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The surest sign of Eastie gentrification
By adamg on Thu, 10/29/2015 - 9:09am
The Globe reports on the growing horde of college students moving into East Boston, driving out immigrants and driving up local prices (already tacos that used to go for $1 have jumped to $3). But in one of those picture-tells-a-thousand-words moments, the story is illustrated by a photo that proves you can now rent an apartment on Havre Street that comes with stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops.
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Comments
So College students bad
Prius driving liberals good?
Are you saying Havre Street
Are you saying Havre Street is not worthy of (Stainless steel appliances and Granite counter tops) Havre street stretches from Brooks Street to Maverick Street, either side of Havre street is either extremely close to Maverick T stop and the best park in Boston ,The Bremen street Greenway park system with new Boston public library & Airport T stop
Havre, Paris, Bremen ,London, Liverpool, Frankfort are all Eastie streets named after european cities, College students living in Eastie can be in Havre, France one minute and then walk around the corner to Paris, France the next minute, or head on to Bennington, Vermont -or how about a walk over to Princeton University on Princeton Street, or they can be in Putnam Connecticut,or Lexington, Mass, I can go on!
Oh, sure, Havre definitely deserves stainless-steel appliances
I'm not so sure about all those streets named after British poets, though. Poets are supposed to suffer, and how could they possibly have come up with their great works if they were smug and satisfied and eating hors d'oeuvres off their gleaming granite countertops all night long?
Whats the deal with the
Whats the deal with the granite anyway? Stainless I can see because its store bought and they are all out of Harvest Gold. Nothing is cheap anymore, especially property taxes. You just have to dive into the deep end of the pool and buy something. Develop a relationship with the landlord , get there first.But you got to prioritize your spending, America only works when America works!
East Boston is our friend , long live Santarpio's , and the legend of Santarpio's!
I blame HGTV
More specifically, "House Hunters," which exclusively features inane young kids fresh out of college who ALWAYS demand stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops to go with their three-bedroom detached units with the hot tub and man cave and a yard for their dog to run around in, oh, and for $1,000 a month.
HGTV
Did ya ever notice that "House Hunters" is never in New England. (okay they had ONE show with a Boston couple that was moving from.. *gasp* Brookline to Westwood)
It's always places where you can buy a 902838490234 bedroom tract house for 57k in a suburb of fun places like Atlanta, Nashville, Austin.....
On different note, granite countertops suck. Cold on the hands. It'll dull your knife if you cut on it (yeah yeah I know use a cutting board).
Oh and Stainless Steel.. yeah that's so 2002. People are migrating back to colored appliances... Harvest Gold may be making a comeback!!
Who needs HGTV, we have This
Who needs HGTV, we have This Old House filmed around here.
yeah
but TOH is nothing more than people buffing each others egos and way over the top home renovations.
Sure worked out for Richie,
Sure worked out for Richie, for sure...........
I've seen several House Hunters in Boston
one was a couple looking at properties in Southie, another was a couple looking at Beacon Hill/Charlestown, a third was a family looking at Washington Square Brookline, and the fourth was a family from Newton looking for a summer home on the Cape.
Three of the four of these were in the limited selection available on Netflix, so I can only assume there's more in circulation on HGTV.
My favorite part about House Hunters is when people in Bland Sprawlsville walk into a house that costs about as much as a parking space and say, "Oh it's only 2,000 square feet? This master closet is too small!" And the closet is the size of my bedroom...
How did people ever survive without granite countertops?
I swear, the people they get on those shows must be paid to whine in order to promote overpriced kitchen and bath porn for the sake of more advertising revenue. I can't stand watching/listening many of them for 20 minutes, let alone the idea of being in a relationship with them!
Here's how I "survived"
I navigated around damaged places from previous tenants, who didn't get the whole "hot pans cause damage" thing.
I put up with garlic smell lingering for a week after making pesto.
I scrubbed through the laminate surface and into the underlying material, then put a cheap IKEA butcherblock cutting board over the top of the damaged area.
I avoided the warped areas of the countertop.
