🔷 Open Thread

[Ron Newman]

Some history:

Roxbury was once a separate town. Part of Roxbury broke off and became West Roxbury. The dividing line ran through the middle of what we now call Jamaica Plain. Later, Boston annexed Roxbury. Still later, Boston annexed West Roxbury too.

Roslindale was once part of Roxbury, then part of West Roxbury.

 

[statler]

Here is a .PDF with the 2000 census info for West Roxbury.

 

[Patrick]

ah, i see. When i went down to look at an apartment in Brookline the guy who gave us the tour said it actually was built right on the line of brookline and west roxubury, and so we would get a discount because no one wanted to live in west roxbury because that would mean that their children could not attend the very upper class elementary school a block away in brookline. i thought it might have also had something to do with roxbury's reputation but i had no idea they were separate sections of the city (west versus regualr that is).

 

[statler]

ah, i see. When i went down to look at an apartment in Brookline the guy who gave us the tour said it actually was built right on the line of brookline and west roxubury, and so we would get a discount because no one wanted to live in west roxbury because that would mean that their children could not attend the very upper class elementary school a block away in brookline. i thought it might have also had something to do with roxbury's reputation but i had no idea they were separate sections of the city (west versus regualr that is).

Fuck Brookline. Buncha fucking snobs. He should have charged you more because you would have been covered by the BPD & BFD as opposed to whatever rent-a-cops and volunteers they have out there.

 

[Ron Newman]

Sounds like you were apartment-hunting in Hancock Village. Any differential in price completely reflects the difference in the school systems' reputations. It has nothing to do with crime. West Roxbury's reputation is "boring and suburban".

 

[Patrick]

ah, i see. When i went down to look at an apartment in Brookline the guy who gave us the tour said it actually was built right on the line of brookline and west roxubury, and so we would get a discount because no one wanted to live in west roxbury because that would mean that their children could not attend the very upper class elementary school a block away in brookline. i thought it might have also had something to do with roxbury's reputation but i had no idea they were separate sections of the city (west versus regualr that is).

Fuck Brookline. Buncha fucking snobs. He should have charged you more because you would have been covered by the BPD & BFD as opposed to whatever rent-a-cops and volunteers they have out there.

true, but would these services even be needed, or worse, wouldn't they?

that is, i might be served by them in west roxbury, but suppose there is no need for police, then i am stuck with an excellent but uneeded service, and a poorer school system than the town ten feet away. worse yet, suppose they are needed, then id still rather be living in the next town over where it might be a different story.

at any rate, its not like i have kids to send to school in either town and to be honest i was unimpressed with both west roxbury and brookline, as well as the drive into the city from both spots. i would have much rather gotten an apartment in an urban section of boston; neither west roxbury nor brookline looked very urban, but driving into boston i got lost in dorchester which was very densely settled and it only got more urban from there if memory serves me correctly.

 

[garbribre]

Holt Crap!

When my wife and I were looking for a house 2 years ago we looked at a dilaptated Victorian in W. Roxbury that was listed at $299,000.

Well, it's back on the market. :shock:

BTW: "meticulously restored" must mean "meticulously gutted and rebuilt from scratch" in real estate-ese. :roll: I think the original Victorian interior would have had a bit more detail.

Wow. I am surprised at the escalation in price in such a short time. But it does have 5 bedrooms and three plus baths. It's a big house.

I am most surprised because the homes in the nicer parts of Codman Square, all of which are bigger, and you could say more grand than those in West Roxbury, are hundreds of thousands less. I guess 'West Roxbury' sounds better than 'Dorchester.' (But I'd take Dot any day.)

Just for comparison, a friend just put in a bid on a house in a 'suburb' of Oakland at $590K. Bid 50K over asking just to keep in the running. It's only a 1,300 sq foot 2br/ 1-1/2 bath prairie-style bungalow. If that West Roxbury house was here, it could be $1.5M--no joke.

