Yuppie wave set to crash into Dorchester

I fit the contempary definition of a South Boston yuppie almost to a "t" with one one major caveat: I'm not young anymore, and it's only getting worse.

Mid-thirties and married with kids, I feel as if the real young urban professionals of Dot & Southie will start to resent us old urban professionals as the area gets younger. At what point will it be OK for old urban professionals to join the old school Dot & Southie folks in complaining about the yups?

Apologies - hit the save button twice apparently.

When neighbors loose their hearing and decide they need to crank up the volume on the television, radio or whatever the source, it is time to call the police. Frat boys and girls screaming in the halls? Clearly screaming for help. Call 911. Dog crap on the carpet? Call ISD. But remember ISD is double edged sword because it puts the inspector's eye on the entire building.

I hear your frustration. When my building went condo I was amazed by the influx of new neighbors (I stayed) who by outward appearances seemed respectful but behind doors were gross. One set didn't know when to turn down the volume (alcohol contributed to that) while another, supposedly a professional in the health industry, had no qualms about letting an unsanitary situation continue. That neighbor actually expected others to fix what clearly was a problem with the person's unit.

I chalk the behavior of the loud neighbors in part to their having no concept of what kind of building they were living in. They were used to single family homes in suburban locations where their impact was limited. They had no idea of the limits involved in living in a wood building (i.e., a triple decker). While the drunken parties were a problem by themselves I figure that if the neighbors had dealt with the consequences of their loud drunken bashes in a previous apartment that they would have learned that there is a limit. On the other hand I know that those neighbors wound up buying a detached home. I think they finally understood that being as loud as they want is fine - when no one is living above or below. The supposed health professional was just plain ugly arrogant. The sort who said, "My daddy only buys the best!"

Good luck with the children in your building. But don't be afraid of calling the police. If the neighbors are making your life miserable then there is no reason to not share the wealth. Just keep it legal.

And if your car is blocked can you have the the other vehicle towed?

I believe that many people genuinely do not realize that living in the same building is a kind of intimacy. But many folks either won't or can't grasp what that means unless they are, figuratively speaking, knocked up the side of the head. Then there are others who are so disconnected from anything beyond their tiniest of immediate personal domains that they would allow something as gross as dog feces to be left on the steps. That's when its time to pick up the dog feces, wrap in a pretty bag with ribbon and tie the bag to their door. A friendly reminder to them to pick up their mess.

Here's a good story of JP Past from the man himself, Doyle's History Talk by Gerry Burke

http://www.jphs.org/20thcentury/doyles-history-tal...

In or immediately adjoining Jamaica Plain you have Jamaica Pond, Leverett Pond, the Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park, Forest Hills Cemetery, and the Southwest Corridor Park. That combination has long attracted people who want some experience of 'nature' while still living in an urban area.

You are correct. My entire point is wrong because I misused one word while typing. Damn! I'm so embarrassed. I guess I am not smart. I am going to fire my editor.

On the whole parts of Dorchester are getting better thing; I grew up in a pretty good area. It was never "bad", unless you count Native American raids in the 1670's during King Philip's War. Was there a bad house or two? Yes, just like on many Cambridge, Charlestown, and South End streets used too (and still) have. When I was a kid we had lots of doctors on my street, who lived and practiced in their very big houses. We used to trick or treat at the Fitzgerald's house as in John Fitzgerald Kennedy Fitzgerald. We had a woman across the street from Poland who was an Esperanto advocate. The minister who as one of the leading advocates of taking the Episcopal Church in America into a more conservative, mainly African, Anglican communion over the American church being friendly to gays, despite his incredible active homosexuality lived next door to me. People who were neither Irish, Black, or Vietnamese moved into and out of or stayed in the neighborhood. This has been happening for years. We also walked upright and used American currency as a means of exchange for goods and services.

Boston Neighborhoods are always changing. The Back Bay west of Gloucester Street in the 1970's would remind you of Allston today. I was apprehensive of walking through Symphony Road at night in the 90's. If the Russians had said to the BRA in 1970 that we are going to nuke the South End and flatten everything from the Mass Pike South to Mass Ave, it might have made it through the discussion stage at City Hall. Did you known for about a decade 110 years ago that the North End was majority Jewish?

Is there a "yuppie" or "raised suburban moving to city, makes money and shops at whatever trendy store of the day is person" moving to Dorchester? Yes. However, this is seen by many on these postings as some kind of necessary Lebensraum of Jeep Overlands and Trader Joes that must be done to effect change and make the world a better place. You have a nice house, great. Tell you friends. The person two doors from you looks and acts like Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone. Great. They are just trying to live as well. In 5, 10, 15, 20, years will there be good and bad parts of Dot. Yes. Such is life.

You may be right, but I'm not quite sure how those towns well outside Boston are closer to 'downtown' than those neighborhoods you cite that lie within the city itself. (Unless you mean another downtown?) I'm in Dorchester and downtown is 20 minutes away on the Red Line. And being in Dorchester, I am always close to 'action'.

And that diner down the street? There are still a few gaps in Roslindale Square IMO but it's a pretty good little "village." I'm sorry that Bob's moved across the street--that end could use some boosting though it's great to have Shanti there.