decent bench-style seating in the mezzanine. the ceiling was probably 90 feet high. Railing are U-shaped to fit your drinks, wonderfully diverse crowd, and about 2000 people in attendance for a Boston line Up headlined by Cousin Stizz. Although TonyShhnow from Atlanta was there.
South Bay Mall on my 3rd time there is always surprisingly black in its clientele given how upscale it is. Definitely at least half the pedestrians. There's Dorchester Brewery, the Pearl (Black-owned), Wahlburgers, AMC Theaters, Target, 4-story Niketown, Panera, and much more. Lots of kids/teens/families.
I notice more white people in Roxbury and Dorchester these days for sure. Each time I come back. Mostly single young men who don't appear to have a lot money. More white junkies too. My AirBnB had a white landlord or guest. But no change in retail or whatever. Definitely still very predominately black.
Also, it just reaffirmed the idea that trying to divide Spanish and Black and West Indians in Boston is pointless. Everyone is in black culture. There's not really much Hispanic culture despite their numbers. It's mostly how it was- they're just part of the black culture and run the corner stores. hey speak English, it snot like Grove Hall has signs in Spanish or Latino Cultural Institutions. There was a woman at Mcdonald's in the Mall of Roxbury who was very clearly Puerto Rican taking my order and there was a linguistic (accent) issue. But seriously people are way too ethnically ambiguous to even have to pertain to some of the convos we have on here. Some of the Hispanics are black some are lightskin, none are central American, all of them speak English, some better than others. Hella hella black-latino intermignling and dating. Bordering on the norm. The Celtics Watch party in Hyde Park was hosted by a girl whos my age- Cape Verdean and Honduran but she just looks peanut butter brown-black. She speaks perfect English, not like this was a Latino event. If not for flags in her bio you simply wouldn't know what her race or ethnicity was. No one talks about that.
It all just feels black to me. They dress black, talk black idk. Maybe they smile more- cuz people seemed happy. I think I hear don Haitian accent on the train..I think. The latinos its the same- there were so many instances was tryna delineate light skin black from Dominican from CV that it kinda reminded me why I don't do this in the first place. At the Pearl, we had all type of black people there all looking to spend $$$. PLaying mostly 90s/200s neo-soul and some modern rnb.
The brothers were out in Grove Hall, and about 4 of them were passing out Final Calls, I got one from "Brother Mel" THey also accept Cash App payments lol. They charge $2 feel free to donate to Brother Mel X $MelCheeks or tinyurl.com/fcndonation (lol) Went to Maxine on St James and there selling Bean Pies now. (used to happen at the old Nubian Notion).
The Celtics watch party at Zaz in Hyde Park was dope. I guess the Celtics have the owner a bunch of T-shirts for the event. You could take as many as you wanted for free. Zaz also got a liquor license - so they had beer wine and champagne there as well. This had a predominately black crowd as it was sponsored by the Black-owned LowKey Dispensary coming to Codman Square. However, whit people from the industry were there. Crowd was pretty much in line with hyde park demographically, very upscale inside.
I saw flags from Barbados, Trinidad, Cape Verde, Puerto Rico, Haiti, St. Kitts, and Jamaica while there. JAMN 945 plays a mix of modern hip hop, early 200s throwback and West Indian music. B87 is playing mostly West Indian and classical, with a little hip hop they were promoting Cranium whos starting his tour in Boston. JAMN 945 was promoting Jay Critch and a party at Goodlife Bar. I went to Good Life Bar downtown and it was a mix of more of the same hip hop, dancehall with some Dominican reggaeton. Lots of Saweetie and Nardo Wick. But also El Alfa and that weird "Boston Fusion" club music I only ever hear in Boston. It s like a mix of electronic, tropical and hip hop. People were DANCING. Hard, I had to go out several times. The top floor had two dance floors but the basement was claustrophobic.
