Most North “hood” in the northeast (Boston, Springfield: high crime, house)

[Trevorrrf]

What’s the most northern ghetto town or city in the northeast? I think Haverhill Nashua or Lewiston Maine could be considered. I’m also thinking about cities with bad high crime areas in mostly good cities. What are your thoughts?

[BostonBornMassMade]

A real hood?

Lawrence MA easily.

Haverhill Nashua and Lewiston don't count as legitimate hoods, no.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Lawrence MA easily.

Lawrence over Brockton?

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Lawrence over Brockton?

1. Yes, by far

2. Lawrence is north of Brockton

Brockton has many middle and lower-middle class neighborhoods-in fact that's the vast majority of Brockton land area. Its poverty s way lower than Lawrence and its schools are better. It's much more suburban area, with better connections to Boston. Its gun violence is higher than Lawrence but its dropping. Way fewer serious drug traffickers.

Lawrence is well known up and down the east coats as a hood. People I know who are "street" in other states know about Lawrence-not to say no one has heard of Brockton but Lawrence carries a rep as "that Dominican city up in Mass that's wild" more or less

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

1. Yes, by far

2. Lawrence is north of Brockton

Brockton has many middle and lower-middle class neighborhoods-in fact that's the vast majority of Brockton land area. Its poverty s way lower than Lawrence and its schools are better. It's much more suburban area, with better connections to Boston. Its gun violence is higher than Lawrence but its dropping. Way fewer serious drug traffickers.

Lawrence is well known up and down the east coats as a hood. People I know who are "street" in other states know about Lawrence-not to say no one has heard of Brockton but Lawrence carries a rep as "that Dominican city up in Mass that's wild" more or less

I agree although I will say the Lantiqua days are over. Supposedly that Mayor was served papers by the FBI when he got off a plane long ago. The current mayor is now the head of MassDevelopment and has financially turned around Lawrence.

A long time ago I knew the former principle of Brockton high. Brockton High meets standards. Now that might not sound like something to brag until you look at the actual demographics. Brockton has three commuter rail stations, probably more than any other place outside of Boston itself. Although to be honest if they combined them to one it could have been a more significant station. BAT also has a route to Boston. Now it isn't subway like speed but yes you can work in Boston and live in Brockton. It's also where the extension to other areas is supposed to branch off of and there's a route to Bridgewater State University.

Brockton does have assets but unfortunately there's often petty arguments that detract. If DW Field could be managed like Forest Park in Springfield it would be a huge boom to the property values in Brockton. It's like going from Disney World to the last remnants of Paragon Park.

Ten or so years ago I was seeing a woman in Lawrence. She said it was N.Andover (girl I know how to read a map!). Her place didn't seem bad although one day I saw a drunk woman on a neighbors front yard arguing with a tree or a front door. If you check DESE information at some points they were spending nearly $30,000 per student in the systems with no real results, you can get results with half if not a third.

Brockton can develop nice things like Prova. But the relationships between the city and the towns around it has to improve. Brockton has access to more police and forestry resources and the suburbs have access to more schools (ie. Metco). The other thing is frankly when a city improves usually some leave to even cheaper areas. It's kinda hard to do that in Brockton because it's surrounded by much more affluent suburban areas. I've heard Fall River and New Bedford, maybe Taunton. The central state list does help for housing but some things take awhile to change. The mall along with the transit authority made it easier to bypass the downtown which has been largely empty for decades. The new court house did little and the new unemployment office and parking garage aren't exactly bringing in the people. Christos was a huge loss but it never updated its decor and the demographics aged out. You know your customers are old when a 65 year old is called a kid!

[BostonMike7]

Just MA only?


If not, Albany.

[P Larsen]

Madawaska

[BostonBornMassMade]

Albany would be accurate but I didn’t list it for one/two reasons.

Albany is not nearly as hood as Lawrence. Lawrence is further east and just barely south so I feel like it’s just as physically remote-maybe less since it’s so close to Boston...

But yea Totally different demographics. But yea Albany has hoods. I bypassed Albany because the word association isn’t there with hood and Albany which is actually a nice functional city by and large.

Lawrence is better than in 2012 but it’s still a social services nightmare.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by mdovell

I agree although I will say the Lantiqua days are over. Supposedly that Mayor was served papers by the FBI when he got off a plane long ago. The current mayor is now the head of MassDevelopment and has financially turned around Lawrence.

A long time ago I knew the former principle of Brockton high. Brockton High meets standards. Now that might not sound like something to brag until you look at the actual demographics. Brockton has three commuter rail stations, probably more than any other place outside of Boston itself. Although to be honest if they combined them to one it could have been a more significant station. BAT also has a route to Boston. Now it isn't subway like speed but yes you can work in Boston and live in Brockton. It's also where the extension to other areas is supposed to branch off of and there's a route to Bridgewater State University.

Brockton does have assets but unfortunately there's often petty arguments that detract. If DW Field could be managed like Forest Park in Springfield it would be a huge boom to the property values in Brockton. It's like going from Disney World to the last remnants of Paragon Park.

Ten or so years ago I was seeing a woman in Lawrence. She said it was N.Andover (girl I know how to read a map!). Her place didn't seem bad although one day I saw a drunk woman on a neighbors front yard arguing with a tree or a front door. If you check DESE information at some points they were spending nearly $30,000 per student in the systems with no real results, you can get results with half if not a third.

Brockton can develop nice things like Prova. But the relationships between the city and the towns around it has to improve. Brockton has access to more police and forestry resources and the suburbs have access to more schools (ie. Metco). The other thing is frankly when a city improves usually some leave to even cheaper areas. It's kinda hard to do that in Brockton because it's surrounded by much more affluent suburban areas. I've heard Fall River and New Bedford, maybe Taunton. The central state list does help for housing but some things take awhile to change. The mall along with the transit authority made it easier to bypass the downtown which has been largely empty for decades. The new court house did little and the new unemployment office and parking garage aren't exactly bringing in the people. Christos was a huge loss but it never updated its decor and the demographics aged out. You know your customers are old when a 65 year old is called a kid!

Brockton has Prova, seeing development downtown, Brockton beer company is opening up. It’s really just a ton of ranches and split levels along with a rough downtown. But overall the city is mostly lower middle class-it’s just a black city in a very white county so it carries a stigma-and it’s also why it won’t develop good relations with towns South and east if there any time soon. The suburbs north and west of Brockton is a different story.

[Shrewsburried]

Nashua? Lmao, so ‘hood’ it has Whole Foods AND Trader Joe’s. Nashua’s poverty is almost entirely ‘contained’ within the Tree Streets and neighborhoods east of Main. The rest of the city is either middle class residential or commercial serving the middle class within or higher income communities neighboring Nashua (e.g., Hollis, Dunstable, Amherst, Merrimack). Not much ‘hood’ about it.

If we’re truly talking the northeast that includes Lawrence, but also definitely includes CT cities like Bridgeport and New Haven, as well as objectively worse NJ cities like Passaic, Newark, Camden.

There are definitely neighborhoods in Boston or NY cities which are quite bad in terms of violence and poverty, but the cities as a whole do not qualify.