George+Kenney+2

 

George Kenney November 17, 2009 English 101 Kingsley  The Harbor Mart is located in the Harbor Point apartment complex in Dorchester Massachusetts. It is a stone’s throw away from the UMass Boston campus, the JFK Library, and the Massachusetts Archives. This simple mini-mart offers an array of useful business for the residents of Harbor point. This store contains all the amenities that one would expect in a popular convenience store from the Cherry Slushy machine, down to giant pretzel warmer. Not only does this store provide a wide array of products, ranging from cleaning and bathroom products to frozen foods and canned goods; but it also is the only store in the immediate area and has quite the monopoly of local revenue. The Harbor Point apartment complex is a moderately populated and diverse section of Dorchester, and the apartment complex seems to be its own little community in itself. Within these many rows of red brick, seven story buildings, and off-white town houses live a mixture of new families, college students, and elderly citizens. A large, black iron fence runs around complex, which separates it from the busy Mt. Vernon Street and nearby Morrissey blvd. With all these many people moving about, heading in and out from their day-to-day activities the one and only store is bound to see a great deal of business and attention. Prior to the late 1980’s the Dorchester area and specifically Columbia point; as it was formerly known was a particularly dangerous place. Before the restoration less than three hundred families inhabited the point. A great many stabbings took place over the decade and gang related crime that originated in the Jamaica Plains area spread to harbor point. In 1990 the C.M.J management company bought out much of the area in the point in a large restoration project rebuild and create a new image in the area.  With the rebuilding and renovation, residents flocked to the new Harbor Point. In 1998, only ten years after it had opened, Harbor Point achieved at 99 percent occupancy rate. With C.M.J management running the complex, a major aspect of plans for the point was to make it a safe place for families. Today the security presence is felt all over the complex with members of the Longwood security company patrolling the tree lined, leave covered one way drives of harbor point in their white Ford explorers and blue and black uniforms. These contracted men are all, and without exception at least 200 lbs and around 6 foot 2, are an intimidating sight. They’re armed with nightsticks and handguns and command a great deal of respect in the community. The amount of security is a form of prevention in a way, I have never seen them ever have to arrest or break up any sort of dispute. And the reason it is so quite is because committing a crime would be foolish, since getting away with it would be next to impossible. I find it hard to believe if that have the same authority as the Boston police but the fact that they carry handguns and all possess overwhelming physical statures makes me think twice about questioning anything they say. It is not like Harbor Point is a strictly, run; security obsessed place, but it does take all the precautions to avoid the community returning to what it once was less than 20 years ago. And while the management and the security are all well mannered, and helpful at all times that also take their role in protecting their community very seriously and I think that the community really appreciates what they do.   The Harbor Mart provides a place for people to interact in harbor point. Besides the mart and the management office there are few places to venture in Harbor Point and frequently you can find people enjoying themselves, carrying on conversations in between buying lottery tickets and cigarettes inside the store. People carry on for several minutes, hanging on by the doors; discussing the weather, school work and their lives. As I stood in line this gentleman ahead of me spoke to the old man at the counter in Arabic, or at least that I what I assumed they were speaking. As I watched them, they smiled and laughed as they seemed to have known each other forever. Kids are also another trademark of harbor point and most of the residents are in fact families with kids that attend one of the many schools in the nearby area. As I was observing, a bus rolled to the entrance gate of the point and several Boston College High school students filed out and headed into the Harbor Mart; some of them buying sodas and other smoking cigarettes in the cool November air. In the morning the roads are thick with students, both college and lower grade students. College students seem to travel the same routes as you can see many UMass students all heading out, across Mt. Vernon street and over to the school. Small school busses shuttle down the small roads picking up kids at the end of the street and hordes of people seem to rush across the street when the traffic stops to let them cross. In