 

[Ron Newman]

[at any rate, its not like i have kids to send to school in either town and to be honest i was unimpressed with both west roxbury and brookline, as well as the drive into the city from both spots. i would have much rather gotten an apartment in an urban section of boston; neither west roxbury nor brookline looked very urban,

If all you saw of Brookline was the part next to West Roxbury, I can understand that statement. That part is quite sparsely populated, with more golf balls than people. But you should take a walk along Beacon Street or Harvard Street before deciding that Brookline is "not urban".

As for fire departments, I'm sure Boston and Brookline have a mutual-aid agreement.

 

[Patrick]

Holt Crap!

When my wife and I were looking for a house 2 years ago we looked at a dilaptated Victorian in W. Roxbury that was listed at $299,000.

Well, it's back on the market. :shock:

BTW: "meticulously restored" must mean "meticulously gutted and rebuilt from scratch" in real estate-ese. :roll: I think the original Victorian interior would have had a bit more detail.

Wow. I am surprised at the escalation in price in such a short time. But it does have 5 bedrooms and three plus baths. It's a big house.

I am most surprised because the homes in the nicer parts of Codman Square, all of which are bigger, and you could say more grand than those in West Roxbury, are hundreds of thousands less. I guess 'West Roxbury' sounds better than 'Dorchester.' (But I'd take Dot any day.)

Just for comparison, a friend just put in a bid on a house in a 'suburb' of Oakland at $590K. Bid 50K over asking just to keep in the running. It's only a 1,300 sq foot 2br/ 1-1/2 bath prairie-style bungalow. If that West Roxbury house was here, it could be $1.5M--no joke.

I thought oakland, as urbanized as it is, was technically a suburb of san francisco, i didnt think it had suburbs of its own. I knwo it is an urban center, but in terms of importance, isnt oakland what it is because san fran is right next door, or would it have grown the way it has regardless? I dont know much about that area, how close are the two cities (i think ive asked you before, but since the old board crashed your answer would be irretrievable).

I think i read somewhere that san fran was the most expensive metro in the nation for housing. and now that i think of it, perhaps rather than being a suburb of san fran i just mean, isnt oakland in the san fran metro? or is it a separate metro core altogether?

 

[Ron Newman]

I thought oakland, as urbanized as it is, was technically a suburb of san francisco

I wouldn't call it that. Is Cambridge a suburb of Boston? In both cases, I'd say you have two cities, one better known that the other, separated by water.

 

[statler]

true, but would these services even be needed, or worse, wouldn't they?

But what if you had to deal with the dreaded Fruits & Vegetables Gang? :lol:
Seriously though, you are right, Dot is far, far more urban than Westie & Brookline.

Wow. I am surprised at the escalation in price in such a short time.

To be fair, I would guess they put in about $200,000 worth of work into it. It was literally falling apart.

 

[garbribre]

I thought oakland, as urbanized as it is, was technically a suburb of san francisco, i didnt think it had suburbs of its own. I knwo it is an urban center, but in terms of importance, isnt oakland what it is because san fran is right next door, or would it have grown the way it has regardless? I dont know much about that area, how close are the two cities (i think ive asked you before, but since the old board crashed your answer would be irretrievable).

I think i read somewhere that san fran was the most expensive metro in the nation for housing. and now that i think of it, perhaps rather than being a suburb of san fran i just mean, isnt oakland in the san fran metro? or is it a separate metro core altogether?

Yup discussed and is now lost. **sniff**

Oakland IS it's own animal. Oakland Metro (Alameda County) is about 1.8 million people--just because you like the numbers, patrick.

Oakland is considered anywhere from 5th to 8th on the most expensive list, depending on which one you look at. Median Prices in SF over $750K; Oakland over $625K. Someday I'll repost the lost pics and some new ones of the mansions in my hood and in the hills. Makes Portland's Grand Promenade and Brookline's manses look quaint. :lol: Although the most expensive home in the US is not in the Bay Area, many of the $30-50M ones are. Hell, as a joke, I even looked at a condo in my hood that was $1.3M. A condo! And the monthly HOA/condo fee was more than my current rent.

