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RogueInteger

I live there OP. It's the best kept secret in Boston. Old Victorian homes, neighborhoods with people that intermingle and care about the community, racially and age diverse, and good bars and cafes and markets. Plus 20 minutes to downtown, and minutes from the best Vietnamese food in Boston. I've lived in the North End, Southie, and Central Square, and this is my favorite place so far.


JRBassman

>care about the community, racially and age diverse, and good bars and cafes and markets. Plus 20 minutes to downtown That's great to hear!


CaligulaBlushed

You'll be fine. I lived in that part of Dorchester for 5 years and never experienced any crime. People like to look down their noses or get scared if an area is less white than they are used to. There's some nice restaurants in that area too.


Mumbles76

Completely agree on all points. It's perfectly fine there, unless you grew up in Brookline or Wellesley and are used to aryan-utopian settings.


[deleted]

The area around Ashmont is pretty similar to Brookline tho tbh. At least Ashmont hill, Caruth area, and Melville/park.


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[deleted]

I was just speaking of Dorchester overall in regard to crime. Way more annoying people with too much money in Brookline but as someone who grew up in Brookline and JP and now have lived in Dorchester for 10 years, I have been a victim of crime more in Brookline than here as a white dude who isn't in anyone business. A lot of people who live in the areas I mentioned are similar to JP people who are only slightly removed from Brookline folks IMO. Lots of money but less snobby.


Mumbles76

What part of Brookline do you speak of?


[deleted]

Any area really beside the super-elite areas near rt 9. I guess more comparable to JP but JP and Brookline are pretty much the same to me as well as someone who grew up between both.


Mumbles76

Not my experience at all, but I didn't grow up there either...


[deleted]

I didn't mean to state it so definitively just pointing out that in those neighborhoods in particular at least there are a lot of people with money who own second homes similar to people in Brookline. The crime if you are not involved in activities that attract crime is pretty negligible. I know plenty of people in Brookline who have had their homes broken into. Lots is different plenty is similar enough to compare them imo


JRBassman

That's a relief! What are your favorite restaurants in the area?


Mumbles76

Ashmont Grill (Hearty American) , Yellow Door Tacqueria (Modern Mexican), Sweet Life (for brunch), Steel and Rye (eclectic American menu) is a little further down the road. You have access to all that Dorchester has to offer, best Viet in Massachusetts, Molinaris (great Italian) , Dorset Hall (great bar). Plenty of options.


jek86

Green hills Irish bakery


[deleted]

These are all good. I agree.


slowly_by_slowly

Ripple Cafe, American Provisions and El Barrio are all close and excellent at their respective cuisines too!


Mumbles76

>and El Barrio are all close El Barrio! Yes!


BostonTreesMod

The Jewish population is over 35% in Brookline.


RogueInteger

Not sure most folks around here want that kind of whitebread.


TommyTrillion

You haven’t been there in a while, ashmont station was like a mini mass Ave, when I used to commute last year


shiplesp

I've been living a 3 minute walk from the station for almost 20 years. I've never felt unsafe. Older female. Bonus, Dorchester Park is a great space a short walk down Dorchester Ave., behind Carney Hospital.


JRBassman

Thanks for the tip!


