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Dorchester frightens Emily Rooney

Too crime ridden, too filled with people who aren't like her, too far on the other side of 128, apparently.

Last night on "Greater Boston," Rooney chatted with Donna Latson Gittens about why real-estate sales are up in Dorchester and Jamaica Plain.

"Are you trying to tell me there are actually neighborhoods outside of Beacon Hill and Back Bay?" she asked. That seemed to be a joke, sort of, but she expressed some doubt that any sane person would really want to live in a place with such a reputation for being a blood-drenched hellhole like Dorchester.

Besides, even if you cleaned up all the crime, "it's a long way into town." When Gittens said Ashmont is 17 minutes away from downtown by Red Line, Rooney gasped in shock. "Wow, that's like living in Wellesley or something; it's a long ways away!" Ed. note: Wellesley Farms, the closest Wellesley commuter-rail stop to Boston, is 35 minutes away.

And when Gittens said one of the attractions of Dorchester is the diversity of residents, Rooney snorted. "People care about that?"

The two didn't spend much time on Jamaica Plain, but Rooney did proclaim JP is for people who "want to live in the city but don't want to be burdened by the ONEROUS property taxes on Beacon Hill or Back Bay."

Rooney then acknowledged that Gittens, whom she's known for awhile, keeps asking her to visit Dorchester. Maybe one of these days, she allowed.

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Comments

And which Dorchester is it that scares the Fair Ms. Emily Looney? Trying to wedge it into a monolithic entity makes my head hurt.

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Imagine how much more absurd that would have sounded if she WEREN'T correct.

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Then again, I live in Mefuh, where the diversity most certainly attracts people. Like, a substantial number of gay couples, mixed-race couples, blended mixed race families, immigrants who don't want to be urban but don't want to stick out in further flung suburbs. Not to mention those of us raising our kids to function in a 21st century reality of America where you will have no choice but to deal with diversity.

My son's middle school graduation would strike many people as diverse - but it is nearly dead on representative of the diversity of kids in that age group nationwide.

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Don't let diversity scare you. Get out and talk to your neighbors... you might learn that you have more in common with them than you think.

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Like, having a ring full of keys to everyone's houses and cars? Fairly regular impromptu "lets all have dinner together" event? Does that count?

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I love to hear you brag about how enlightened you are. Let's all pay attention to you! You deserve it.

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.

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I've been hit with an anonymous leveling mechanism. Must keep us uppity people down you know, show us our place and then run away.

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and how she's revealed herself to be interested not in GREATER BOSTON but the relatively few parts she thinks are important. Guess which ones those are.

The other parts of the city she could not possibly display a more dismissive and ignorant attitude about. Is actually quite shocking. When she asked "People care about that?" she means white people other than Mayor Menino.

Let's call her show GREATER BOSTON: THE WHITE HOITY-TOITY PARTS

The curmudgeon doesn't fall far from the tree.

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But it wasn't my basis for living where I live. I prioritized "parking" and "24 hour businesses" over "brown people."

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none ever show up at your trivia night... that, or the overtly racist comments you make about people of various ethnicities walking by on Brighton Avenue. Never get tired of seeing the bouncers roll their eyes at your comedic gems.

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That's quite an asinine remark for somebody who seems to know who I am. 36 teams last night, sweetie. I'm there at 8 tonight...come on by and introduce yourself.

Oh, and while you're at it, why don't you share one of my "racist remarks" with the class?

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I'll take The Hills for 200, Quagmire

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(S)he said "the comments about people YOU MAKE PASSING BY ON BRIGHTON AVENUE."

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a woman with a close-cropped haircut of indeterminate Asian origin "Kim Jong Il?" Like that?

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I said that? No way. That's awesome. And not at all racist. I mean, she looked like Kim Jong-Il.

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Since when does "brown people" = diversity?

I think it would take more than brown people, as all one of anything isn't diversity. Coaching a soccer team that puts the UN to shame is diversity!

