The real estate market in Boston is roaring back, and with housing prices and rents on the rise, now is a great time to consider some up and coming neighborhoods that offer discounted prices and a surprising mix of amenities. Citywide, recent data from LINK indicate that the median price for a condo in Boston’s central neighborhoods has increased 5.3 percent from the same period last year to $537,950. Jeff Kaufman, a programmer at Google who developed a tool to map Boston apartment prices, recently reported that the average cost per bedroom in 2013 is now $1,314, up from $1,141 in 2011. Whether you are looking to buy or rent, you would be well served to expand your horizons and consider these three hidden gems.
- Jeffries Point – East Boston
- Roslindale
- Roxbury
1. Jeffries Point – East Boston
Jeffries Point is one of Boston’s best-kept secrets, with spectacular views of the Boston Skyline, tons of green space, convenient public transportation and authentic restaurants and food options. Jeffries Point is the gateway to the East Boston Greenway, a linear park along the old railroad right-of-way. It is also home to Piers Park, which one Yelp reviewer recently called the “perfect place to feel like you’ve escaped from the city and can just relax!”
If you live in Jeffries Point but work downtown, you can leave your car keys at home and enjoy a short commute by train and (soon) by boat. The Boston Redevelopment Authority announced that the city plans to build a marine terminal in East Boston. The two ferries will connect East Boston with the South Boston Waterfront and Charlestown. Only a short walk away, residents benefit from a recent $56 million renovation to the Maverick MBTA station. From Maverick, riders are only one stop away from the Aquarium MBTA Station and all points in Downtown Boston.
The neighborhood is quiet and friendly, with dog parks, basketball courts, and community gardens providing opportunities to relax outside. There are restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops. Renee Scalfani, vice president of the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association, said that having great neighbors is her favorite part of living in the neighborhood, adding that her “family has been in Jeffries Point (for) over 85 years and never left.”
Roslindale
Roslindale is often overshadowed by neighboring Jamaica Plain, but this diverse community deserves another look thanks to its thriving local businesses and restaurants, multiple transportation options, walkability, acres of green space, and lower housing costs.
Roslindale Square packs a lot of amenities into a few blocks, including several grocery stores, restaurants, boutiques, salons, banks and more. For food lovers, Roslindale is especially appealing. Local residents rave about the high-quality produce, seafood, cheese and other Greek groceries available at the Roslindale Fish Market. A stellar farmer’s market packs Adam’s Park on Saturday mornings from June to November. The Square also boasts three bakeries, a wine store, a gourmet cheese shop, an Italian deli, a Middle Eastern market and a Mexican grocery store. If you’d rather leave the cooking to professionals, grab a craft cocktail and sample the Southern fare at Redd’s in Rozzie, or skip the trip to the North End for a superb Italian dinner at Delfino’s. Roslindale is also home to Suya Joint, the only Nigerian restaurant in Boston.
Roslindale Square is the main transportation hub for the neighborhood. From the commuter rail stop, you can get to Back Bay and South Station in less than 20 minutes. The Forest Hills T station is just a 10 minute bus ride away, and numerous bus routes run from through the square to Forest Hills and the neighborhoods beyond to provide an array of public transit options to downtown and neighboring Jamaica Plain. Biking to work is also convenient thanks to the Southwest Corridor bike path that runs along the Orange Line from Forest Hills to Northeastern University.
If you love to get a daily dose of nature, walk your dog in the woods or run for miles without stopping for traffic, you’ll love Roslindale’s proximity to the Arnold Arboretum, which is a 213 acre public park and research institution run by Harvard University and the City of Boston. Throughout all seasons, the Arboretum offers beautiful scenery and a relaxing escape from the pulse of urban life. Dog lovers flock to the Arboretum before and after work to exercise with their canine companions, and Peter’s Hill offers a spectacular view of downtown Boston.
Roslindale has a more suburban, family-friendly feel to it than other Boston neighborhoods, as most homes are single family or two-family condos on quiet, tree-lined streets with backyards and vegetable gardens. There is a strong sense of community, and neighbors tend to know each other and look out for one another. According to Trulia the average home price is $317,115 in Roslindale compared to $487,284 in Jamaica Plain, making Roslindale a smart financial choice, too.
Roxbury
Before ambitious land filling schemes created the Back Bay and South End in the 19th century, Roxbury was a rural municipality connecting the bustling port city of Boston to the mainland by the narrow ‘neck’ of land running from downtown along Washington Street and into Roxbury through Dudley Square. This close proximity to downtown Boston remains one of the most attractive features of Roxbury today, with a diverse array of transportation options providing easy access to downtown Boston. Diversity, a prevailing feature of Roxbury, is exemplified in its transportation options, housing stock, demographics and neighborhoods.
Lower Roxbury, closest in proximity to downtown Boston, was once a manufacturing hub, and the building stock is characterized by converted factory buildings and workers housing. The most notable example of this is the former Chickering Piano Factory located on Tremont Street, once the largest factory in the country and now artists’ housing. Nearby, the historic Frederick Douglas Square neighborhood is characterized by dozens of brick rowhouses built by the philanthropist Robert Treat Paine as model workers housing. The thriving manufacturing hub also led to the development of a commercial hub in Dudley Square, which became for a time Boston’s second largest shopping destination after Downtown Crossing and has been targeted by Mayor Menino’s administration for a revival through the restoration of the historic Ferdinand Furniture building as city offices.
Lower Roxbury continues to be served by proximity to nearby employment centers at Northeastern University, Boston University Medical Center, Longwood Medical Center, the Back Bay and downtown, all accessible by the Orange Line, Silver Line, local bus routes and foot. Lower Roxbury has also benefited from the increasing desirability of the neighboring South End and its ever-expanding restaurant scene. In recent years, the boundaries between the two neighborhoods have become blurred as new restaurants such as the Parish Cafe II and Estelle’s have opened on the Southwest side of Mass Ave, and young professionals have continued the South End tradition of renovating and restoring the old brick housing stock to its former glory. All of these factors are contributing to a renaissance in Lower Roxbury marked by hundreds of millions of dollars in public, private and institutional investment.
The Roxbury Highlands neighborhoods of Mission Hill, Parker Hill and Fort Hill are also experiencing a revival. These neighborhoods, located slightly further from downtown Boston, are characterized by large, handsome detached homes of an ornate style. Over the years, these neighborhoods became less desirable as the wealthy continued to move further from the city center. This decline culminated in the wholesale clearance of neighborhoods throughout Roxbury for a canceled extension of Interstate 95 in a misguided effort to revive the city center by connecting it to the suburbs.
Ironically, this started Roxbury’s revival, as the federal funds for the canceled highway extension were allocated instead to extend the Orange Line and construct the Southwest Corridor Park along the path designated for the canceled highway. The park provides easy transit, bicycle and pedestrian access from Roxbury to Back Bay and downtown. The Mission Hill neighborhood also benefits from its adjacency to local colleges, universities and the Longwood Medical Area, which is the second largest employment hub in Boston. Today, development along the Orange Line stops is bringing new vitality to supplement the historic character of the existing neighborhoods. The Roxbury Highland neighborhoods offer an opportunity to get in early into a neighborhood poised to explode in price and amenities in the coming years.
