A recent NPR piece brings up a theme that has much to do with the East Boston of the past 25 years. When Tony’s Realty first began selling houses and renting apartments in East Boston, its population was less than it is now—many children and grandchildren of longtime residents had moved away, and lots of small businesses and storefronts were vacant. The public transportation system was underused, and our T stations were often loitering areas for questionable activity.
But the surge of the immigrant community from places such as Brazil, El Salvador, Colombia, and Guatemala has led to the elimination of vacant apartments, vacant storefronts, and desolate T stations. Storefronts that were once boarded up are now filled with shops, salons, restaurants and other small businesses. Instead of establishments closing down at 4 or 5pm, store owners are open until 10 at night. And instead of taking a T ride home to a station with no one around, there are hundreds of T riders every day and every night on the T. Similar to what’s described in the NPR story, East Boston’s immigrant community has helped keep our T stations utilized and safe, our empty apartments rented, our boarded-up storefronts open for business until late in the evening, and ultimately, our streets more safe because they are filled with the same neighbors who, day after day, have things to do, places to go, jobs to get too, etc. That has helped eliminate the desolate feeling of East Boston a la 1980s and has helped give our neighborhood a safe urban-village feel. Enjoy the NPR piece!
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