For you it didn't matter. Fine. For people with families that don't fit the Whitopia Profile, diversity is not negotiable. For those of us who work with demographic information and know what tomorrow's world will look like it is a plus. Also a good marker for where good food can be found, where bullying in schools can't be permitted to exist, and other quality of life details.

See also, ethnic diversity, age diversity, income diversity, racial diversity, religious diversity, etc.

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You recognize satire when you see it, don't you?

That having been said, you do make a good point. Diversity is fun. I go to a crepe shop run by Moroccans every week. Had a good chuckle with the cook recently about Elton John's concert there being condemned. That was an amusing exchange with somebody from somewhere else.

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It went into my decision on where to buy. It wasn't the only reason obviously -- price, proximity to public transportation, quality of the house, etc...

Diversity is one of those variables that gets mixed in with other factors -- restaurants, cool little stores, street life, cultural events. Typically these things will exist where diversity is higher. All the people of means (mostly white) start moving in for that reason, the diversity goes down, the prices go up, "diverse people" start moving out, cool shops become Gaps and Starbucks and soon you're thinking "what the hell, I might as well live in Burlington! At least there's parking at the mall."

But in our country (and probably others) cultural diversity is frequently bound up in economics. Hard to get away from that whole class thing (segue to recent JP thread). Newton is one of those towns that I would characterize as "not too diverse" yet they manage to keep up a lot of those other factors associated with diverse n'hoods. So there's something to be said for being really loaded. You can keep out the Gap and maintain the funky ethnic restaurants (as long as the wait-staff doesn't try moving in).

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Seriously, could we keep the "Dorchester is livable" racket down to a minimum? I love my dangerously diverse neighborhood within spitting distance of downtown, and want to slow the gentrification. So keep it down!

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I was a bit surprised by Em's responses because she's usually spot-on when talking about all the different neighborhoods of Boston. It was almost as though she was playing devil's advocate, last night. Her admission that she hadn't been to Dorchester (ever??) was a bit of a surprise.

I thought the segment was well-done even if it was short of any real news or information. The guest was great - Terry said to me, "I like her, she should be on all the time," and it looks as though that may happened, based on Em's comment at the end.

And, regarding property taxes? Ours went up more than 10% this year, but we, along with everyone in the city, do much better than in Brookline, Wellesley or other tony towns. Yeah, you get big homes in those towns but you pay way more in property taxes.

Em lives on Marlborough Street - you want cheap, move to Rozzie (no offense intended).

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And assess properties that are worth less than a million dollars in the favor of the homeowner in my experience.

But I can see the diversity thing both ways. Often times people say they "moved for the diversity" but really mean they moved from Concord to Newton, or Wellesley to Brookline. They sure as hell don't move to Hyde Park and send their kids to Boston English for the "diversity".

(I should disclose that Hyde Park is my favorite place to live in the State of Massachusetts.)

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The property-tax rates in Boston are definitely skewed toward residential property - and people who live in their own homes get an additional tax break.

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Please don't let facts get in the way of my poorly-researched comment.

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Towns with high taxes because of excessive assessments: Sudbury, Concord, Wayland, Dover, Westwood, Medfield, Sherborn.

Towns where you would be suprised at how reasonable taxes are: Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, Weston, Hingham.

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I have lived in Brookline for several years now, and to give you an idea of how reasonable my taxes are, I haven't been able to understand, until recently when I thought about looking outside Brookline for a house, why people in Massachusetts seemed to be so obsessed with "property tax relief".

I get a residential exemption on the first $250K of value. I pay in the mid-$2k range on my condo assessed in the $400s (even after an override last year). Considering the excellent town services, I know that I am getting a deal and a half. I also believe that this has something to do with the town, rather then city, form of government that Brookline has maintained (and quite effectively). Town Meetings (even representative ones) keep town authorities in check.

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Services are slacking. Public safety is pretty good, although we pay dearly for that - but we don't even have an elementary or middle school between the North End and Mission Hill (despite pleadings of the parents) and the parks are getting starved without a budget increase to speak of for almost the past 10 years (we just sell them off little pieces at a time). The library news is not much better. There's certainly no shortage of money - we have one of the highest budgets per capita in the state - but when your employees get no cuts in benefits and still enjoy 3-4% pay hikes every year it eventually becomes real money.

