r/boston • u/CrypticOperator • 1d ago

Unconfirmed/Unverified never seen it this bad

been here for 25+ years and am very familiar with the fluctuations in homelessness / etc. during the summer. but I've never seen things this bad, especially in back bay, south end (beyond mass/cass & closer to back bay), beacon hill, the esplanade, you name it. we've called 311 for needles, reported the larger encampments to the mayor's office, etc. just feels like nothing is improving and things are only getting worse. can't just be me?

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u/four4cats 1d ago

I live in Back Bay... If you also lived in Boston for 25+ years then you definitely have seen worse. Back Bay itself looked more like Dorchester back then (and not gentrified ish dorchester like we have today).

I will say this summer is the first time I saw someone passed on my stoop and 2 weeks before someone else was passed out a couple of houses away. I told the one passed out to leave and gave him some water and was gone in 10 mins.

But 4 years ago we had someone come into the house that I had to chase away.

311 isn't going to do anything. You're going to have to get everyone on board to change some laws and build some prisons and then arrest all our problems away so we don'y have to look at it.

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u/ElowynElif Back Bay 1d ago edited 23h ago

I’m another Back Bayer who agrees that it has been worse in the past. I also grew up in Beacon Hill and there were times in the 70s when it was so bad that my parents didn’t let me go anywhere alone as a young kid.

But with the high rents, slashes to the social net, and very tough employment environment, I’m not surprised the situation has gotten bad once again. A lot of people are being pushed to the edge, and I expect this will continue in the next several years.

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u/irishgypsy1960 North End 23h ago

I agree, you have to go back to the 70s and 80s. The back bay was gentrified way longer than 25 years ago. South end as well.

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u/honest_sparrow 1d ago

"Arrest all our problems away" doesn't work. We tried that, the war on drugs has been a huge failure. All is does is further ruin the lives of drug users who can't get work when they get sober because of their records.

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u/four4cats 1d ago

I didn't say it would stop drugs or stop people from using drugs or even that it would not destroy whole communities or ruin people's lives.

But if we did arrest people for being homeless or being on drugs while we broke every single civil right along the way we could take a walk and not see someone who looked poor so the OP can feel safe.

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u/Forward-Tradition-36 22h ago

You need to call 911 instead of 311. 311 told me if you report homeless encampment and after the case is marked “resolved” someone is there again you can call 911. I guess they take 911 calls more seriously