Earlier this week The Boston Globe posted a series of “before and after” photos of the South End. Like many of Boston’s downtown neighborhoods, the South End was a lot tougher a few decades ago.
Depicted below: Washington Street from 1986 & present day
You can trace the turn around to the early and mid 1980s when many artists started moving to the South End to take advantage of the neighborhood’s cheap rent. It was also around this time Boston’s gay community started to call the South End “home”. It would take another 20+ years for the neighborhood to truly transition. For the section of the neighborhood I call home (SoWa), you can still see that transition taking place (e.g. Ink Block).
You can see more “Before and After” shots by visiting Boston.com, here.
BosGuy 