Taxes in Boston used to be very reasonable - but now I'd call them moderate and heading higher. Unfortunately we are at risk of substantial increases as I've posted here before. I personally think the state cut Menino a break last year and didn't force us to jack up the rates right after an election. Instead they'll just keep cooking us slowly like the proverbial frogs with annual 7-10% increases for the foreseeable future.

Can't comment on any specific houses -but Boston's residential taxes have doubled in the past 10 years from about $275 million to $550 million citywide while only increasing the housing stock by about 1%. Not sustainable, but the politicians here just keep kicking the can down the road.

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isaacg, that hurts. ;-) What is the rationale of the residential exemption? That's new to me living in the boonies. If I understand it right, you're paying taxes on about ~$200k of value?

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And in Boston (which also has the residential exemption) is that there are so many commercial and rental properties that both places generate enough revenue so those who own houses or condos in the lowest property brackets (under $1 million in both places) haven't had to pay up.

Basically if you can afford to own property in Boston and Brookline and you collect rent from those properties you afford to pay more taxes.

Boston is a little different these days because the real estate prices are a lot lower that what we would like them to be and that hurts many home owners that are looking to buy or are new home owners. Houses on the market in the 300K-400K range may be paying taxes in the 4-6K per year range only because those houses would be worth 600K-700K in a good real estate market. Brookline real estate is doing a little better.

I mean, look at this house on Fairmount Hill in Boston on the market for $569K (with taxes at 4K a year)

http://www.newenglandmoves.com/real-estate/propert...

Put that house in Dover, Westwood, Concord or Sudbury and your taxes are doubled. (of course a 4br 2500sq house like that is going to go for 700K+ in those towns anyway but I'm talking about your 500K house in either place.)

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Methinks she resides in the Back Bay.

They ought to rename "Greater Boston" as "Everything But Boston".

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last I checked, JP, Beacon Hill, and Back Bay were all neighborhoods of the City of Boston and paid the same property taxes. Perhaps she's just means that folks buy cheaper houses in JP than in Beacon Hill or Back Bay.

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...her father's iritable prostate. I mean her shtick is to be the uber-devil's advocate. She'd force Mother Teresa to justify feeding orphans. "Aren't you just encouraging these little leeches on the system?" I mean what's the point? "Mr. Pope, I mean really, do you need the funny hats?"

You don't get the sense that she really believes any of the opinions she's putting out there, it's just some sort of false, muted outrage to try and get the interviewee responding. Some people can do that and it works. Emily, not so much. She comes off sounding really stupid or like she lives in a box in the back of the GBH building. I'm sure she's familiar with Dorchester and doesn't think Ashmont is somewhere on the other side of the Greenwich meridian, so why behave like it?

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Sounds like someone we wouldn't want in Dorchester anyway so she can stay out. I'll continue enjoying my safe and relatively cheap neighborhood that's a 10 minute bike ride from downtown.

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Sounds like people living in diverse, urban neighborhoods think they are more virtuous than people living in suburbia.

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Not really, she sounds like she's unwilling to try something new and thinks the Beacon Hill/Back Bay are a model for the rest of Boston. We need people in Dot who are willing to accept the current flaws it has and are willing to work to make the area better. Emily doesn't sound like such a person.

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ignorant, snobby, insular b--

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Personally, I find her insufferable and dread running into her in the neighborhood. A poster child for the dumbing down of Boston. There are many more that feel the same and are outspoken about it on line. I just don't understand why she is still on the air. I am just one progressive asking, 'Just how stupid is Emily Rooney?'

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Never got the impression from watching Greater Boston that Emily Rooney was stupid... I guess that must make me an idiot; and certainly out of the loop since I never have had the 'privilege' of uttering the remark that I dread running into her in the neighborhood. Oh my, how snooty!

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I figure anybody else would not have answered 'anon'. Believe me, if I relocated the Back Bay would be less diverse. Sorry but you do nothing to raise the level of discourse in Boston. I would not have a problem moving to Dorchester or getting there by T, car, or on foot.

