The Allston Chronicles
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Allston, Massachusetts is a semi-suburban section of Boston that has become home to successive waves of musicians, artists, students, and immigrants. Back in the 1840's, Allston was the site of Boston's stockyards (and housing for stockyard employees), serving New England and the world through the Port of Boston. With the growth of the railroads after the Civil War, Allston became an important railhead for freight, a role it has sustained to the present day with the Conrail yards in Allston Landing.
Over the last twenty years, Allston has become the "student ghetto" of Boston, probably due to its proximity to B.U, B.C., Harvard, M.I.T., Berklee, N.U., etc. Over the last ten years Allston has seen a remarkable influx of immigrants from Viet Nam, Cambodia, China, India, Thailand, Russia, the Ukraine, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Argentina. Upon a matrix of Irish-American families, some of whom have roots in Allston that go back to its beginnings, there is a commercial superstructure that supports Russian cabbies, cobblers, and tailors, Vietnamese restauranteurs and merchants, Indian spice dealers, Brazilian travel agents, and Colombian video rental stores.
Allston is a place where a punk rocker can get a decent meal of Glowing Beef at V. Majestic for $6.95, a great Vietnamese restaurant run by a former ARVN Special Forces Sgt. who happens to be a major Celtics fan.
It's not all fish and roses. There's a major crime problem (shootings, muggings, burglaries) and it all seems to be centered around crack and crackheads with weapons. There's an influx of homeowners who are not at all happy to be adjacent to a house where a band rehearses. And there's never enough parking space.
What does the future hold in store for Allston and its residents? In the near term, we expect any problems to get worse before they get better, due to massive cuts in Federal aid to cities and states. Rents have soared due to the recent repeal of rent controls, but an increase in property values will soon follow.
In the long term, we feel that investment in the community by emerging new-technology companies (like the newly-built Genzyme plant in Lower Allston) will compensate by raising the tax base and providing medium- to high-wage jobs.