A quite opportune moment arose today for me to be driven to Jamaica Plain by a friend who had an appointment near there. Since I finished work/school at 2:00 today, I took advantage of the opportunity and walked around JP for two hours. Like niwell has said in my Wintertime in Boston - Fenway/Kenmore, Back Bay, and Beacon Hill thread - JP has distinct areas within the neighborhood itself: a rough area in the northeast section near Jackson Square and Roxbury, a central section that is working class, and a southern section bordering Forest Hills and Brookline that is middle class and has some quite affluent areas with large homes. Enjoy, and be expecting an Allston thread sometime this weekend!
I am going to keep doing Boston neighborhoods as JamesBond007 does the suburban sprawl threads, so I will put the link to my first thread here:
Wintertime in Boston - Fenway/Kenmore, Back Bay, and Beacon Hill http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=126388
Wintertime in Boston - Allston http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...94#post2662294
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The hood is one of my favorites in Boston. I lived for a while across the pond in The Point neighborhood of Brookline (aka Whiskey Point), so I've spent a lot of time in JP. Oh, and that 7-eleven on Centre st holds a very special place in my heart...I'm glad you got a pic of it.
Even the worst hoods in Boston looks good. Roxbury looks like Bel-Air to me compared to North and West Philly. Great pics, though, and keep more coming!!!
My sister lives in JP - it's actually nowhere close to being one of Boston's "worst hoods" - in fact it's highly gentrified, increasingly peopled by yuppies (though crunchy yuppies of the natrual foods, Volvo cars, and sandals ilk, if you catch my drift). Definitely not comparable to North Philly - in fact JP, as far as comparing it to Philly neighborhoods goes, is a lot like the western edge of University City (think Baltimore Ave in the vicinity of Clark Park).
Most of JP is definitely not the ghetto. The middle section of it is working class and safe, and the southern section is middle class with some upper middle class presence. Most of the "yuppies," old hippies, and academics (and the businesses that cater to them) are in these two sections. Central JP is the most economically and ethnically diverse section of the neighborhood. The northeast section of Roxbury, however, has a very high crime rate and is working class and poor. The population is heavily Dominican, Puerto Rican, and African American. There are government housing projects and lots of grit and rundown buildings. I did walk through this section and did not feel unsafe (there were a lot of people out and it was daytime). When I started to get close to Jackson Square, I went in a store to buy a drink and the old Puerto Rican lady behind the counter told me in Spanish that she saw me snap a picture outside and that she would advise that I not do so in that part of the neighborhood (as to not attract attention to myself). For this reason, that section of the neighborhood is underrepresented in my thread. Specifically, this area appears in pictures 17-26. I realize that it is a lot safer than areas of North/West Philly that are half ABANDONED and full of government housing projects, but still, it is not one of the best areas of Boston. The worst would be Roxbury, (western) South Boston, Mattapan, Dorchester, and maybe Mission Hill (I don't know its crime rate but it looks bad and doesn't appear to be safe). I would not characterize JP AS A WHOLE as either "yuppie" or ghetto. It is a working class neighborhood that is generally safe and lively.
I think JP got its name from the pond, no? It could have been the other way around.
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"Dazzled by the needles of light stitching the water, I turned to watch him watch them. I noticed his eyelashes were reflected in his eyes, like awning in windowpanes. As I tried to make sense of that reflection, I found I could not look away. His irises were brown, clouding into orange with brighter flecks around his pupils. Then it became as important not to look as to look, I feared I would be lost in rush of bronze motes."
I'm enjoying your pics of underrepresented Boston hoods.
What do you think is the worst neighborhood in the city? I've always thought Dorchester and Mattapan, but the last time I drove through, they looked decent. I've never been to Roxbury though.
Well, Boston has no bombed out, half abandoned neighborhoods with boarded-up homes and vacant lots that characterize many American cities. Dorchester and Mattapan appear decent because they are entirely populated and their streets are lively with people. However, those neighborhoods coupled with Roxbury and the western half of South Boston have very high violent crime rates and honestly, I have no reason to go there. I'm definitely going to continue doing underrepresented neighborhoods in Boston, but I have no plans to walk around with my camera in the neighborhoods I mentioned in this post.
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