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Yes, you may wonder why she's still on the air. But she is typical of so many celebrities and business people in the Boston area. I've lived here quite a while (28 years) after having lived in NYC, the Wash., D.C. area, Miami, FL, the Twin Cities, (St. Paul, MN) and elsewhere. And I must say that, compared w/those other areas, there's an almost unique tendency in Boston to be reciprocally loyal to those around one, irrespective of competence or lack thereof.

Emily is constantly showing her ignorance, limited intelligence and lack of preparation in nearly every episode of her shows. And she often gets tangled up in her sentences and thoughts, and just ends up muttering nearly incoherently before quickly moving on to her next thought. But she has probably been super loyal to her bosses and nice to those around her, qualities that in this town carry a whole lot more weight than intelligence or competence, the latter qualities often seeming to make many folks around here insecure, defensive and resentful.

I don't know what makes Boston that way. Perhaps it's the tendency of many folks never to leave the area, generation after generation, thus becoming overly socially dependent on one another for support and reaffirmation. It tends to foster a "get along, go along" mentality of not rocking the boat. And Emily is a prime example of where that leads us in terms of quality. I'm sure she'll be on the air until she croaks or becomes totally incompetent.

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. . . you basically affirmed, in a back handed derogatory manner, exactly what I like most about Boston and New England in general.

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It would be nice, but this place is so broken that I am scared of getting screwed by all the incompetence, illiteracy, and sketchiness.

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for Adam Gaffin to replace Joe Sciacca on "Beat the Press"?

I suppose we can forget about that now.

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and so doesn't qualify to be asked to be a panel member on

Greater Boston: The Hoity-Toity Bits

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Good friends of mine moved out of Dorcehster last year after gunshots became too routine. It's real, and real kids are dying.

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The idea of running into her in the neighborhood gives me the willies. Don't watch her and WGBH doesn't seem to care so I no longer donate to them. Instead of counting sheep at night, I ponder, 'Just how stupid IS Emily Rooney?'

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You were on Greater Boston recently... what was your first-hand impression of Rooney? I frequently watch the show and think it's not bad as far as local news issues TV shows go.

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All this Emily Rooney bashing is getting tiresome. Stupid? Really?

Whit

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I dunno. I think I was on the set with her for maybe 10 minutes, our segment was pretty straightforward and I certainly wouldn't have come away with any bad impressions of her based on it; she asked good questions (as opposed to after having watched this segment).

The thing I don't get is whether she says some of the things she does to try to get a conversation going or whether she really believes them. Even in my segment, there was one point where she seemed to be trying to goad the MBTA police chief into debating those security checkpoints at T stop - a good topic for a discussion, to be sure, but by itself, not as a derailment of a segment about T riders taking cellphone photos of perverts. He seemed to realize what was going on and basically ignored her aside (she seems to talk in asides a lot).

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Thanks for your response. Hope you get invited back to Greater Boston -- thought you represented well.

I'd imagine Rooney tries to stir the pot a bit to keep people watching or maybe that's what the produces would like her to do... who knows for sure. I'm just thrilled to have even 30 minutes of some local coverage alternative to the awful local Fox 25 news, especially now that NECN seems to have gone downhill so dramatically.

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she does. And let's face it, it' counter-productive if what he's trying to do as host is deliver the setup.

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Maybe Gittens can offer me the tour instead.

I've been in and around JP, Roxbury, but my experience in Dorchester is mostly from serving at Dorchester District Court. I live in the city, and the trip there took an hour by bus. The neighborhood didn't seem too promising either--an intriguing bbq joint, but nothing besides fast food outside of that. Well I'm aware that's just a small part, but it's very daunting to figure out where to go. Blue Hill Ave / Dudley St may be promising.

Perhaps Rooney has just been following http://www.universalhub.com/crime/home.html because that map is awfully suggestive. Not to mention titles like "For second day in a row, somebody murdered in broad daylight in Dorchester." These kind of headlines are not particularly inviting to visitors.