First world problems, yes, but heaven only knows what was living in some of those damaged surfaces - and the cracking areas!
When I renovated my kitchen I found out that granite is actually very modestly priced in New England. This is because of the availability of local product, which sets the price to beat. Most Corian or engineered quartz material is way more expensive, and good durable laminate still costs a fair percentage of the price of granite when installation is factored in.
It has been eight years now, and the stuff still looks great, cleans up wonderfully well, and takes the battering that four people cooking regularly can hand out.
Eastie is quickly becoming
Eastie is quickly becoming the new Hoboken, NJ of Boston..
shush!
That's the BROOKLYN of Boston!
(channelling the realtors here)
North North North East
North North North East Williamsburg?
Taco prices have gone up everywhere.
As the price of fresh produce has gone up, but more often than not, it are the immigrants that are charging the prices for tacos (Even Anna's is owned by first generation immigrants). Are we saying that these immigrants can't make money off of these newly found customers? I've always found this odd, even in places like JP and Roxbury where "gentrification" is such a bad thing. Although there are many outside banks/investors who make money of this system, there are many minorities who can now sell/rent and start making some good money in neighborhoods that didn't always see this uptick in interest.
It are the immigrants
Totally not using that as a pejorative there, nope not at all.
Please tell me
you aren't serious.
Good grief.
With the amount of actually bigoted comments that Adam filters..
..Yes I am serious because now we can get to rake through the subtle bigotry instead.
East Boston will be the next
East Boston will be the next Allston , with over crowded apartments, partying all night, disturbing the peace in the neighborhood, rooftop partying all night with loud music playing , overflowing garbage barrels , don't forget the giant Rats Allston is famous for , can't wait to see Allstonian size Rats on Eastie's streets.
Allston rats will never survive in Eastie...
Eastie's German Shepherd-sized skunks will eat them before they can thrive.
Haha that's too funny but so
Haha that's too funny but so true!!!
This increase in costs can't be sustainable.
Something has to give sooner or later.
I don't know.
I keep assuming the same thing, but then I think: the increase in rent is directly tied to the increase in housing prices. Housing prices are insane and getting worse with every passing month. Yet, with the new lending restrictions in place after the last bubble, I don't think the people buying all these half-million dollar condos are going to default on their mortgages in a year. I think we're just seeing what the end-game of wealth inequality looks like.
Late USSR
Showed a pretty good picture of what the end-game of wealth equality looks like - why work hard when you can get the same paycheck just by sitting on your ass and doing absolutely nothing?
Current USA
where workers are getting the same paycheck even though they work their little butts off:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/sunday-review/americas-productivity-cl...
Gentrification
I don't know about the rest of you, but i'd much rather read about $3 tacos and granite countertops than shootings, drug dealing and machete-assisted body modifications.
One of the last
Untainted parts of the city.
I've lived in Eastie for just over 4 years now. Not a long time by any means, and yes, I am an "outsider," but I consider East Boston home more than I do Boston itself. When I moved there I scored a massive apartment with brick, hardwoods, central, full skyline view, etc. on Eagle Hill for $1100. Old roommate still lives there, and luckily the landlord is awesome and would rather have reliable tenants taking care of the place than constant in and out, so rent hasn't gone up much. At 4 years, we were still the "newest" residents in the building.
Fast forward to this year-GF and I decide to take the next step and move in together, and need a place for September. We looked all over the city and saw the usual crap. I never really wanted to leave Eastie anyway, but entertained since I work in Brighton and she had lived in Fenway, so after a month of looking, we just turned our attention to Eastie. It still took us over a month to find a reasonable place, as everything we looked at, even the "renovated" stuff that was reasonably priced was complete crap (we were willing to spend much more than what I had been paying, for the record). We found our current place, and thankfully another solid landlord, by accident after getting turned down for another place...a place that was secretly going to be a one year "bridge" apartment because we were getting down to the wire.
To frame this, we're two young professionals, both with advanced degrees, one a full time college professor that tutors on the side, the other with a full time job that is also a part time professor. It still took us months to find a nice apartment at a reasonable price. The first place I lived? 2 weeks, if that.
