CONDITIONS
HISTORY
DESIGN ISSUES
SOCIAL ISSUES
TESTIMONIES

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CONDITIONS:
Dorchester lies to the east of Franklin Park. At 5.98 square miles, it is Boston's largest neighborhood -- almost twice as large as other neighborhoods in the Heart of the City. In 2001, Dorchester had a population of 92,115 people and a median household income of $29,180 (Banker & Tradesman). Only a small part of Dorchester falls within the Heart of the City area. The average population per square mile in Dorchester in 2000 was 14,895, making it the second densest neighborhood in the Heart of the City after Roxbury. The Back Bay/ Beacon Hill area, however, is more than twice as dense (Commercial Trends Boston, 2002, Department of Neighborhood Development).

Neighborhood boundaries:
The boundaries of Dorchester have been variously defined over time and by various government agencies. By some accounts, no part of Dorchester falls in the Heart of the City. The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) has at times lumped northern Dorchester with Roxbury and southern Dorchester with Mattapan. Today, the BRA defines Roxbury as extending as far south as Franklin Field, with Mattapan extending from southeast of American Legion Highway. According to the BRA, no part of Dorchester borders Franklin Park, and Dorchester begins east of Greenwood Street.

According to most residents, however, Dorchester begins east of Blue Hill Avenue along the edge of Franklin Park and extends north to Grove Hall and south to Morton Street. The map of wards and precincts is consistent with this sense of Dorchester boundaries. Dorchester Avenue, which does not fall within the boundaries of this project, is the neighborhood's main artery.

Communities within Dorchester:
Dorchester is known as a "neighborhood of neighborhoods" because of its size and diversity. Some of the Dorchester communities in the Heart of the City area include the Erie-Ellington neighborhood just south of Columbia Road near Franklin Park, the Franklin Field neighborhood, the Franklin Hill neighborhood, and the Grove Hall neighborhood, which is considered by some to be a part of both Roxbury and Dorchester. The Codman Square neighborhood has its center on Talbot Avenue east of the Heart of the City, but its amorphous boundaries extend west towards the Heart of the City.

Parks:
Dorchester has two major open spaces in its midst in the Heart of the City. The first, Franklin Park, is being used increasingly by residents looking for a place to walk, as well as for a variety of other uses. Access to the park is possible at several points along Blue Hill Avenue and American Legion Highway, although both streets are wide with fast moving traffic and represent a barrier to pedestrian access.

The second, Franklin Field, defines the communities that surround it. Franklin Field (formally named Harambee Park) is more than 45 acres and is used primarily for active sports. The George Robert White Youth Development Center and the Sportsman Tennis Club are adjacent to the field, and offer youth and some adults a variety of educational and recreational opportunities. The stone walls of the field are a gathering place for community members today as they were for previous generations living in the area.

Housing:
Although there is a range of housing to be found in Dorchester, the neighborhood is strongly associated with the three-decker, or triple-decker. The triple-deckers was built to give low- and moderate-income families the benefits of the suburban life and the convenience of living close to city jobs. A history of the triple-decker calls this housing "democratic architecture" and "good solid housing" (The Three-Deckers of Dorchester: an architectural historical survey, 1977). The triple-decker housing type can be traced to the Colonial wood building tradition. They have flat tops, wood frames, narrow shapes, and back porches. Historically, they allowed extended families to live nearby but not with one another.

Two-bedroom median advertised asking rent in Dorchester from 1995 to mid-2002:
(Data from the Boston Department of Neighborhood Development and The Boston Foundation)

1995               1998                1999
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$665                 $800                $975
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2000           2001          2002        % increase 1995
                                                      - mid-2002

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$1,200       $1,275         $1,300                93%
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Industry:
More than 13% of the city's industrial land can be found in Dorchester. This is the second-highest percentage in the city, exceeded only by South Boston. Little of this industrial land can be found near Franklin Park in the Heart of the City, although pockets of industry exist along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor.