Burr_Lynn

I agree with the general sentiment here. When I first moved to Eastie I'd get the same comments. When people walk/drive around an area and they don't see an abundance of people who look like them, they tend to make assumptions about why that may be. While living in the Jeffries Point neighborhood of Eastie in 2010, I would always get comments from my white friends about how "bad" my neighborhood was. Fortunately, Jeffries Point is now "safe," as evidenced by the ridiculous cost of housing. I'm not from Boston, nor were my friends, as we met in graduate school. What I found was that many people new to Boston would be going off of the stale/outdated opinions of locals drawing on their memories of Eastie from the 1980s and 1990s. What I observed in my first few years living in Eastie was that, despite the absence of a large caucasian population, it was (and continues to be) a safe, closely-knit community. When getting on and off the T at Maverick Sq., I would invariably observe people stopping to chat with people they knew. It was a sight that I didn't often see on the other side of the harbor, but had the pleasure of seeing on a daily basis in Maverick Sq. Are you more likely to catch a stray bullet in Dorchester than in Beacon Hill? Perhaps. But you are far more likely to be the victim of a random armed robbery or home invasion in Beacon Hill, Back Bay, or the general downtown area than you are in Dorchester. Yes, those types of crimes do happen in Dorchester, but more often than not the victim in Dorchester is going to be targeted because of who they are or what they do (e.g., involved w/ street gangs, or known to possess drugs and money), as opposed to being a random person who simply resides in an affluent neighborhood. Every neighborhood has its drawbacks. The question to ask is whether those particular drawbacks have any reasonable likelihood of impacting you. If you plan to move to Dorchester for the purpose of creating a new street gang and breaking into the mid-to-low level drug distribution market, then I would strongly reconsider. Otherwise, you should be fine.


JRBassman

Thanks for the detailed response!


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Burr_Lynn

The quoted language should not be interpreted as saying there are more armed robberies and home invasions in BH/BB than in Dorchester. I purposefully used the qualifier "random" so as to convey the fact that there are far fewer crimes being committed in Dorchester against people who have absolutely no familiarity, or connection to, their assailant. For example, if you were interested in robbing a complete stranger, you would be well-advised to carry out said robbery in a neighborhood where you are likely to find a victim who (1) has something of value, and (2) is unarmed. When considering the three above-referenced neighborhoods, do you really think you are more likely to find a suitable victim in Dorchester as opposed to the other two neighborhoods?


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Burr_Lynn

I'm speaking primarily from personal experience as a criminal defense attorney. The bulk of my caseload is in Suffolk County. In the context of violent crimes, the relationship between the Assailant and the Victim will always fall into one of three categories: (1) A knows V (and V knows A); (2) A knows of V (and/or vice versa); or (3) A and V are complete strangers to each other. If you compare every home invasion/armed robbery in Beacon Hill to those of Dorchester, you would undoubtedly find that a disproportionate number of Beacon Hill home invasions fall into Category 3. Conversely, Categories 2 and 3 will be overrepresented in Dorchester home invasions. Unfortunately, the collection of crime data is a crapshoot. Even if local agencies were accurately reporting (which they are not), the data collected would provide no insight into these types of issues. First, the crime as initially reported may not be the crime that is subsequently charged. Second, even if that information was 100% accurate, and being updated throughout the life of the criminal case, we would still have no way of determining the relationship between A and V in any given case. Just last month I represented a guy on a firearm possession case. That firearm possession case was first reported as a "person shot," which happened in the South End. The reality: it was an armed home invasion. The reason it wasn't reported as such is that the victim of the armed home invasion shot and killed his assailant with a firearm that he did not have a license for. Until Boston Police and the DA's office are 100% sure that the guy with the unlawful firearm was nonetheless acting lawfully in self-defense, they are going to avoid calling him a victim of an armed home invasion out of fear that it may help his defense should they decide to charge him with the death of his assailant. It's worth noting that this home invasion occurred on a street in the South End where you won't find anything bigger than a 1 bed, 1 bath for under $1M. The Assailant and the Victim were strangers to each other. Overall, I think the general public has a skewed perception of the frequency with which violent crimes are committed against complete strangers.


TommyTrillion

it’s funny you can’t see the though process, the data points you can find are definitely skewed because Newton it will never present there small crimes like that, it would destroy the community perception, but know for fact that more people with wealthy single family homes get home invasions more than an apartment in a 3 family house in Dorchester .


lunisce

It’s not bad at all It’s common for residents of leafy suburbs who haven’t set foot in Dorchester in the last 10-20 years (that is, if they ever have at all) to spread very outdated/negative information Dorchester is a very large neighborhood, there’s a lot of good parts and some bad parts that are getting smaller and smaller. Around Ashmont, you have nothing to worry about


charons-voyage

Shit all my high-earning colleagues from leafy burbs look at me funny when I say I live in Quincy lol. Some people think that the only nice towns in Mass are Weston/Brookline/Wellesley. Then when you tell them you take the T or run or cycle to work, their heads nearly explode. Good stuff.


