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| *Travel Tips>>>Boston Travel Tips |
An interesting article I read on Boston, which leads to a few questions? |
Travel Info "Perhaps because Boston itself is so small (both geographically and touristically), wall maps of the greater metropolitan area are almost nonexistent. This map properly shows Boston as a region instead of a small city: not only are mass transit and park space administered at this larger scale, but income is also distributed regionally. Except for a few well known areas like Beaon Hill and the Back Bay, Boston itself is surprisingly impoverished, as are some of the inner suburbs like Lynn. Wealthy areas are located mostly a half-hour drive to the west, in Concord, Lincoln, or Dover. The old whaling town of Marblehead is the rich outpost to the east." If this is true, how do Bostonians afford to pay for the overpriced housing and apartments? Is section 8 and other affordable housing programs widespread throughout the city or something? It doesn't add up. Travel Tips The article and the answers already given have a few errors. The city of Boston contains multiple neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods, such as Beacon Hill, Back Bay, the South End and Chinatown are fairly small and can be measured in blocks. Other portions of the city are larger and can be measured in miles, such as East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester and West Roxbury. Very few of these areas are "impoverished," if by that you mean slum-like. A few blocks in the South End, Mattapan, Roxbury, Chelsea and East Boston can be categorized in that way. Midle class neighborhoods include most of South Boston, some of the North End, a big chunk of East Boston, most of Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and Hyde Park. College students live in Allston/Brighton. Very affluent areas include Beacon Hill, Back Bay, parts of the South End, parts of the West End, sections of Jamaica Plain (near Brookline) and sections of West Roxbury -- those further out. There is a good bit of Section 8 housing in Boston. There are very few "projects" left in Boston. Most of them have been replaced by small houses. Boston also has a generous program to help first-time home buyers, especially single parents. So, I wouldn't call Boston impoverished at all. Finally, while it is geographically correct to say that Marblehead is east of Boston, you have to drive north , then northeast, to reach it. Both are situated on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. :) Source(s): local yokel Other Travel Tips That article is somewhat misleading. Concord, Lincoln, Dover and Marblehead can be considered the FILTHY rich areas. The author of that article seems to equate middle-class with impoverished, although just as in any big American city, Boston does have its pockets of poverty. Boston Proper, the small area the article refers to, is quite small. There's no real poor area in Boston Proper, most everyone is upper middle class or upper class. I agree with the answerer above me, those are the ridiculously rich areas. Lynn isn't that bad, by the way, it's just more working class/has decent rent! It's similar to East Boston. The poorest area is probably Mattapan, aka Murderpan. And it's quite a bit south of the city. Dorchester isn't exactly safe either. But again, they are part of the small Boston Proper to which the writer refers. Clearly the article was written by somebody who doesn't live here. Impoverished? Maybe, as mentioned, Mattapan, Roxbury, Mission Hill & parts of Dorchester. I do agree that most neighborhoods do tend to stratify into income levels, though a few are mixed. But high rents & property values (compared to the rest of the country) are everywhere. There are a lot of middle & working class neighborhoods including South Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Hyde Park & Brighton. Some neighborhoods & close suburbs with a mix of high & low incomes and everything in between are Charlestown, West Roxbury, Somerville, Watertown, Medford & Arlington. Super expensive: Downtown, North End, Beacon Hill, South End, Brookline, Newton, Cambridge... and yes the super-expensive list goes on & on. Before I got married, I had roommates & housemates well into my 30's in order to afford to live here, which is very common. And I worked a lot of overtime. Then I moved to an outer neighborhood for a slightly less outrageously priced tiny one bedroom apartment before getting married and buying a small fixer-upper in a mixed income neighborhood. Yes housing is expensive, but most people get by. There is some Section 8 in the low to middle class areas but I wouldn't say it's more widespread than other places. Salaries are higher in Boston and there are a lot of good paying jobs in medicine, high tech, research, finance and higher education, as well as the trades. I think the author of the article took a walk in Downtown Crossing and made a snap judgement about the whole city. Downtown Crossing is a shopping district in the heart of the city, which the current city administration has allowed to decay to the point of disgrace. Also, being a college town, a large portion of the housing in and around town is taken up by students, who may or may not work and pack many people into small apartments. But I'd hardly call them impoverished! I live in Lynn, an area called Pine Hill. It's made up of middle to upper middle class homes/people. Lynn is huge, Boston is huge! Where are you reading this stuff?? I live a city away from Marblehead and I don't think of that as being a wealthy town anymore. The payscale is higher here, there are also programs to help the impoverished & needy, I believe there is poverty in and around every major US city. Boston is sooo old we have the blue bloods and the innies. Not everyone can be so lucky to live here!!!!!!!!!!!1 they must sell drugs |
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