 

[Patrick]

I thought oakland, as urbanized as it is, was technically a suburb of san francisco, i didnt think it had suburbs of its own. I knwo it is an urban center, but in terms of importance, isnt oakland what it is because san fran is right next door, or would it have grown the way it has regardless? I dont know much about that area, how close are the two cities (i think ive asked you before, but since the old board crashed your answer would be irretrievable).

I think i read somewhere that san fran was the most expensive metro in the nation for housing. and now that i think of it, perhaps rather than being a suburb of san fran i just mean, isnt oakland in the san fran metro? or is it a separate metro core altogether?

Yup discussed and is now lost. **sniff**

Oakland IS it's own animal. Oakland Metro (Alameda County) is about 1.8 million people--just because you like the numbers, patrick.

Oakland is considered anywhere from 5th to 8th on the most expensive list, depending on which one you look at. Median Prices in SF over $750K; Oakland over $625K. Someday I'll repost the lost pics and some new ones of the mansions in my hood and in the hills. Makes Portland's Grand Promenade and Brookline's manses look quaint. :lol: Although the most expensive home in the US is not in the Bay Area, many of the $30-50M ones are. Hell, as a joke, I even looked at a condo in my hood that was $1.3M. A condo! And the monthly HOA/condo fee was more than my current rent.

Condos currently underway in portland's eastern waterfront are selling for $5 million! I shit you not. several others sell for a million plus. there is a wave of condo demand and development underway across the nation to cater to the baby boomers....i wouldnt expect any of these prices, whether in maine or cali, to last long, although im sure they will remain relatively higher in cali than elsewhere just because good weather is always in demand.

but anyhow, thank you for the numbers, i love them, you are right. 50 million dollar homes are hard for me to imagine. My uncle was close friends with the CEO of STAPLES before he passed two summer ago and I heard my dad tell me that the guy is worth about $50 million. thats like taking this guys entire net worth and spending it on a home. insane.

 

[Patrick]

true, but would these services even be needed, or worse, wouldn't they?

But what if you had to deal with the dreaded Fruits & Vegetables Gang? :lol:
Seriously though, you are right, Dot is far, far more urban than Westie & Brookline.

Wow. I am surprised at the escalation in price in such a short time.

To be fair, I would guess they put in about $200,000 worth of work into it. It was literally falling apart.

I thought that article was a joke until I read on. How funny. the kid in the middle photo looks like that fat red head from the sand lot movie haha. i wonder how well these suburban gang kids would fare in the more rough sections of boston? not well i bet.

 

[bowesst]

I find it interesting how some people claim to know so much about neighborhoods in which they have never lived.

 

[Ron Newman]

I've never lived in Cambridge, Brookline, or West Roxbury, but that doesn't mean I know nothing about them.

 

[statler]

I find it interesting how some people claim to know so much about neighborhoods in which they have never lived.

In this thread? :?:

 

[Patrick]

I find it interesting how some people claim to know so much about neighborhoods in which they have never lived.

please, then, tell us what interests you so much.

 

[Patrick]

[at any rate, its not like i have kids to send to school in either town and to be honest i was unimpressed with both west roxbury and brookline, as well as the drive into the city from both spots. i would have much rather gotten an apartment in an urban section of boston; neither west roxbury nor brookline looked very urban,

If all you saw of Brookline was the part next to West Roxbury, I can understand that statement. That part is quite sparsely populated, with more golf balls than people. But you should take a walk along Beacon Street or Harvard Street before deciding that Brookline is "not urban".

As for fire departments, I'm sure Boston and Brookline have a mutual-aid agreement.

I was under the impression that the whole town/city looked like that. How exactly "urban" dopes it get in other sections (Brookline, that is) ?

 

[Ron Newman]

do a Google image search on "Coolidge Corner", which is where Harvard and Beacon streets intersect.