We all knew it was eventually coming, but it's really devastating to see. In my opinion, we have the most unique neighborhood in the city, and for a time, had the most protected one as well. We have such a great mix of "old school" residents, immigrants from all over the world, with a smattering of students and whatever you would consider us (I refuse to use the word gentrifier to describe myself, because I never set out to "change" the neighborhood, but embrace and become a part of it), and there's no way that this dynamic won't drastically change. I've seen a lot of new buildings go up along the water, and a lot of renovations happening, but hadn't realized that residents were being evicted by developers as well.
The sad thing is, the way this town is run, I don't think there is much anyone can do short of buying ASAP. Even then, I have to wonder how many actual homeowners in the neighborhood (thankfully we seem to have a LOT, which can help a bit) will cash out when the $ comes knocking.
East Boston
"One of the last untainted parts of the city"
You wanna talk about untainted, you should have seen it when I grew up there in the 60s and 70s. Nobody knew about it at all. It was barely mentioned as a neighborhood of Boston except when it got notice as falling victim to the ever expanding airport. Everybody had this mistaken conception that it was far away or cut off from everything. And while it was true that the only real access is via tunnel or bridge, it's only five minutes from downtown Boston. It was the last unexplored frontier of Boston. It had all the benefits of the city without all the hectic-ness and noise (if you don't count planes, which I was used to) and commotion of someplace like Allston. Oh well. That's all over now and has been for some time. Our cover was bound to get blown sometime.
That actually
hadn't changed a whole lot when I moved here, at least amongst the college and young professional crowd. I vehemently defended East Boston as "part of the city" and a great place to live on a regular basis for the first few years I lived here. Looking back on it, maybe I should have just shrugged and told everyone they were better off on the other side of the harbor.
For what it's worth, the neighbor that lived below me at my old place grew up in Winthrop and has lived in Eastie her whole adult life, including 20+ years just in that building. She instilled quite the sense of what the neighborhood used to be in me, which I think is part of the reason I appreciate it so much. I also grew up in a very Italian, working class city in upstate NY that saw a huge wave of immigrants that made for quite the unique culture and feel when I was a kid, so while I can't speak to growing up in the neighborhood and won't ever be connected the same way many others are, I definitely appreciate and relate to the spirit of what it was back then.
Eastie
I think I see you post on the Open page. Out of curiosity, is there a reason why you are not buying? If you plan on staying in Eastie and based off your career paths it seems you could still afford it, why not look to buy one of the completely renovated condos for $259,000-$300,000. Your mortgage would likely be close to what you are currently paying, perhaps even less depending on current rent, and at least you would be able to lock in an amount for life as opposed to having to worry about your current owner selling because it is happening and it seems to be happening more frequently. Just look at homes on the market. I wish more had bought, and those that can still buy would do so now if they can.
I am also not by any means a life long resident and have only been here a few years longer than you but I made the decision after only being here 8 months that this was a place that I wanted to buy so I did. Now I welcome new developments. I get excited when owners renovate apartments, or at least the exteriors. Especially when the apartments are restored to how they were when first built. Eagle Hill has some wonderful homes. I also get excited about the idea of an extended harborwalk as I appreciate the one in the North End but would prefer our own. I get excited about the new restaurants like the Cunard Tavern that is opening hopefully next year. I do not have any concerns as I know that many of the accompany changes with the current developments in Eastie from the school system, to street cleanliness, to increased types of restaurants and stores available will be great.
@Joshua Scott- I'm totally
@Joshua Scott- I'm totally with you , an increase of a wide variety of Restaurants and an increase of independently owned stores/Cafe's and art galleries/high end consignment clothing shops/ or even a Vespa moped dealership in Eastie! Let's bring in businesses large or small stimulate the local economy, spend your money at an Eastie business. Why bother purchasing furniture elsewhere, Eastie should have it's own furniture shop by now.
Awesome to see someone agreeing
Do you live in Eastie,?
