Need information on South Boston beaches and waterfront

Castle Island, M Street Beach, and Carson Beach.

Rents range from upper to lower, depending upon where you live in relation to the projects. The Old Harbor Housing Project is one of the oldest in the country, and was formerly the Mary Ellen McCormack Project.

Pretty much anyplace in South Boston is within walking distance to the beaches. Southie is longish end to end, but not side to side.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

jclarkdawe said:

Rents range from upper to lower, depending upon where you live in relation to the projects. The Old Harbor Housing Project is one of the oldest in the country, and was formerly the Mary Ellen McCormack Project.

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It's still called the Mary Ellen McCormack projects, it's just that nobody except the housing authority calls it that.

stardustx said:

I'm writing a story that starts out in Boston. One of my characters lives in South Boston, but I need to know which beaches are located in that region. I need information on the beaches there. She'll live in an apartment, and it's important that it's within walking distance to a beach. I imagine it's expensive to live along the waterfront itself, so I'm trying to figure out where to put her. I've been researching online, but any information from people who know about it is appreciated.

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The City Point area, east of G Street, is traditionally more expensive than the lower end (~ western Southie), but these days South Boston is expensive period. If you're looking for a "gritty" place for your character to live, the South Boston you see in movies like The Departed largely doesn't exist anymore. There's been massive gentrification going on in the last couple of years. Southie is now prime real estate and one of the pricier neighborhoods in Boston. Very trendy, lots of condos and vegetarian food.

Rent is therefore pretty high. There's been a big influx of (highly educated) yuppies in the last few years and those who aren't married typically have roommates if they don't make six figures. So if this is the character from the other thread with the no-college job it's questionable if she could afford to live by herself.

I wasn't sure whether the new name had took. Apparently it hasn't.

Repeating Asroc. Southie used to a tough neighborhood. Very closed to outsiders. I knew people who took three days to recover from St. Paddie's day.

It's cleaned up its image a lot.

And when I say "lower" in regards to rent inside of (Route) 128, lower is a relative term. Even the worst neighborhoods of Dorchester and Roxbury are expensive. Owning and dealing with a car is expensive. Restaurants are expensive.

But Boston is a cool city to live in. If you can afford it.

Less so now then 20 years ago, but if you want waterfront and affordable (compared to Boston), I'd think of Revere. A few minutes from Boston on the Blue Line, expensive in areas, but a lot less desirable then Boston.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe