Allston-Brighton: Some Things Never Change

Today, Allston-Brighton is a college town. The first activity one associates with Allston-Brighton is partying. If you find yourself on the green line on a weekend night be prepares to deal with herds of drunken college students jam packed onto the green line. Forget looking for a seat on the ‘T’ Try finding something to hold onto because chances are your just going to be packed in with them like a bunch of sardines. But don’t worry; the crowd definitely thins out when the T stops at Packers Corner and Brighton Avenue.

         Due to its demographics, Allston-Brighton is a full of many varieties of bars. I asked residences what their favorite places were in the area and almost every answer was some form of a bar. The most popular bars were the Model, the Siloet and Ellum Deep with Harper’s Ferry and The sunset following close behind.  

         Before Allston-Brighton became a “College Town,” it was a cattle town up until 1874 when the city was annexed into the city of Boston.  Then, in 1989 a powered trolley car made stops in the Allston-Brighton area. The area steadily became more suburban and more populated increasing from 6,000 in 1875 to 47,000 in 1925. (http://www.bahistory.org/HistoryBrighton.html)

         There is still a family suburban feel to the area today in lower Allston. Sherry, a Boston Public Librarian, says that, “Lower Allston is the undiscovered Allston.” She went on to say that because so many college students had moved into the Allston-Brighton, the families that were there were relocating to Lower Allston. Lower Allston is about a fifteen-minuet walk from the Green Line. The houses there were kept better than the college infested houses in Allston. Sherry also said that the restaurant scene is better there; that “it has more to offer families.”

         Things that it has to offer include Hooker park, which has just been renovated, the farmers market and Coolidge market, a cheap deli. 

It is also closer to Cambridge and Harvard’s campus. Harvard has been steadily expanding into lower Allston near Soldier’s Field where Harvard’s football stadium is located. It seems like the “family district” of Allston-Brighton has had to steadily down size with the increasing presence of Boston University and Boston College students and now with Harvard’s campus coming into their space.

The presence of college students is a common theme through out Allston-Brighton. Jay, an employee at Mr. Music says that, “Everyone stays the same age and I get older.” Although the students “bring a youthful energy,” he likes it best in the summer when the college students leave. Jay went on to discuss how Allston-Brighton was getting “a little more up-scale.” He showed us the comic book store. It was very rundown with several layers of green and gray paints visible. He explained that several businesses were getting renovated. He also said that due to “economic hardships,” several businesses were going out of business. He and his friend joked about how all the stores get replaced with Asian restaurants.

Over the years Allston-Brighton has cycled from being a college town to a family town and back again to a college town. Some residents there seem to accept it for what it is and appreciate all the benefits of living in a college town for example a variety of cheap restaurants and bars in exchange for the sometimes poor up-keep.

However, there are some residents who dislike the presence of the colleges. Several members of the community got together and formed their own blog concerning Boston University's expansion into Allston-Brighton. (http://allston02134.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html) 

There is also an article form the Boston Globe which discuses how Allston-Residents reacted to Boston College's proposal to expand their housing. At a meeting concerning the expansion residents all voted against the proposal. (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/27/threats_taint_bc_dorm_debate/?page=1)

 Allston-Brighton residents don’t know or seem to care too much about the history of the area. Several of the interviewees agree that everyone seems to stay the same age and no one seems to stay for very long. It seems to me that Allston-Brighton acts like a transitional town for those coming into and out of the college industry whether they are students or teachers.