Advanced degree doesn't
Advanced degree doesn't necessarily equal a good paying job. Our plumber kicks our ass in the money-making department. You may as well be throwing money down the toilet if you don't buy, if you can at all possibly afford it... the longer you wait, the more expensive it's going to get in the city. We took a caclulated risk and bought instead of renting when we moved here. We had to scale way back in terms of lifestyle compared to many people we knew, but after 10 years, our investment, the hardwork, the sacrificing, etc. is definitely paying off. Unless you're born with a silver spoon, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Pay now or pay later.
Well in this case
I was simply framing us as the generic type developers seem to want to attract (aside from students), and even we had a hard time finding places BEFORE all the new "luxury" stuff we'll surely see comes.
Oh, so YOUR the one to blame!
I don't actually blame you but every time you (or anyone) moves into a new place you've displaced someone else who had to move out or would have otherwise liked to move in perhaps at a lower price. It's a closed system.
That really is the truth. People complain and complain about gentrification but the existing owners aren't saying no when the young rich buyers make them a big offer.
Gentrification sucks when you are being priced out. It's awesome when you're the one selling.
Generalization
How many people that I may have "displaced" were also new to the neighborhood once? When I moved there, I had a low paying retail job, and probably wouldn't have lasted long in Boston had I not gotten such a cheap place. I had just as much of a true need than anyone else. If I was raking in $$$ and grabbing a cheap apartment, different story. The low rent allowed me to put myself through graduate school, which then made it so I was able to afford higher rent, including in other parts of the city, yes, but I'm nowhere near able to afford any of this luxury bullshit going up all over town, and chose to stay here regardless.
"I refuse to use the word
"I refuse to use the word gentrifier to describe myself, because I never set out to "change" the neighborhood, but embrace and become a part of it"
You are a gentrifier. Gentrification does not have to be willful. It requires large numbers of the original inhabitants to be displaced with a new demographic, of which, you are a part.
Original inhabitants, huh?
Think about what neighborhood we're talking about. It's arguably been the epicenter of immigration in Boston for 100+ years.
"It's arguably been the
"It's arguably been the epicenter of immigration in Boston for 100+ years."
Where did you immigrate from, Needham?
You were part of displacing the demographic that existed there before you, whether you like it or not. It doesn't matter than you claimed you did not try to change the culture, your simply being their was part of the gentrification process.
You're missing the point
Your words. You have described the exact thing that has been happening in this neighborhood for over 100 years. We have a huge Latin American presence now, which came after a huge Italian presence (that still exists), but it was an Irish and Canadian neighborhood before that. So who are the original inhabitants in your opinion? Which am I displacing, and didn't they at one point do the same?
Also, I'm of Italian descent, grew up in a working class neighborhood of a very Italian working class city in a working class family. Don't I fit the demographic of what a lot of people think East Boston is?
On a hyper-specific level, when I moved to the neighborhood, my apartment was previously occupied by a young professional that wasn't from Boston, and left the city. So in theory, I didn't displace anyone, just kept status quo. And now that I've moved into another apartment after 4 years of being an Eastie resident, by your argument, I am the previous demographic because I was here before this new wave of college kids.
You can spin it any way you want, but not all change is gentrification, and becoming part of a new community doesn't automatically equal that either.
Older people die
Their kids have often started lives elsewhere. The probate judge says "sell and split the money" and they do. This is how neighborhoods turn over.
I don't get the attitude that the person buying the place is "displacing" anyone. This is a much more common scenario than one might think.
For several decades people moved out of the cities. Now people are moving back into the cities. The fact that the City of Boston still has 25% fewer people than it did at peak population means that the turnover of most neighborhoods is vastly more complicated than "outsiders" moving in.
sign of the times
I moved out of the Fenway in 2012, to EB because my $1200 studio was going up to $1400. With that budget, the only place I could find that was under a 45 minute commute downtown was EB, and I got a 2BD/2BA for $1400. The place hadn't been updated in 20 years, but having space for the first time, I wasn't about to complain. Long story short, I was looking for a new place in April of this year because the paper-thin floors, and louder undergrads who now lived upstairs (a young family lived there when I first moved in) made it impossible to get more than 4-5 hours of sleep a night, so I was able to break my lease and move. I found my old place on Craigslist for $2200 not long after leaving.
