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Yet Another Online Guide that Ignores Half the City

According to Yelp Boston, Teele Square and Winthrop are part of Boston, but Dorchester, Roslindale, and Mattapan aren't (oddly, Yelp does list Hyde Park and Dudley Square; you'd think there be dragons between Hyde Park and Brookline; giant sea creatures between Dudley and Mission Hill).

Over in Dorchester, Chris and Erin aren't taking this hipster snub lying down: They've started a campaign to get the user-rating service to add Dot, especially since it has far more restaurants and shops than many of the other included areas:

... This omission seems almost purposeful. ...We are asking our readers to take a moment and send a comment to Yelp! that Dorchester needs to be added to their list of Boston neighborhoods. This simple action will encourage more people in the city to visit Dot (because Yelp! is such a widely used website by people under 40), having a positive effect on our local businesses. ...


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Comments

People who are unfamiliar with the various neighborhoods in the Boston metro are usually vaguely aware of at least one place they could go if the urge struck them.

Cambridge > Kendall, Central and Harvard squares are familiar terms even to newcomers after a few months.

JP > Centre St. is well-known as a good place to start.

etc

For many people, Dorchester is something they see on a crime map, news report or through a train window. All but the latter tend to keep people from actively exploring. Anything to change that would be nice.

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The Strand Theatre used to bring people into Dorchester on a regular basis for live performances of various kinds. Concerts, dance companies, Urban Nutcracker, etc.

Then it closed for renovations a year ago. I think the repairs are done, but I've seen no notices of a show schedule for this year. With creative programming and promotion, it should be the centerpiece of Uphams Corner, drawing audiences from all the surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs.

Look at what the Somerville Theatre has done for Davis Square. This could be repeated elsewhere.

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The renovations to the Strand are not complete. Also, I believe the City is working on a new program to bring more, and better, programing to the Strand.

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I took Chris and Erin's advice and wrote a friendly letter of complaint to Yelp. Actually, i sent two slightly different versions: Yelp's headquarters is in San Francisco, so I wrote a message on the official Contact form that assumed no knowledge of Boston, but then I also wrote to the Boston office with a version that assumed that they knew that Dorchester is in Boston but Arlington isn't.

One Ligaya Tichy from the Boston office sent me a cheerful reply a mere five hours later! Here's what it said:

Hi Larry,

Thanks for writing in. We're on it! We currently have listings including businesses in Dorchester but we will be adding it as a neighborhood in the next few.

Keep an eye out, and have a great weekend!

Ligaya Tichy

Larry Davidson

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what in the world is yelp? Does anyone care?

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Instead of asking this, why not find out for yourself? It's a very popular website.

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I don't mind that it doesn't reference Roslindale - keeps the streets clear for us locals - but honestly, it should at least say "Boston area" instead of "Boston."

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