Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
I assume immigrant groups in NJ and Long Island, Boston, Philly follow similar radial patterns.
|
The thing about Boston's immigrant waves - even among the refugees during the 70s-90s - is that nearly everyone was Catholic. That created more equal dispersal throughout the inner ring burbs among the Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Ukrainian, and later Vietnamese, Cambodian, Haitian, Dominican, and Brazilian groups. Yeah, there are examples of churches which were mostly Italian or mostly Irish, but overall, as long as there was a Saint Whomever (Saint Mary's for me) in town, you'd get Catholics of all stripes.
Jews followed a southwest line, starting in Dorchester and moving through Brookline, Newton, Dedham, and eventually Sharon. Sharon is an interesting case: a little town with a Commuter Rail stop which went from 100% Catholic when my parents were kids in the 50s to nearly 70% Jewish today while tripling in size (~20,000 today). It's Brookline South in every way; there's even an eruv surrounding downtown so that the Orthodox can have normal Saturdays. It's also where I attended 5 bat mitzvahs and 2 bar mitzvahs in 7th/8th grade. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if more Catholics attend mitzvahs than actual Jews do in Southeastern Mass. We often make up at least half the guests!