Transportation:
Dorchester residents in the Heart of the City are heavily transit dependent. They have no options for rapid transit, but must rely on buses that often use diesel fuel and therefore contribute to air pollution and trigger asthma attacks in Dorchester's youth. The Fairmount Commuter Rail runs through Dorchester, along the eastern outskirts of the Heart of the City. It does not, however, make a single stop north of Morton Street in Mattapan. The MBTA is considering proposals for the "Indigo Line," which would use existing commuter rail infrastructure to expand service for residents in Dorchester, Matttapan, and Roxbury. The likelihood that the "Indigo Line" will be built is increasing. (Ron DePasquale, "MBTA Eyes Upgrade for Dorchester Rail Line," The Boston Globe, March 7,2004)

In April 2005, the $40 million first phase of the MBTA's Fairmount line renovation project began at the Uphams Corner Station. Tracks and signals, six bridges, and the Morton Street Station will also be rehabilitated on the Fairmount line as part of the first phase of the project. The construction of four new stations -- Blue Hill Avenue, Talbot Avenue, Newmarket, and Four Corners/Geneva Avenue -- is also planned, although funding beyond the initial $40 million has not yet been secured. The project's total cost is pegged at $96 million. The Fairmount line currently has the lowest ridership in the system, but once the project is completed ridership is expected to jump from 2,800 per day to 7,300 per day. The Uphams Corner Station is expected to be completed in September 2006. (Mac Daniel, "T To Begin Upgrade of Fairmount Rail Corridor," The Boston Globe, April 14, 2005)

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HISTORY:
The Chickatawbut tribe resided in Dorchester prior to the arrival of the British on the Savin Hill Beach 1630. Early residents established a collection of villages that were concentrated in the bay area. Dorchester was incorporated on June 6, 1630, by a colony of 140 people who came from Plymouth, England. The town was named after an English town and was the first settlement in present-day Suffolk County. The Mather School, the first public school in America, was founded in Dorchester in 1639.

An 1837 guide to Boston describes Dorchester in this way: "The soil is generally rich and highly cultivated. The roads are numerous and crooked, but mostly level and kept in good repair. Many find country seats and substantial farmhouses are thickly arranged on their sides, surrounded with fruit and other trees, which give a very picturesque appearance to the face of the country. The population amounts to 6000" (Bowen, Bowen's picture of Boston, 1838, p244).

Dorchester was annexed by Boston in 1870 when it had a population of 12,261 people. With the construction of rails and trolley lines around 1900, the area quickly became a residential suburb of Boston. By 1925, Dorchester was strongly associated with immigrants and the flat-topped, three-story residence known as the "triple-decker." More than 5,000 triple-deckers were built in Dorchester between 1900 and 1925 (Walczak, W., "Codman Square: history (1630 to present), turmoil (1950-1980) and revival (1980-2000)," 2002). Throughout the city as a whole, about 15,000 triple-deckers were built between 1890 and 1920 (Ed Forry, "Once Again, Neighborhood's on the Map As a Good Place to Live," Dorchester Reporter,  Aug. 8, 2002). By 1920, Dorchester was the largest geographic area and most populous neighborhood in Boston, with about 200,000 people (Walczak, "Codman Square: history (1630 to the present)," 2002).

Over the course of Dorchester's history, various waves of immigrants have poured into the area, including the Puritans, Irish, Jews, blacks, Caribbeans, and Vietnamese. Through the 1940s and 1950s, the influx of Jewish residents into Dorchester was concentrated along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor. By 1957, more than 40,000 Jewish people lived in Dorchester, many of whom moved from Roxbury (Levine & Harmon, Death of an American Jewish Community, 1992). A precipitous decline in population and a rapid ethnic transition followed. Between 1950 and 1970, the total population of Dorchester declined from 250,000 people to about 160,000 people. The decline in the Heart of the City communities near Franklin Park was particularly rapid.

During this time, the triple-decker, which had been deeply associated with Dorchester, acquired a negative reputation. By 1978, the City began a special campaign to target potential homeowners, highlight the advantages of three-decker homes, and bring reinvestment back to Dorchester. At this time, a triple-decker in Dorchester sold for between $15,000 and $30,000.