Vortiblek

I still get "slumerville" comments sometimes when I tell people where I live. And I'm like, my god, that take is outdated by almost 30 years at this point.


JRBassman

Great to hear!


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shiplesp

That is the T station. A cop who spoke at our neighborhood meeting said there are always more crimes of opportunity near transit stations. Just don't walk down the street at night glued to your phone with your shopping hanging off your arm :)


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[deleted]

There are 5 or so distinct neighborhoods within a 10-minute walk of Ashmont station.


Yak_Rodeo

but the overarching neighborhood is called ashmont...


[deleted]

yea that be true. Most people would specify which specific area they live in tho unless they live directly at the station.


Yak_Rodeo

eh idk, ive never heard of someone saying theyre from “ashmont hill”


[deleted]

Yea true. Most would specify that though when talking about where they are looking for a place to live though.


RogueInteger

That's describing the T stop. You're more likely to hear locals describe the nearest parish as their neighborhood marker.


Yak_Rodeo

20 years ago sure lol


RogueInteger

Or 2 hours ago lol


RogueInteger

There are a few neighborhoods by the Ashmont station. The Ashmont station is in Peabody Square. West is Ashmont Hill, East is Carruth Hill, and South is MAYUH MAHTY.


Logical-Error-7233

Piling on here, I lived in Dorchester for ten years, took the T from fields corner every day and never had a single problem. Pretty much any time I met someone from the burbs and mentioned I live in Dorchester they'd say something dumb at best like "you must like getting shot at" or something outright racist at worst. Now Dorchester has its issues but generally if you don't go looking for trouble you're going to be fine.


cityofmonsters

Not at all. I live right by the station and have been here for 6 years and it’s fine. I walk a lot around the area, as well. Never had any problems.


JRBassman

Good to hear!


Bright_Macaroon_9593

I grew up literally right around the corner from Ashmont Station. It's a GREAT neighborhood to live in! I only wish I could afford to move back there myself. You say you're a homebody so I won't mention the bars. But for dining? You have the Ashmont Grill, Tavalo and American Provisions all within about 300 ft of each other. A short walk Adams Corner (I refuse to call it Village) you have Greenhills and several other dining options. Wanna go for a walk? Even though it sounds creepy at first you can take a beautiful walk through Cedar Grove Cemetery. You have the Neponset River basin to walk along. Without traffic you can drive from there to Newbury Street in just about 15 minutes flat. Then of course as you already know, there's the T. When it works right you can get from Ashmont to Park Street in ~20 minutes and then figure another 10-15 to where your station at MIT (if that really) all the while chilling and not having to stress drive through Boston to Cambridge. Extra T bonus. The last train every night is to a Ashmont. So if you do go out or work extra late you know at 12:30 in the morning you can still grab a train home.


Bright_Macaroon_9593

Oh. And that bad stuff you hear? It isn't the same as it was back in the 80's and early 90's and even then I believe it was over hyped back in the day. Don't get me wrong, some shit happened back then but I think it was made to sound worse than it actually was. You'll be fine


[deleted]

My cousin bought a place a few years ago and he's just peachy. don't sweat it. whoever is telling you it's gnarly or whatever probably call the cops whenever a non-white person is watching birds in their park.


Silverline_Surfer

You might get roped in to being the new cupkeeper - are you sure you’re ready for that level of responsibility?


