A Pointless Piece of Trivia Solved

I am about to share with you, dear readers, a small piece of personal trivia that will have no bearings on your lives, despite its interest to me. But then that is the internet and blogs in general, so here we go.

It has occasionally been a matter of some debate among my family and Bostonian friends just as to where I grew up. Now, of course, for the non-Bostonians the answer is very simple: Boston. But of course as any locals know, nothing is more important in Boston (and Massachusetts if not much of New England) than knowing exactly where you come from. "Boston" isn't good enough among this society: one has to state their neighborhood of origin.

The debate has been thus: did I grow up in West Roxbury, or in Roslindale? Objectively, the debate is rather academic, as not only are the two neighborhoods part of Boston, but they have always been part of the same town, whether Roxbury (from 1630 to 1851) or West Roxbury (1851 to 1874). But this is Boston, the city that gave birth to the phrase "all politics is local", and so the hair must be split. West Roxbury will conjure up images of genteel parkways and golf courses, as well as a lovely colonial village center mostly destroyed (much like the rest of Boston) to satisfy the needs of cars in the 1950s. Roslindale, of course, conjures up more of a down-to-earth, working class feel, or perhaps something of a gritty urban "keeping it real" heritage. Neither of these stereotypes are exactly true, although from looking at the US Census figures West Roxbury is whiter and richer than Boston as a whole, and Roslindale relatively poorer (but average compared to Boston's overall income) and more racially and ethnically diverse (although once again close to Boston's overall figures). However, at the end of the day, I've told different people different answers as to where I'm from, depending as to which I think will produce a better reaction (ironically when speaking with people from "near abroad" New England, who have only a vague understanding of Boston's geography, West Roxbury can be misinterpreted as west Roxbury, which of course has completely different connotations).

But ultimately I wanted to get a firm answer to this question. I consulted the 2000 US Census, as posted by the Boston Mayor's Office, and a ZIP code map. What is the answer as to where I grew up?

It depends. According to the Post Office, my childhood address is in Roslindale. The US Census' information on my street was compiled with Roslindale's (it has a Roslindale census tract number). However, the City of Boston says that the address is in West Roxbury, and even the US Census tabulations ultimately include my area in West Roxbury. So I guess while I have my question answered, I still can say I'm from either Roslindale or West Roxbury, depending on the audience, of course!