In 2002, the price of triple-deckers in Dorchester was rapidly rising. According to the Dorchseter Reporter  and Banker & Tradesman ,the median price for a three-family building in Dorchester between January and May 2002 was $350,000, already up 21% from 2001, and up more than 50% from 2000. The average Dorchester two-family home sold for $297,000 during the first half of 2002, and a one-family home sold for about $226,000 (Bill Forry, Dorchester Reporter, Aug. 8, 2002).

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DESIGN ISSUES:
-- Blue Hill Avenue can serve as a barrier to people from Dorchester who would otherwise be interested in accessing Franklin Park. The street is wide and traffic is fast and dangerous. Also, according to several residents of the area, the configuration of streets east of Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester is not conducive to the flow of people to the park.

-- The confusing and varied definitions of Dorchester's scope can make community identity and interagency coordination problematic. Varied definitions can also contribute to misunderstanding and distrust between community members and government agencies.

-- Recent residential developments going up along the Dorchester section of the Fairmont Commuter Rail in 2004 have been touted as creating even more incentive for why the line should be built. (Ron DePasquale, "MBTA Eyes Upgrade for Dorchester Rail Line," The Boston Globe, March 7,2004)

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SOCIAL ISSUES:
Gang violence:
The Boston Police identified the Esmond Street area of Dorchester off Blue Hill Avenue as one of eight "hot spots" of gun violence in the summer of 2000. Mass arrests have taken place in the Esmond Street community, with up to 29 arrests occurring at one time. 

Youth population:
In general, the neighborhoods east of Franklin Park are rich in children. The youth population of many areas of Dorchester is large and growing rapidly. For example:

Census Tract # 924 - North of Franklin Field - 38% of population under 18
Census Tract # 901 - Columbia Road; Erie/Ellington - 35% of population under 18
Census Tract # 1001 - Franklin Field and south of Franklin Field - 37% of population under 18

This growth has implications for schools, community centers, youth programming, and gang activity. While as little as 13% of the population of some census tracts on the western side of the Heart of the City are youth under eighteen, the census tracts in Dorchester have a much larger proportion of youth.

Health disparities:
North Dorchester had the second highest stroke rate, while Roxbury and Roslindale also had higher stroke death rates than the city average (Boston Public Health Commission, 2001, "Cardiovascular Heath Report: A roadmap for the prevention of heart disease and stroke in Boston"). "Dorchester/ Mattapan (6.4%) has the highest percentage of residents reporting diabetes" (Boston Public Health Commission, 2001, "Cardiovascular Heath Report: A roadmap for the prevention of heart disease and stroke in Boston"). Collectively, Roxbury and North and South Dorchester accounted for 53% of all Boston Emergency Medical services for asthma. Asthma hospitalization average annual rates between 1994 and 1999 for females under five were 7.6 per 1,000 for Boston as a whole, 10.9 for Jamaica Plain, 7.0 for Mattapan, 10.2 for North Dorchester, 9.1 for South Dorchester, 11.3 for Roxbury, and 4.5 for Roslindale (The Health of Boston 2001, Boston Public Health Commission, 2001). In the Heart of the City in 2000, children in South Dorchester, North Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury (in descending order) all had a higher percentage of elevated blood lead levels than the Boston average. The number of children with elevated blood lead levels in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale was below the city average. Exposure to lead for children under the age of six can damage their brains, affect their mental and physical development, damage their kidneys, and cause hearing and eating problems. (The Health of Boston 2001. Boston Public Health Commission, 2001).

Difficulties establishing businesses:
Often, aspiring business entrepreneurs have found it difficult to secure bank financing to open businesses in Dorchester. Local organizations have attempted to aid this process by providing special access to loans. Since 1997, Dorchester Bay has provided $400,000 of "micro"loans throughout Dorchester for small companies and the City of Boston has facilitated loans and grants for small businesses along parts of Blue Hill Avenue (Jeff Lemberg, "Dorchester: Big bang for the high-interest buck," The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003).

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TESTIMONIES: 
"Dorchester doesn't really have much to offer in terms of services. We're way underserved for the population here. This is the biggest part of the city, but we have to go to JP for restaurants, a coffee house, or just to get your dog groomed" (Andrew Nefsky, Dorchester resident, from an article by Jeff Lemberg, "Dorchester: Big bang for the high-interest buck,"The Boston Globe., Jan. 26, 2003).

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