The issue with EB is that while it is incredible when it's cheap to live in, but it is not quite ready for primetime like the former "rougher" parts of Somerville were circa 1995-2000. That said, it's also an incredibly safe zip code, save for some patches near Eagle Hill toward Chelsea.
All told I was lucky enough to close on a 3 family in EB a short while ago, so I'll either deflate with the bubble, or be a benefactor of the new market rates. It's sad, though, as the last thing I care to do is get a few hundred more dollars to have to deal with undergrads who generally don't give a crap about neighbors, and anyone except for themselves. YOLO.
tel me about it
Tell me about it. South End was like that in 2009. I had a steal of an apartment in the SE. When I moved in it was 975 for a 2 room studio (bedroom was basically nothing but a bed), with all utilities included (except Comcast). When I moved out due to job loss, It was 1325. That same unit now rents for 1825. Yeah he put hardwood floors in, but didn't remodel the early 90sish, home depot stock white kitchen..
Happens everywhere
Two bedrooms in my building used to go for about $1300 a month, and around $170K to buy. Fast forward a few years and you're looking at $2000 to rent and $300K to buy.
Area IV, too. Our crappy,
Area IV, too. Our crappy, dump of an apartment (but amazing location!) that was maintained as if it was still rent regulated went up from $2000 a month to $3000 between 2011 and 2014. I'll never move back to the area, it's not worth paying NYC prices considering how crappy most of these apartments are.
And just LOOK at those extravagent kitchen cabinets
... straight from Home Depot's "available in store today" collection. Clearly, no expense was spared.
The rent
is $2,300 for a 3 bed. You are not going to get a place with custom cherry wood cabinets for that price, no matter what part of the city.
Isn't that a good thing, anyways? Do some minor cosmetic upgrades, but not a full "luxury" renovation, that way they can keep the rent moderate and not have to jack it way up to make their money back.
Oh please, I've been to a few
Oh please, I've been to a few North End apartments and I've seen worse kitchen cabinets with over the top rental prices.
Most people who rent apartments in Eastie get what they pay for, regardless of condition, you want to pay $2500 a month try the new waterfront East pier apartments on the Eastie waterfront and get ready to pay extra for parking and I don't think your guaranteed a unit with a harbor view, you'll be paying for basically the modern touches and location. East Boston has so much potential- especially right now, where there is a need for rental housing more than ever, Intown Boston , Cambridge, South End, Back Bay, Charlestown rental costs are astronomically high in prices. No one knows what will be developed at Suffolk Downs with all the acres of land there, they can potentially build hundreds of condo's or rental units and have more land left over to build a hospital or a movie theatre.
Tacos up, but gas prices down!
Joking aside, excellent tacos are still $2.85 in Arlington at La Victoria Taqueria, though the tortas are the best deals. If you want to get ripped off, go to the Painted Burro in Davis Square - figure that you are actually paying to use their parking.
*claps heels together*
Please spill over into Chelsea
Please spill over into Chelsea
Please spill over into Chelsea
Please spill over into Chelsea
we need some gentrification.....like yesterday.
Give it another 5 years
I've heard nothing but terrible things about One North (whose prices are also not that great) and One Webster, which aside from Admiral's Hill would seem to be the biggest draw. Not to say there aren't other gems all over the city, but I'd imagine anyone not looking for that type of living will probably be looking at the city's reputation, whether that's fair or not, and limited transit options the same way they had Eastie for years before.
However, once we all get pushed out of East Boston...yeah.
One Webster
One Webster is shotty construction like just about any of the complexes I've seen built in recent years (not just particular to Chelsea either). Cheap pre-fab crap, with cookie cutter layouts and finishes. There are gems around the city, mostly in Mill Hill, Pratville, and north of Cary Square. Those homes are beautiful and well maintained.