the afternoon it is the same case, and every day, a little after three kids move all about greeting friends and heading home to do school work. Before they head home however, they stop by the harbor mart, buying all sorts of candies and snacks to eat on their way back. I saw one particular girl holding an orange soda in one hand and three bags of gummy worms in the other hand and all her friends were dipping their hands into the bag to grab some candy. Just standing around the harbor point area you can feel a great sense of home, despite the security that some residents may find a concern. As a resident I tend to look at the security as a blessing; they are keeping us as residents safe and take a lot of the worrying out of Dorchester; a place that does not have the best record for public safety. You can smell an array of dinners coming from the windows and the sight of children walking with their parents, enjoying the cool, brisk air of the fall season. Fall itself is felt very strongly here, at least in my opinion but it is a different kind of fall than I am used to. Back in my home town of Ashby, Massachusetts trees are taken for granted and during the fall season the countryside is a brilliant array of orange, red brown and yellow leaves. At Harbor point, the trees are not the main staple of fall; it is the rough, chilling sea air. As you walk to class or over to the T stop the breeze can chill you to the bone and make you crave a piping hot cup of hot chocolate or spiced apple cider. The sound of children fighting and bickering over senseless arguments and their parents breaking it up can be heard all over the grounds. The Harbor Mart also has that home like touch to it. Indeed it is the easiest and most convenient place to get bread, eggs and breakfast cereal but the atmosphere is different than a cooperation chain store like Mr. Mikes or Cumberland farms. The same old, Indian gentleman is working every day. He is always friendly and helpful with anything and will go out of his way to help you find an item you need. It isn’t often that you find such a pleasant individual in a simple mini market in Dorchester, or for anywhere in that matter. After speaking to this old man, I learned that while had did not actually own the Harbor Mart he had been working there since he moved to the Point over nine years ago. I asked him about the community and if he had noticed a change in the type of people and the atmosphere of the point since he had been living here. He told me that he has been so happy living here, and that it was much better than his simple home he came from in Malden. He never had to worry about shootings or being mugged while in the point and that the people were always friendly and polite whenever they came to buy goods. The Harbor Mart offers a safe and welcoming place where adults and parents can shop, even if it is on the pricey side and importantly they can send their kids to the store and not have to worry if they will come back in once piece. Many small stores in Boston are shoplifted and held very frequently and people are at a huge risk of becoming hurt or possibly killed when they go to these stores that are in the wrong area. The Harbor Mart offers a safe and friendly way to shop and socialize in the harbor point apartment complex. The Harbor Mart is only an example of the Harbor Point community though; there is a wide array of things to do around Harbor point. The Harbor walk for instance provides a forty mile walkway all around Boston Harbor, and it runs right through the complex. The grounds of the Point are green and spacious and in the less cold months there are countless residents laying about in the sun or swimming in the pool or enjoying a match of the tennis courts. The Harbor Mart is a great example of the community at large and the positive attitude and friendly atmosphere that comes from the point. This project gave me an opportunity to choose any public forum or interesting place I could find. In Boston there are so many sights to see and sounds to be heard. You can hop on a train and go see a Bruins game, or catch a concert at symphony hall. But even with all these important venues I choose the Harbor Mart; I wanted to learn more about the people and places in my new home. It is so different than my roots and it is a great experience to be able to live and get an education in such an interesting and historic city like Boston.

SOURCES:

 "Article: CAN COLUMBIA POINT BE HARBOR POINT? CONVERSION REPRESENTS A TEST OF SOCIAL ENGINEERING - The Boston Globe | HighBeam Research - FREE trial." //Research - Articles - Journals | Find research fast at HighBeam Research//. Web. 04 Dec. 2009. . "Columbia Point (Boston) -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 04 Dec. 2009. . "Harbor Point Apartments Ratings, Reviews, Map, Rents, and other Dorchester apartments for rent from ApartmentRatings.com." //Apartment Ratings :: The leading source of apartment reviews by renters for renters.// Web. 04 Dec. 2009. .