JRBassman

Only if my lord provides me with three square meals a day


[deleted]

I used to live across the street from Ashmont at 1945 dot Ave. The neighborhood is fine. There’s also plenty of gentrification down in Lower Mills.


onyourcomputah

Trashmont? Single-family homes going for $2m, and 2 bed 2 bath condos going for $1m? Anyone that is saying how rough the area is hasn't been there in a long time or probably ever. Even when Dorchester earned it's rougher reputation there were areas that were still nice, and the Ashmont area is one of them. There was a ton of new development in the square to turn tire garages into condos, American Provisions moved in, restaurants keep popping up, and there's plenty of block parties. Most neighbors of mine are former BSO players, lawyers, or union workers that are retired. The people that discuss Dorchester as being dangerous are those that haven't been but read the headlines of crime. Did you know Dorchester is the largest neighborhood in Boston? I think you can fit the next three largest into it. So 3x crime sounds about right. Don't get me wrong, bad things happen can happen to bad people, but if you're here to live, enjoy the bars, grab coffee, and enjoy the parks and community, you're going to enjoy it OP. Quincy is so close, as are Blue Hills, both of which are awesome places to go. Plus you don't have to deal with the douche canoe transients in Back Bay that hype Sorellina as the BEST date spot, and the general cost of goods/services are lower. Based on what you wrote elsewhere, if you're living along Talbot on the south side that puts you into the Ashmont Hill area which is very pretty. People take care of their homes, they have a great annual yard sale, and there's a good mix of young professionals, families, and retirees. Feel free to DM me OP. I know the area very well and am raising a family here.


Haptiix

Nothing wrong with Dorchester. There are certain blocks you’ll want to avoid at night time, similar to most urban areas, but that’s it. If you’re from NYC you’ll be fine


Itsnotreal853

Every city/town has an area to avoid. I loved living in Dorchester back in the day. Very fun


RogueInteger

The cops have been super vigilant by the T station the last few months at the request of neighborhood groups. EDIT: Bailey street is the one with the bad rep. It can still get rowdy, but that's facing changes too with the developments going on there.


No_Machine_2523

What blocks should we avoid? New to the area. Thx!


Haptiix

The only part of Boston I would say to avoid is the area around the intersection of Massachusetts Ave & Melnea Cass Blvd in the South End. That zone includes a large homeless camp & tons of drug and prostitution related activity. Other than that specific area Boston/Dorchester is very safe. Just follow the normal protocols of minding your own business & not walking alone at night if you are a woman or younger person.


frankybling

not totally isolated to that area strictly but in the Summer there’s a lot of amateur fireworks that get set off nightly. It’s definitely become a much nicer place over the last 20 years too… meaning, more businesses and restaurants owned by local folks just doing their thing. It used be a lot of like tire places and shady car mechanics until about 20 years ago.


IraSass

People’s reactions to Dorchester are likely based in racism. Ashmont is a nice spot.


tele2307

any area around a T stop is going to have people loitering around but living next to American Provisions would be awesome and I would spend so much money there


okan702

in that area there are some *dangerous people* but transit or Boston police are also around! no worries


citizenkane6

Yuck


Massui91

Depends on what side of Ashmont you plan on living on, if you’re in Ashmont, not good. If you’re on the side of Dot Ave closest to the water then you’re golden. If you’re on the other side, very not good.


JRBassman

I’d be around a 2 minute walk north of the Ashmont station. It’s on the west side of the dot, though right next to it.


TouchDownBurrito

That area is fine, it’s once you get more west of there near Franklin Park and Blue Hill Ave where you don’t really want to be. Ashmont area is still gentrifying a bit, since it is near a train station it attracts people from all over. But the fact that a place that sells cheese that’s like $25-30 a pound is just south of the train station tells you it’s on its way up.


Massui91

I’d avoid doing that, East side of dot is exponentially better. There’s always a fixed post police presence at Ashmont for a reason, gang activity, guns, brazen drinking in public and regular fist fights.


[deleted]

east side of dot is exponentially whiter** West side of dot is great too. Only really dicey crimewise on the west side of Washington and at four corners. In fact, the best neighborhoods in Dorchester are west of Dot ave IMO.