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Dorchester is Boston's largest neighborhood and made up of many varied neighborhoods within it, some very nice, some not as nice.

There are white people who actually do choose places to live that are racially and ethnically diverse over those that are homogeneously white - surprise, surprise. If Emily can't figure out why on her own, I don't think she deserves an explanation.

Emily's shtick is to be a skeptic - that is, when she's not fawning over powerful people. Walk softly and carry a big shtick.

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Rooney showed her true liberal colors (no pun intended), admitting that she's never been to Dorchester. Don't forget, Republican Ronald Reagan helped make Dorchester popular again when hevisit the Eire in 1983. Even Clinton copied him, to less effect, years later.

Next question, has Rooney ever allowed more than one person of color to appear on Beat the Press on any given Friday? Seems there's a "token" seat for Callie Crossley (don't get me wrong, I love Callie on the panel) but never room for two African Americans. It's almost like a 50's thought process, one black, one conservative, one atheist, etc...

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It would surprise me if a reporter of Rooney's prominence had never once walked into the Boston Globe offices.

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She also acknowledged familiarity with the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center. Altho' maybe she was whisked to and fro in WGBH's sealed, armed Black Limousine of Entitlement.

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Skeptics are usually more transparent than Mz Rooney. I have to wonder if she thinks she will get certain people to identify with her if she spouts certain world views without flagging them as what she actually believes or has experienced (versus "common notions" or "what people often say")?

Most of the people that I know that have a dim, dated, and ill-informed view of Dorchester and the Red Line are working-class people whose parents left Dot for south shore burbs in the 1950s. Does she think these people will watch her show if they think she shares their perspective or something?

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Over my years in the Boston area, I've frequented Dorchester. I've driven down Dot Ave., taken the Red Line, visited various Dorchester restaurants, have good friends with apartments in Dorchester, and have checked out real estate in Dorchester. There are some stellar areas and institutions; love the diversity of cuisines (Jamaican, other Caribbean, Vietnamese--it's all there), love the budding gay culture, love some of the architecture. Dorchester has many virtues.

But come on. If someone told you that you'd be transported to a completely random spot in Dorchester, most people would be nervous. As much as Dorchester in general has advanced and grown, it is still a hotbed of crime and risk and perhaps is the Boston areas largest gang incubator. All of those dangers and risks are heightened for old, physically vulnerable white women. So why the heck would Emily Rooney NOT be intimidated by the idea of Dorchester, especially when it seems like every other day, there's a new report of yet another murder, yet another stabbing, in BROAD DAYLIGHT nonetheless!

This topic has just become another politically-correct pressure cooker full of holier-than-thou attitude and a failure to look at things from other people's perspectives; Emily Rooney might be as guilty of this as all of you "OMG Dorchester is so safe and hip and cool!" cheerleaders.

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Here's a map to prove it.

But what people always seem to forget/ignore is just how big the place is, both geographically and in terms of population. If it were a city, it'd be right up there with Cambridge. When's the last time somebody said they were afraid to go to Cambridge because of the crazies in Central Square?

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There's a point to be made here, but the problem area in Dot is a lot bigger than Central Square.

The truth is, Emily is representative of many people - including suburbanites - who see 'Boston' as downtown. Then there's the Cape and Islands. She's a cosmopolitan Old Urban Professional, and she's not interested in the Best Neighborhood Family Hardware Store.

I recommend watching Chronicle for local color. They cover all of New England, but they do stay home and do Boston occasionally. And they steer mercifully clear of politics.

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I recommend watching Chronicle for local color.

Chronicle pretty much ignores issues of color.

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That's because there's far less actual mayhem per block in Central Square (the police station being right there is a factor) or anywhere else in Cambridge, really. The overall crime rate is lower, too. People don't avoid areas because there's one crime there; the avoid them if there are lots. And before anyone jumps in and accuses me of not knowing what I talk about, I am well aware that there are more safe and less safe parts of Dorchester, the bottom line is that to get to many of the good parts you need to travel through, and then back through, some less-good ones, not to mention the fact that a lot of road-based routes (93, Dot. Ave., etc.) have their own unique horrors that have nothing to do with crime. Not really the case in Cambridge, where most of the things that people go there "for" can be accessed any number of ways without dealing with things that people would rather avoid.

