Dorchester
I went to Dorchester to visit a drumming group created for dementia patients. Before and after the group my host drove me around Dorchester. I had never explored this neighborhood beyond the JFK museum!
It didn't surprise me when I saw a group of young men dressed in black walking together as if they were in a gang. After all, last month I read about at least three murders that had happened in Dorchester and one murder last year had even happened right next to the senior center I was visiting. However,overall, considering the things a girl from Brookline hears about Dorchester, it seemed much better than I expected. Granted, I also was only there for an hour in the middle of Monday morning.
The thing that surprised me about the group of young men was that they were dressed almost exactly the same. They also walked in pairs of two with their leader in the front and they all kept step with one another. It literally looked like they were urban soldiers.
The other thing that I expected, but which surprised me, was how little money Dorchester has. It is one of Boston's historic areas and yet EVERYTHING from the T-station at Fields Corner to the houses, restaurants and shops looked run down. The area was laid out well and the houses were fine but nothing was kept up. There were also very few people in the streets. I most often saw groups of young men ,similar to the group I described above, sauntering around the sidewalks or hanging by the corners.
Then there was my experience on the subway: on the way down, by the time I reached filets Corner, I was the only person left on the train, but on the way back, the train was packed.
I want to go back to find some of the good Jamaican restaurants and food shops I've read about but, sadly, even though my visit allayed some of my fears, II am still a little uneasy about this area and I think I would need a friend to help me out. It definitely was not a warm and friendly neighborhood!
Yet, it makes me sad that it took me so long to visit Dorchester. I was kept away primarily by the negative stereotypes about the area. However, today it made me even more sad that I do not seem to be the only one who has avoided Dorchester. It certainly does not seem to be a place to which people are flocking. However, how is a neighborhood supposed to get better unless people take an interest in it?
It didn't surprise me when I saw a group of young men dressed in black walking together as if they were in a gang. After all, last month I read about at least three murders that had happened in Dorchester and one murder last year had even happened right next to the senior center I was visiting. However,overall, considering the things a girl from Brookline hears about Dorchester, it seemed much better than I expected. Granted, I also was only there for an hour in the middle of Monday morning.
The thing that surprised me about the group of young men was that they were dressed almost exactly the same. They also walked in pairs of two with their leader in the front and they all kept step with one another. It literally looked like they were urban soldiers.
The other thing that I expected, but which surprised me, was how little money Dorchester has. It is one of Boston's historic areas and yet EVERYTHING from the T-station at Fields Corner to the houses, restaurants and shops looked run down. The area was laid out well and the houses were fine but nothing was kept up. There were also very few people in the streets. I most often saw groups of young men ,similar to the group I described above, sauntering around the sidewalks or hanging by the corners.
Then there was my experience on the subway: on the way down, by the time I reached filets Corner, I was the only person left on the train, but on the way back, the train was packed.
I want to go back to find some of the good Jamaican restaurants and food shops I've read about but, sadly, even though my visit allayed some of my fears, II am still a little uneasy about this area and I think I would need a friend to help me out. It definitely was not a warm and friendly neighborhood!
Yet, it makes me sad that it took me so long to visit Dorchester. I was kept away primarily by the negative stereotypes about the area. However, today it made me even more sad that I do not seem to be the only one who has avoided Dorchester. It certainly does not seem to be a place to which people are flocking. However, how is a neighborhood supposed to get better unless people take an interest in it?
posted by El @ Monday, October 30, 2006
3 Comments:
At 3:01 PM, October 30, 2006,
Anonymous said…
there are some really nice parts of dorchester, too! my parents grew up there, near st. brendan's, and i still have some family there so i have a special place in my heart for it. the only "restaurants" i know around there, though, are irish bars! if you find something good, make sure you let everyone know. xox
At 12:38 AM, October 31, 2006,
El said…
The man said today that the Irish and Italian are dying out.
The vietnamese, Hatian, Cape Verdian, Jamaican etc are taking over and it is making the "natives" uneasy. Well, at least, it is making the English speaking portion of the senior center feel more isolated and creating a sense of loss of culture.
I am just learning about Boston and its different cultural pockets. It sounds as if your parents were part of it when it was still primarily irish ? Are there still a lot of "English speakers" in Dorchester who are not part of the islands or vietnam? Or does this migratory pattern totally depend on which part of Dorchester we're discussing?
At 7:01 AM, November 02, 2006,
Laurie said…
It completely has to do with the part of Dorchester that you're in. Take your destination on the T: first of all, you were headed to Fields Corner, which is where I grew up. It's an area that has suffered greatly in the past decade, primarily as a result of urban unrest and gang violence. There are now only a small number of caucasian families there, and I've heard them say that they're "waiting out" the invasion of foreigners, primarily those of Asian descent. It's so sad to me because, just like Amanda's family, my roots are there. Yet, it's completely unsafe for me to live there as it is now.
90% of my students live in Dorchester, or right on the Dorchester/Southie line. They're all Caucasian, mostly Polish, Irish and Italian. So, over on this side of Dorchester, these communities have formed a stronghold, refusing to leave the area, avoiding the "white flight" that unfortunately occurred in most other Boston neighborhoods.
You should come to Dorchester with me and Manda. Maybe you'd get to see a bit of a different side of it.
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