What is Roxbury like?

[Whatsnext75]

Yup. They shoot police in the face. Gentrifying? Please...

[Flashpoint922]

It didn't get the nickname "Glocksbury" for no reason...

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by MassNative2891

I'm frankly surprised by the fact that people are saying that Roxbury is safer than Dorchester. It's not really even close. Dorchester has Lower Mills, Neponset, Fields Corner, etc. Roxbury has some of the worst neighborhoods in the city, not to mention vicous gangs. That being said, keep your nose clean and you'll be a-Ok! Roxbury is good in some parts, but in others the plight of the more "dangerous" areas is horrific. I'm not bashing Rox but Dorchester hasn't been on Roxbury's level in years. Surprising considering how "Gentrified" Roxbury has become.

Nearly half of Boston murders took place in Roxbury | Boston Herald

Completely agree with this, most of Dorchester is relatively safe, most of Roxbury is not. In fact the worst areas of Dorchester are those that are within 6 blocks of Roxbury roughly the whole northwest section of the neighborhood.

Roxbury, over most of its area is a sh-thole. It needs to be blown up and started over. I'll make the exception that areas west of Washington St and in the area of Horatio Park have nice housing stock so it is a promising area. Even the so called "H Block" could flip because of the beautiful homes there, however, it is very dangerous there now due to flying bullets with no name on them.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by anita2498

When it comes to violent crimes, Roxbury has taken alot of its blows from the media. A shooting can occur deep in Dorchester, and the news would report "Shooting in Roxbury...details @ 11. It is the media who wants the rest of Massachusetts to fear Roxbury when the truth is the majority of people living there are hard-working, honest and law abiding. One would never know it from the stigma associated with the word Roxbury.

It's the same the other way around, a woman was killed on Seaver St near Columbia Rd walking home from a store and the local news said "Shooting in Dorchester". This area is Roxbury.

[pennyone]

Personally, I find much that I really like in Dorchester. There's Savin Hill, Lower Mills, Ashmont area, Adams village etc that are completely awesome and very livable. Sure they are urban but they've got cool, or the potential for cool because of their diversity and relative safety. The vibes there are fun and energetic. I have not felt or seen anything positive or fun anywhere in Roxbury, quite frankly. Maybe I just don't know enough of the area.

[missionhill]

Energetic and/or agreeable vibe: Fort Hill, Mission Hill (unless you hold to the fiction that Mission Hill isn't in Roxbury.)

[such sweet thunder]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Energetic and/or agreeable vibe: Fort Hill, Mission Hill (unless you hold to the fiction that Mission Hill isn't in Roxbury.)

And the fiction that large chunks of Backbay and South End aren't Roxbury. These trash Roxbury threads have a lot in common: re-categorize areas that were historically part of Roxbury as other parts of town; ignore Fort Hill; and then proclaim that all of Roxbury is **** unlike the neighborhood a given poster lives in.

You know what makes me feel better when people trash Roxbury? The fact that my Fort Hill condo has appreciated by over 65% in the two and a half years since I bought here.

So have a grand old time trashing Roxbury fellow posters. :-) I'm sure the neighborhoods you live in are great, though almost certainly less accessible, with hirer crime, and less livable than mine. And I'm sure the 15% appreciation you've seen since the recovery of the Boston housing market is just amazing!

--- Bitter Fort Hill Resident

[bigfatdude]

Originally Posted by such sweet thunder

And the fiction that large chunks of Backbay and South End aren't Roxbury. These trash Roxbury threads have a lot in common: re-categorize areas that were historically part of Roxbury as other parts of town; ignore Fort Hill; and then proclaim that all of Roxbury is **** unlike the neighborhood a given poster lives in.

You know what makes me feel better when people trash Roxbury? The fact that my Fort Hill condo has appreciated by over 65% in the two and a half years since I bought here.

So have a grand old time trashing Roxbury fellow posters. :-) I'm sure the neighborhoods you live in are great, though almost certainly less accessible, with hirer crime, and less livable than mine. And I'm sure the 15% appreciation you've seen since the recovery of the Boston housing market is just amazing!

--- Bitter Fort Hill Resident

That's because you live in Fort Hill - had it been a place like H-Block instead, you would have witnessed a very modest appreciation, along with frequent and very sizable depreciation (or in this case disappearance) of the contents of your pockets and your car, along with the contents of your apartment. And possibly the structural integrity of your body, had you been unlucky enough to walk into a stray bullet shot off by some random gangbanger. No one's saying Fort Hill isn't nice, it is. But most of Roxbury is nothing like Fort Hill - in fact, it's quite the opposite.

[such sweet thunder]

Originally Posted by bigfatdude

That's because you live in Fort Hill - had it been a place like H-Block instead, you would have witnessed a very modest appreciation, along with frequent and very sizable depreciation (or in this case disappearance) of the contents of your pockets and your car, along with the contents of your apartment. And possibly the structural integrity of your body, had you been unlucky enough to walk into a stray bullet shot off by some random gangbanger. No one's saying Fort Hill isn't nice, it is. But most of Roxbury is nothing like Fort Hill - in fact, it's quite the opposite.

Your point about property values isn't accurate.

The zip code 02121 covers South East Roxbury, including the area between Blue Hill Ave. and Humboldt Ave. above Franklin Park. You know what the year-over-year appreciation is for the zip code 02121? 15.8% verses 4.2% citywide. As far as I'm aware, that's the highest in the city besides 02119 (Fort Hill and Dudley Square), which is at 16.1% year over year.

Look, Roxbury has been on a tear since the end of the housing crash. Mission Hill, which was at 15.4% in the previous year, came out of the crash swinging and was the quickest appreciating neighborhood in Boston; and from there it seems to have spread East with Fort Hill going on an extended run and now South East Roxbury.