SITE OVERVIEW ♦ BOSTON | MASSACHUSETS
Target Area: Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood in Dorchester • Population: 9,464
Fiscal Agent: Boston Public Health Commission Division of Violence Prevention
Research Partner: Boston University School of Public Health
Crime Concerns: Violent crime
BCJI Funding Year: 2016 Planning and Implementation
Neighborhood Profile
Bowdoin-Geneva is a diverse community. Almost half the residents are black, encompassing various cultural and linguistic groups (Cape Verdean, Haitian, West Indian, African American), and 20 percent are Hispanic, 5 percent Asian, and 20 percent more than once race. Households in the target area are more likely to be linguistically isolated (12 percent, compared to 5 percent statewide), and 43 percent of the neighborhood’s population is under 25 years of age.
Despite its small size, the Bowdoin-Geneva area accounted for 8.5 percent of the nonfatal shootings in the City of Boston in 2015 and 4.2 percent of the city’s aggravated assaults. Half of families are headed by single females, 24 percent of residents have an income below the poverty level, and the unemployment rate is double the citywide rate. Population turnover in the past few years makes it difficult for residents to get to know one another, as does the fact that the 1,900 Boston Public School students in Bowdoin-Geneva attend dozens of different schools spread across the city.
Despite these challenges, residents and community groups have created a strong foundation for safety work. According to Boston’s 2016 plan for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, agencies and neighborhood organizations have demonstrated a shared commitment to youth violence reduction, including an ability to work collaboratively. The community is also one of several neighborhoods where the Boston Public Health Commission’s Violence Intervention Prevention (VIP) program is in place.
Planning and Implementation Process
The Boston BCJI vision encompasses four key expectations:
- Even low rates of violence are unacceptable.
- There is a need for a balance of strategies combining fairness, accountability and opportunity.
- There is a need for continued focus on inequity and social justice.
- Agencies and engaged residents should share information and work together.
Led by a multi-sector design team, the community planning process includes an early action project and works toward an implementation vision using a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) framework, which can link crime prevention to other local revitalization efforts, such as work underway by the Office of Neighborhood Services.
CPTED can be adapted to the specific needs, assets and concerns identified in Bowdoin-Geneva. Its ongoing implementation encourages (and indeed requires) an active partnership between engaged residents, community and city agencies. Opportunities for CPTED implementation include a focus on environmental factors such as missing street lights and overgrown lots, integration with the city’s growing focus on the 311 system, and engagement with residents through social media. In addition, the BCJI effort is exploring collaboration with a cross-departmental, newly resuscitated City Neighborhood Response Team, and is addressing concerns about gentrification that often accompany neighborhood revitalization.
Other Key Partners
The Boston Police Department, Boston Office of Neighborhood Services, Bowdoin Street Health Center, The Family Nurturing Center, the Bowdoin-Geneva Alliance and College Bound Dorchester
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