The after Hours spot I go to Moon Villa was filled with people from the MasQUErade ball, and Boston Sneakers fashion convention (Sponsored by SparkFM and Park 54). You also had a lot of Asians and even a few white people. THey serve up sit-down Chinese in Downtown Boston till 4 am in a very gritty/grimy section of the city. But definitely, a very fly crowd. Even saw one of my friends there with his line brothers, all suited and zooted. But it's the type of place where the dboys are also outside.
Spent some time in Brookline as well and Newbury Street/Copley Place. I forgot and always forget how large and very urban Bostons core is. I was with my girlfriend who is from Jersey City and she said she loved it and hadn't expected Boston to be such a big and urban city. She just didn't know the scale was going to be ike that and I think even I forget that because I was raised there. she kept saying much of it reminding her of Queens (in general) and Irvington. It really is on a higher level of urbanity due to all of the very dense satellites cities and the # of highrises in the core. That lack of a grid also makes it feel very claustrophobic. The pedestrian activity during the day is pretty intense. Especially on the Boston Common/Public Garden. And the little indoor downtown minimalls are cool too.
Downtown Crossing was the same as ever but with more tourists. Police presence has been heightened down there due to what they say was a black-on-white hate crime by some Boston teens on a white girl. Reports of "Boston teens" tasing and cutting customers in Macy's just for fun. While I was there 2 people were stabbed in the Theatre district between Chinatown and Downtown Crossing. It had some additional abandoned storefronts. White people seem to have gravitated toward the North End and Seaport whereas Downtown Crossing and Chinatown are maybe the majority-POC pedestrian environments.
Also in providence lot, more black people eating out in Little Italy (where I went with my mom) than even I would have expected. i was like damn-where we all coming from?
The Biggest changes I can think of since I lived there full time in 2017? :
More Asian as a city in general
Much more Graffiti and beautiful Murals
More Homeless people in general
More Traffic
More whites in black neighborhoods
More blacks in white neighborhoods
More single young blacks and fewer black families. In that way, it's beginning to mirror the white population's age breakdown more.
Even fewer abandoned properties
More diverse in general
More bikers
Black Political power has risen relatively, major white political drop off . But they still are 100% of the people you see on DuckTours.
Glad you had fun. There is nothing like going home when you have been away for a long time. Is it common to see Black areas you mentioned with high pedestrian traffic of non-Black people? We have discussed diverse pedestrian experiences for many formerly Black neighborhoods around the nation including DC (U Street/Shaw), NYC (Harlem/Brooklyn), Atlanta (Everywhere outside of Southwest Atlanta) etc.
How do people feel about the Boston neighborhoods when the pedestrian experience becomes diverse? We hear people that live in Harlem/Brooklyn and Shaw/U Street complain all the time that they feel their neighborhood culture fading away. Is that the feeling in the neighborhoods with higher non-Black pedestrian foot traffic in Boston? If not, what do you think those neighborhoods will be like in 5-10 years?
I always say neighborhood transition without new construction is a major sign of displacement. New people can't move into new construction housing, so they move into formerly occupied housing when it turns over which drives the cost of housing too.
My good friend and college/HS teammate/classmate who was born in Jersey but grew up in Mattapan lives here now with his two cousin. They rent out two of the floors. They got this property from their grandfather. https://goo.gl/maps/3ZQ45NFuYFa5anxk6
^he and his cousin cleared and cleaned this property themselves and refused to let elders know the family sell it(which is what they wanted). His backyard is literally Franklin park- no fence or anything. Next door neighbors are sown yuppies who are part of a bee network cooperative in Boston and give them free honey after the bees come to their hive.
His parents now live in this general neighborhoods in Randolph. I went to the cookout/dinner or there. One of his cousin is dating a black girl originally from Houston who went to Duke and is now a pediatricians in Boston at age 27….she says she’s been loving Boston.