As far as transit options, it's not that bad. We have buses, a CR stop, and a SL line (soon). The buses are the most frequent ones in the entire system, as many run 3-7 minute head way during rush hour. But it's a bus. My complaints about the transportation in Chelsea have little to do with the buses or frequency themselves, but the patrons on the buses and the overcrowding.
I can always spot new riders to the area on the bus because..... and i hate to say it... they are usually white, and usually have a look of fear on their faces when being mashed into a overly packed bus. But I will say, I've seen more and more 'newbies' on the bus in the past few months than I have seen in all the years I have been living in Chelsea so people are moving in.
I'm not sure that people are looking at the city's reputation very much. Many of the people moving into those complexes are people who work nearby (downtown, cambridge) and want a 10-15 minute commute to work). They usually don't have kids, so schools aren't really an issue. And most of these complexes are gated communities so its rare crime happens in them.
What I find funny is that I am active in the community and the old timers fight these complexes tooth and nail. The city just approved a 500+ unit complex behind Stop & Shop on Everett Ave, and the old timers just do not want it. They don't want to become a 'bedroom community' nor do they want YUP's moving in. They want 'affordable' housing for the already existing locals who are being priced out of different neighborhoods. I welcome the complexes, as it will bring fresh blood into the community, increase our tax base so we can have better city services and roads, and people that eventually will be active in the community. Alot more than I can say for many current Chelsea residents.
A friend of mine and her
A friend of mine and her husband moved over to One North of Boston a few months ago and uh, wow. As nice as her building was (and it was really nice...but her apartment was small, in my opinion), I couldn't get over how disjointed it made her immediate area look -- especially with the new condos that are opening in the next year or so. Homely looking triple-deckers and this massive, modern building + private surface parking seemingly smack dab in the middle of it all.
I take it...
you haven't been to Allston recently, Brainerd Road in particular?
I'm never in Allston, to be
I'm never in Allston, to be honest. None of my friends live there and it's annoying to get to from JP, unless I'm biking. Also, none of my favorite bands have been touring.
I'm guessing the neighborhood's looking more and more disjointed as well?
Took a trip down Brainerd Rd
Took a trip down Brainerd Rd via Google Maps and uh...at least the developers were nice enough to keep the color scheme going by matching the red brick?
I was not expecting that street to look the way it did.
I had a friend who lives at
I had a friend who lives at the Box District (or whatever it's called) and while the building was really cool and the apartment was amazing for the price, the surrounding area was awful, littered with garbage and needles. She moved out to Austin and has been much happier! (Though prices have gone up there considerably as well, it's still less expensive there).
yup
I live within walking distance of the Box District. But Box District is kinda the opposite side of my neighborhood, and I agree. That area is disgusting.. trash.. needles.. (and yes I'm even talking about my street). I personally am over the trash everywhere in my neighborhood. People just do not care at all. There's been a broken bottle all smashed into bits on the corner near my house for weeks.... and yeah I could clean it up myself.. but I have enough to do cleaning the walk and front yard of trash.. and after six years, I'm tired of cleaning up other people's trash on a daily basis.
FYI, across the CR tracks on Crescent Ave is a methadone clinic, which the city is fighting to get rid of. This is probably where the needles are coming from.. not so much the clinic itself, but its patrons. They all go there, get their fix, then go shoot up on side streets nearby, then walk into town to catch the buses back into the city. (I see many, many strung out people on the buses every day).
That's why I chuckle at those condos there... its literally squished between two pretty bad areas of town. Nice places, kinda sucky neighborhood.
Overreacting
I think everyone's overreacting.....I honestly doubt gentrification will hit Eastie that hard...especially compared to that of Southie and the South End.
Why not?
As long as the local economy does well and continues to attract highly-educated, highly-paid workers, there's isn't a reason in the world it won't keep spreading outward from Boston proper, especially in places (like Eastie) that have decent transit connections to downtown.
Truthiness in gentrification reporting
These gentrification 'scare stories' need to be taken with a large grain of salt. It might sell papers (or push bytes) but as City Observatory has been documenting, there's a lot of "Truthiness" in these kinds of reports.