Smart people live in Dorchester

I was at the Mud House in Neponset this morning and I saw something that made me rework this theme once again. It does bear repeating.....

Smart boys live in Dorchester, Mass. Smart girls do too. They grow up into capable men and women who earn their way in the world. Dorchester is the biggest and best part of the city of Boston. Its common sense is its strength. It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes the collected effort of all citizens to make a neighborhood worth living in. Dorchester is like that. Its values are common: Life. Liberty. Happiness. Equality.

All sorts of people live in Dorchester. Some are the type you’d like to share a cup of coffee with. Others are the kind you’d like to avoid. You can learn something from everyone who calls Dorchester home. If home is where the heart is, Dorchester’s pulse is strong. From one end of Dot Ave to the other, from the shores of Dorchester Bay to the furthest edge of Mattapan, a fresh wind blows through Dorchester. It is the kind of breeze that scatters cobwebs and invigorates clear thinking. Dorchester gets by, one day at a time in one way or another, usually in the best way available.

Some people hold Dorchester in low esteem. The good people of Dorchester don’t care a fig for other people’s negative verdicts. The people of Dorchester have their own eyes to judge their surroundings. Dorchester is very good. Even when it’s bad, it’s better than most places. I can’t think of anywhere better. There is room for improvement, but isn’t that always the case? Dorchester has its weaknesses but they are more than outweighed by the neighborhood’s strong points. The people who live here carry more weight than the people who don’t. Local opinion is on record for being Dot-centric. You mean there’s a Boston beyond Dorchester? I’ve read about it, but I really haven’t noticed.

All life’s needs can be met in Dorchester. From Lower Mills to Ashmont, to Neponset, to Norfolk, to Codman, to Bowdoin, to Fields Corner to Savin Hill, to Columbia, to Uphams Corner and to Four Corners, lives are lived contentedly with little fuss. Few feathers are ruffled. The views from Pope’s Hill and Meetinghouse Hill are remarkably clear. Given a problem, the smart people of Dorchester can solve it. They always have before. There is no reason to think they can’t do it again.