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I wouldn't worry about most parts of Dorchester, actually. I've biked through them at varying hours of the day over the years and have been troubled by nothing more than a come-on or two.

If I were a 14 year old boy living there, certain areas might be considerably more scary. Most of the crime is property crime, and the appalling murders are generally in a relatively small area and are related to factors that have little to do with people who don't live there.

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OK then: "Safe" is, like, the opposite of "dangerous." And congrats to you for biking where others fear to tread, but if you're saying that biking down Columbia Ave. in Dot is the same as biking down Columbia Ave. in Cambridge, you're out of your mind. But again, thanks for crusading and showing us the way.

And yes, I did say that one needn't worry about most parts of Dorchester-- only that to get to those nice parts, one generally needs to travel through places that even defenders-of-Dot will tell you aren't so nice.

As for your contention that the crime statistics and perception are based on what happens to 14-year-olds-- really? All this stuff just passes everyone else by? Hmmm, wait, no it doesn't-- plenty of the victims are adults, or female. I bow to your pointing out of the obvious that it's a very dangerous place to be a 14-year-old boy, but to say that they're the majority of the victims is just insane.

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They show that young men who live in and circulate in a particular small area of Dot are the most common victims of the worst violent crime. I don't see anything in the crime statistics about middle-aged cyclists passing through the area being randomly attacked and mugged, and it isn't because there aren't any commuter cyclists in Dot!

Then again, I don't get my perceptions of an area from a glowing box. I'm also aware of how this nifty thing called "privilege" insulates me.

You obviously weren't working with people in Dot or Roxbury 20 years ago when getting caught in the crossfire at the grocery store was a serious concern for people who lived there. Not getting mugged, getting caught in the crossfire. Things are a lot better today, unless you are a young man in a particular area. I wouldn't hesitate to ride down either Columbia that you mentioned, and the one in Dot has more room to maneuver and lacks the speed bumps.

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with pulling the age, holier-than-thou, and the longtimer cards there-- great stuff. Yeah, you're right-- you're always right. Getting raped or having your home invaded or set on fire isn't a concern any more. And yes, you're righter than right in saying that the people in less-safe parts Dot will tell you that things are basically fine now.

But seriously, no. Are things better? In some ways, yes-- but they're by no means totally fine, whether you're a 14-year-old boy or not. And as for your contention that most crimes are property crimes, I'd say that most people, even those who live in nice leafy suburbs, would agree that having your car stolen or vandalized, or other material possessions taken from you, still sucks and affects quality of life.

And as for your smugness about pointing out how visitors to the area, such as you, aren't the victims of crime-- well, that speaks volumes about you. If you pedal your bike down a street a couple of times and nothing bad happens, then the neighborhood is safe, and everyone who says an otherwise is an idiot. You're right.

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I go to every neighborhood of Dorchester several times per week. This isn't hyperbole. And yes, you could randomly set me down anywhere in Dorchester and I'd be like, oh, cool, there's an errand I need to run on that street, or someone I might as well go visit and see what they're up to since I'm randomly on their street.

FWIW, I'm white and female and didn't grow up in Dorchester. But I get my information (at least in this regard) from experience, not from the media.

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I hear that about Dorchester and Quincy all the time.

They are soooooooooooooooooo far away. Quincy is practically Cape Cod.

If people left the 1 mile area around their house...

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Compared to Allston/Brighton in my opinion. Even Newton seems to be closer to the action than Quincy does.

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By car, yes, maybe, depending on how the Expressway traffic is at the moment.

But I'll take the Red Line from Ashmont over the Green Line on Comm. Ave. any day.

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But my other point is that there seems to be more to do around Allston/Brighton than there is to do around Dorchester/Quincy. That's just me though.

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Clubs vs. bowling at 3 a.m. :-).

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/ups-n-downs-dorchester

Why am I not suprised Ups-n-Downs doesn't have a website?