I also was able to shop at three black owned dispensaries..High Profile x Budega (Afro Latino, infused ramen seasoning $25 vapes, $4 pre rolls) in Dorchester. Pure Oasis -100% Black American Owned (Roxbury) and Legal Greens- Haitian, first black woman owned Dispensary east of the MS River, amazing low prices $5 pre rolls (Brockton).
Sidenote: there are still a real lack of black faces at the most common tourist spots. Black folks should come up more, wish they would. We were at the museum of science and my girlfriend was like why do people not like Boston and New England and not visit?- it’s a bangin ass city..I told her to ask them..she said she recommended her brother and his family come visit up there
Which neighborhoods in Boston would you say has the highest income for Black people (including Black Spanish speaking)? The incomes seem very low when looking at census data for majority Black neighborhoods. Which neighborhoods should I look in? Is there anything in Boston that compares to high income Black census tracts in Ward 7 in DC, Bedstuy in NYC, Sherwood Forest in Detroit, etc.?
It’s not a ‘high’ number of non black people. I could probably count them on one or two hands. I saw maybe 7-8 including the junkies. It’s just back in day 2015?…You rarely saw no white people in the heart of Roxbury and Dorchester. Like you saw that many in a year- no hyperbole. I don’t ever recall seeing whit e people in The area at all prior to like 2013. Like it in my memory at all. Seeing any at all is always weird. I’ve heard people in Boston complain/bemoan it. They warn of the South End and Jamaica Plain.
Most of the new construction was mostly New England style mansard roof things and a bunch of new triple deckers. There are very very few large scale project underway there and few in Boston in general as the cranes are beginning to disappear from the skyline. We’re down to like 9. Most of the hot construction is in the Egleston Square neighborhood of Jamaica Plain that border Roxbury closely. They’ve torn down a lot and are building pretty sizable apartments. And in far northern Dorchester/eastern South Boston. Which isn’t new. Forest Hills in JP/Hyde Park has been redone with thousand of apartments but that’s a river area that leans white.
The pace of demographic change is very slow. In 10 years there will certainly be more white people but it will remain black, for sure.20 years maybe different. Grove Hall may not change at all. It’s still pretty rough. Black professionals don’t really go for Grove Hall either. Some areas with gang issues that would otherwise gentrify like where I was staying still have massive vacants lots (but there are new home right across the street):
It’s not a ‘high’ number of non black people. I could probably count them on one or two hands. I saw maybe 7-8 including the junkies. It’s just back in day 2015?…You rarely saw no white people in the heart of Roxbury and Dorchester. Like you saw that many in a year- no hyperbole. I don’t ever recall seeing whit e people in The area at all prior to like 2013. Like it in my memory at all. Seeing any at all is always weird. I’ve heard people in Boston complain/bemoan it. They warn of the South End and Jamaica Plain.
Most of the new construction was mostly New England style mansard roof things and a bunch of new triple deckers. There are very very few large scale project underway there and few in Boston in general as the cranes are beginning to disappear from the skyline. We’re down to like 9. Most of the hot construction is in the Egleston Square neighborhood of Jamaica Plain that border Roxbury closely. They’ve torn down a lot and are building pretty sizable apartments. And in far northern Dorchester/eastern South Boston. Which isn’t new. Forest Hills in JP/Hyde Park has been redone with thousand of apartments but that’s a river area that leans white.
The pace of demographic change is very slow. In 10 years there will certainly be more white people but it will remain black, for sure.20 years maybe different. Grove Hall may not change at all. It’s still pretty rough. Black professionals don’t really go for Grove Hall either. Some areas with gang issues that would otherwise gentrify like where I was staying still have massive vacants lots (but there are new home right across the street):
Th church has been demolished and will become apartments. It’s a vacant lot for nownow though
Are any of those Black neighborhoods high income? If a Black professional was moving from DC to Boston looking to buy a house in the city, which Black neighborhood would you recommend where they would be around other Black high income earners? Anything in the $90k - $100k range for Black neighborhoods? Even if we have to go down to the block group. I’m trying to pinpoint that area in Boston.
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