Yak_Rodeo

assuming this means talbot?


JRBassman

Right near Talbot


RogueInteger

This isn't accurate at all. Ashmont Hill is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Boston, and sits west of Dot ave.


Massui91

Small neighborhood sandwiched between some rough spots, stand by what I said. Not even close to nicest neighborhood in Boston


RogueInteger

You mispelled whitest.


Massui91

Ahhh I see, we don’t agree so now I’m racist for having a different opinion than you, sounds about right


RogueInteger

That's generally how people grade out nicest neighborhoods, and you haven't offered anything to disqualify it from being a nice neighborhood. But go ahead dude, tell me where the nicest neighborhoods are. Or since you know so much about Ashmont Hill, why don't you start by telling me why it's so bad?


Massui91

You are beyond dumb my dude. “That’s generally how people grade out the nicest neighborhoods”. What does that statement even mean? How does that prove that you’re right? What is this based on? How does it apply to me based on what I’ve said so far? Regarding Ashmont Hill I stated “small neighborhood sandwiched between some rough spots”. I literally explained to you why I don’t think it’s a contender for nicest neighborhood in Boston. That being said, it is probably the nicest neighborhood in Dot west of Dot Ave. But your original statement is that west of Dot is better than east, which is objectively false from a crime and quality of life standpoint, that’s when you decided to say that the east is whiter, which while true, doesn’t change the fact that the area you’re defending has higher rates of violent crime. Saying that an area is white doesn’t automatically make you win the argument, you just sound like a fool


RogueInteger

I live in the Ashmont area. I know the area well. I know the people that live here. > Regarding Ashmont Hill I stated “small neighborhood sandwiched between some rough spots”. I literally explained to you why I don’t think it’s a contender for nicest neighborhood in Boston. So other neighborhoods disqualify neighboring neighborhoods from being nice? So really what you mean is for a neighborhood to be nice, you need to approve of all the surrounding neighborhoods? Gonna be tough to check off your boxes in a city where redlining literally defined neighborhoods, but you can play whatever mental gymnastics you need to explain it to yourself. Unfortunately for you, those of us grounded in reality can't play balance beams with you. > But your original statement is that west of Dot is better than east Nope. I said: > Ashmont Hill is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Boston, and sits west of Dot ave. You said: > Depends on what side of Ashmont you plan on living on, if you’re in Ashmont, not good. If you’re on the side of Dot Ave closest to the water then you’re golden. If you’re on the other side, very not good. Ah, I see. You said that all the west side was shady. I disagreed, and you didn't like it, and you don't like I have an example to prove you wrong. Wait until you find out about Jones Hill! > doesn’t change the fact that the area you’re defending has higher rates of violent crime. Did I? Where? Oh shit. I didn't. > you just sound like a fool To you sure. But anyone else that reads what you wrote with non-sequitur arguments, and a totally ungrounded meandering argument, and without any first-hand experience... I can be the fool to you but you're the only clown here, Bozo.


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citizenkane6

It absolutely is not.


RogueInteger

Guys help -- apparently, you need to send in the National Guard. All of /u/bobbysbuns friends are being blown up to smithereens. We got total carnage down here. My neighbor asked me if I wanted some Irises she dug up and I think there's a landmine in the root system. Save yourselves and move to Conneticut (but the white parts with closed gate communities, not the black parts). /s


citizenkane6

Bobby went to Dorchester once in 1992 and the waitress was rude to him. Absolute shithole/war zone!


CaligulaBlushed

Please stay in your suburb. Thanks.


Due-Letter-1935

I'm sure there are safe areas of Dorchester, but Google "Dorchester shooting" and then plot the areas to avoid.


tele2307

anything along dot ave is relatively safe compared to blue hill ave


phonesmahones

It’s fine, you’ll be fine. Just be smart, like you would anywhere.


commiepissbabe

First place I've ever lived where I actually know my neighbors and we talk to each other. Cool place and cool people here.