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Again, back at the bowling alley. See, Dorchester has some redeeming features :-).

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Sure you might miss out on that extra hour of bowling till 3am but the Fenway area is a quick hop and a jump from Allston/Brighton.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dorchester. But I've lived in Quincy and the biggest negative about the place was the distance to things I liked to do in the city.

Now that Rt. 1 has spruced up in Dedham, Foxboro and Walpole, I think Hyde Park is the hidden jem of Boston neighborhoods.

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Once the Fairmount Line becomes a quasi-subway, watch out!

Oh, yeah, they've got bowling, too :-).

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I have to disagree here. My subway ride is half as long from Wollaston as it was from Cleveland Circle. Literally, half as long. It takes me 20 minutes to get downtown on the Red Line, whereas it used to take me 40-45 minutes on the Green. Yes, it's longer in miles, but there are fewer stops, and you're in real subway cars rather than little trollies. I'd never go back to my old commute.

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But I was talking more about getting to an area of Boston where there are things that I like to do (Fenway, Kenmore, Boylston St.) But yea, getting to South Station is probably faster from Wollaston than Cleveland Circle (which is as far away from Boston as you can get from Brighton anyway).

Then again from Cleveland Circle you can take the Dline which shouldn't take you 40-45 minutes to get downtown.

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The D-line shouldn't, but all to frequently does, which is why I have switched back to driving. As we all know, the problem arises when you get to Kenmore. It doesn't matter a damn which line you're one, because you're on the same one. Until there is at least one express track on the subway portion of the GL, things will not improve. Ever. The extension is likely to make this problem worse, as it will attract even more riders. Oh well, no good deed goes unpunished.

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Is trying to get back out of Boston from Gov. Center at night. Every time I've taken that train back out I've had to wait for 3 C-lines, 4 B-lines, and 2 other full trains that never stop.

I almost think they should either move the C-line and/or B-line trains underground or just have busses replace those routes and drop everyone off at Kenmore. Then replace the trolley-style D-line trains and make them real trains.

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The D Line is sometimes excessively overcrowded too. Not only is that miserable to ride, when you're contorting to find a pole to hang onto and not be pressed in between people, but it's also dangerous if there's an accident.

One time this year, the front car was packed completely full, people pressed up against each other, including everywhere past the line. Yet the driver kept letting more people squeeze in the front door at each stop. I was getting angry and about to make a scene by telling the driver he couldn't let more people on. But the last thing we needed right then was an apparently incompetent driver getting angry and doing something even stupider because someone was telling him his job. I also thought of phoning the MBTA and demanding that they stop the train immediately and replace the driver. But I would've been lynched by other angry passengers who were already late and just wanted to get it over with, and who might not appreciate that they were just one bump away from people receiving concussions, sprains, and broken bones.

I think that the politicians are more scared of Masshole car drivers than of people who ride the public transit, bike, or walk.

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When I lived in the Cleveland Circle area, I had a choice of comfortably sitting on the C line for 40 minutes, or being packed like a sardine into the D line for 30 minutes. And, as you say, the two trains are equally bad once you get to Kenmore.

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Actually, Quincy is just as close to Boston as Cambridge is.

It just isn't on the hip side. I'll take Dorchester over Beacon Hill anyday.

I'd also like Quincy to stay affordable and ungentriffied but with the urban renewal project happening, I am not betting on it.

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From Google maps:

Quincy Center to Government Center, Boston: 9.1 miles (over 3 hours walking)

Harvard Square to Government Center: 3.5 miles (1 hour, 11 minutes walking)

Anyone in good health can do the second walk in nice weather. Very few would choose to do the first one.

Quincy is almost as far from Boston as Waltham is. And the walk to Waltham is a lot more pleasant.

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a border, then they're equally close. By that theory, Needham is just as close to Boston as Cambridge is. Not in any useful way, of course-- the border is in the middle of the Charles-- but according to that logic, it's just as "close."

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Which is true.

