Roslindale Neighborhood - Boston, Massachusetts - Boston Neighborhood with Plentiful Transportation

Roslindale is a neighborhood of Boston surrounded by Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Mattapan. It is served by a line of MBTA commuter rail, MBTA bus lines and the nearby MBTA Orange Line.

Six miles south-southwest of downtown Boston, Roslindale was originally part of the town of Roxbury. In 1851, current day Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury seceded from Roxbury to become the City of West Roxbury.

The area voted in 1873 to be annexed to the city of Boston. In the 1880s, the area was called South Street Crossing because the railroad intersection with South Street. However, when the community requested a district post office of your account, the name "South Street Crossing" proved to be unacceptable for the government.

The name "Roslindale" was suggested by John Pierce, a well-traveled member of the community, who told the assembled citizens that the area reminded him of the beautiful historic town of Roslin, Scotland, outside Edinburgh. Pierce thought the area was like a dale because of the surrounding hills. Thus, the combination of "Roslin" and "Dale" was submitted to the United States Postal Service and the name "Roslindale" was formally established.

Roslindale grew up in a residential suburb of traditional tramway. The railroad was built after the Civil War, and spawned a new round of commercial development. Roslindale has experienced steady growth of its resident population from the 1880s with the introduction of the horse tram service between Forest Hills and Dedham.

In the 1920s, Roslindale Village assumed the configuration it has today, with wooded Adams Park at its center. Roslindale falls into a crease between several other neighborhoods in Boston and parts of Roslindale neighborhoods adjacent to these surroundings take on the characteristics of those neighborhoods. For example, the western part of Roslindale combines perfectly with a West Roxbury and two family homes and tree lined streets, and Roslindale northern consists of two dense and three family residences in the middle of light industrial buildings similar to those of corridor adjacent to Stony Brook in Jamaica Plain.

The Roslindale business district (called "Rozzy Square" by locals) has been fighting for over 20 years to reinvigorate itself as the Federal District's main streets, but has had limited success. Before the advent of shopping malls in the 1970s, Roslindale was an important commercial district for the city of Boston, with department stores, exhibition halls, numerous food markets, etc.

The arrival of the malls with their acres of parking effectively killed Roslindale Square for several decades. The district has improved somewhat, but most accounts still have a long way to go before it regains its former glory as a shopping destination.

In 1985, Roslindale Village Main Street was created to give new impetus Roslindale an attractive destination town and downtown. In recent years, several restaurants, such as Delfino Restaurant, Coffee Geoffrey Birch Street Bistro and the Grotto of Sofia have moved to Roslindale Village attract diners from the surrounding neighborhoods.

Roslindale is a neighborhood of diverse ethnic separation from 2000 was 56% white non-Hispanics, 16% Black or African American, 20% Hispanic or Latino and 3% Asian or Pacific Islanders.