And actually Needham borders Boston as well (in the swamps of Cutler park and the Charles River)

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For most people that means going to downtown, central Boston, as it does with pretty much any city anywhere. For most people in Quincy, whether for work or fun, going to Boston does not generally entail going to somewhere in Dot, any more than people in Needham go to West Roxbury for work or fun. This is not because there isn't work or fun stuff to do in both West Roxbury and Dorchester, just that, for most people, there's a greater concentration of both jobs and fun stuff in central Boston.

Also, re: the border, that's what I meant. Needham shares a border with Boston in terms of a dividing line drawn down the middle of the Charles at Millenium Park in West Roxbury. It's strictly, and only, a water boundary though; nobody's walking directly from one to the other, unless they're Jesus. Even if you cross the river on the tracks, you're still in Dedham for a few feet.

http://www.needhamma.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2522

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That's true for Cambridge, too ;-)

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Underneath 93. Not legally I don't think, but you can do it.

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Also you could just walk down Austin Street.

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Wrong again. You're still walking across a bridge. Pay attention now: You're making the crossing on a BRIDGE, not on land. You could make the same lame argument about crossing on the dam or the Longfellow, but you're still crossing the border up in the air.

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Not all the way to Quincy Center (at least not officially), but you can walk from downtown Boston to Quincy via the Harborwalk.

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I live pretty near the geographic center of Boston. Dorchester is less than a mile from me. Where Brighton starts is about 2 miles, assuming I'm allowed to cut through Brookline.

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Emily:

Please stay away. I grew up there. The part I grew up in has large victorians, easy access to transportation, minimal violence, and overall stability. I don't want you and the potential genetic disaster that you have in you (i.e. your father's eyebrows) polluting the area.

Maybe the show should be "Greater Boston, Just Not All Of It".

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Is Emily channeling her inner Laura Schlessinger or something? First, she scoffs that people might actually like Dorchester's racial/ethnic diversity. Then, this evening on Beat the Press, one of the topics was the news coverage of the Phoebe King bullying and suicide. At one point during the discussion, Emmie, at her most brilliant and compassionate, said that some kids are always the bullies, others get bullied, and "it's just the way it is." As if there's not much we can or should do about it. I think Emily either hasn't had her summer vacation yet, or needs another one. Surprisingly insensitive.

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dorchester is kinda fucked up. ive lived in the melville park area for years now. people talk about how nice it is but im constantly hearing gunshots. ive seen people get robbed at gunpoint. ive BEEN robbed at gunpoint. ive seen alot of houses get broken into. ive had guns thrown in my yard on a few different occasions. i still love dorchester though

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She has already come out as anti gay. Are you really all that surprised? If you don't like what the b**** is saying I suggest that you call/write GBH and tell them that you will no longer be donating money to them as long as the racist/homophobe Rooney is on their payroll.

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You are invited to my home Emily, I've been here on Percival St , Dot. since 1987. I'm white and middle class, Emily. I AM A WOMAN AROUND YOUR AGE , 62 YEARS. I DO ALL THINGS, I WORK, I GO TO NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS, SOCIALIZE WITH MY NEIGHBORS AND MY COLLEAGUES. AM BLESSED TO BE SO CLOSE TO CASTLE ISLAND WHERE I LOVE TO WALK MY PRECIOUS ITALIAN GREYHOUND. YOU HAVE TO SEE AND RESPECT THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF THE WORLD, EMILY. I WILL LISTEN FOR YOUR AWAKENING AND WAIT FOR YOUR STAFF TO TELL ME WHEN YOU WILL COME TO MY HOME. EMILY, DON'T MISS THIS RICH LAYER OF LIFE FOR THE ONE YOUR LIVING IN IS ONLY A SMALL PART.

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This is not the first racist thing Emily Rooney has said on air. What about her questioning why people in Mattapan use guns to settle their differences but not people from Newton? Of course she was proven wrong again when the very next day a man from Newton murdered a waltham man using a gun.

I also hate to hear her villify the victims, first of the shootings in Boston and more recently about the gay college student who jumped off the GW bridge.

I also am a former WGBH benefactor, who will no longer donate any money until Ms. Rooney is off the air.

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