Ian+Ferrari+2

Ian Ferrari Harbor Point Lobby Looking at the lobby of my apartment building in Harbor Point is something that I never imagined would be so active and contains so many things. The building has a lot of people living in it, but I hardly ever see anyone when I come and go. Studying the lobby showed me just how many people live in the complex and where they are all going. Nestled in the newly renovated harbor point apartments, is my apartment complex; building 30 on Harbor Point Boulevard. These buildings all follow the same general building format, with either one bedroom or two bedroom apartments in each building, and separate townhouses that follow a different common pattern. Built out of red bricks, the buildings go up either five or six floors and sections are separated by balconies that lucky tenants receive. The area that the apartments are located in has been recently redone from low income housing of a Dorchester ghetto. Building up a new area and having no tenants that were living there, allowing college students from UMass to stay here makes a large number of the income for the community. The lobby is similar to the others in the harbor point area that I have seen so far. There is a basic design to all of them that contain the same items; elevator, stairs, mailroom, and exits. However, where they are places and the types of people that come through them are never the same. The first thing I noticed about the lobby is that there is nowhere to sit down and relax. Most lobbies will have small chairs or couches to sit on, but this one doesn’t even so much as have a ledge to rest on. The idea behind this is to get people in and out, without making it a social matter. Another thing that I feel should have been present was a vending machine of some kind; most areas will have beverage machines or something similar. The major areas of the room were unique; the elevator seemed to be very old, the mail room was heated, and the stairs were almost new. It was constantly creaking when coming down and up. As well as there being small keyholes made in the walls of it and leaves all over the ground. The button to the elevator was white, but on the inside the close door button had been so worn and battered that it was now black and dented. The light up floor numbers for the elevator worked some of the time, but never for the first floor and it would shut off after not being in use for a short period of time. When the door would open for the first floor, the light for the fifth floor for some reason lights up. The mail room was the only area that contained heat in the lobby, and hot heat at that. The amount of heat being produced for such a small room was insane. The mailroom contained the most material items of the lobby, having mail scattered on the floor, numerous mailboxes, a trash can, an elevator machine room door, the buzzers for the apartment rooms, and a poorly crafted wooden table. The mail on the floor was almost constantly the same items, the red plum weekly, Chinese takeout menu, and pizza menus. Everyone got them in their mailboxes and just threw them aside. The mailboxes number from 101-501 with 12 boxes for every 100 level, showing you just how many people live in the building complex. The trash can is very small and would fill up quickly on a busy mail day, especially since it was located right next to the boxes below the buzzers. The buzzers were for entrance into the door if you didn’t have a key. You had to be let in by one of the people who lived there. The P.A system on the buzzers was poorly working and the voice would break up and become very scratchy. The opposite side of the room contained the machine room with the big caution sticker on the door. The noises coming from behind it were loud and were made only when the elevator moved. The staircase sees to get the most action of the area due to the set up of the building. The second floor connects to the stairs, while the first floor isn’t in the building they have outside access. The 3, 4, 5 floors are connected by separate stair wells and people use the elevators for those usually. The kinds of people that run in and out of the building range from young college students to business men in full suits and briefcases. It shows you the diversity of age groups living there and what it is used for. There aren’t many families that live here mostly, but some do mosey in the door from time to time. The room itself is covered in tile, but there is a section of it that has carpet which leads to the staircase and runs against the wall. The tile floor section has leaves scattered all over it from the outside and the carpet was usually rather clean and kept leaf free. Watching the people that come in and out of the building and even drive by, you can get a better understanding of the diversity within the complex. The majority of people that are seen walking around are at least part time college students that can be seen leaving the buildings and walking towards the school with a back pack on. These students vary as much as the community. One person was the average student that you would expect, about 20 years old with an LL Bean backpack on, a winter beanie, blue jeans, and a sweatshirt. However, there are also 60 year old men and women that walk over wearing their old style of clothing including large jackets, balding heads, and sometimes canes. These students come out of the building on a regular basis. The businessmen that also live here have families or live alone. There is a new family of Germans that moved onto my floor, consisting of a mother, a father, and a new baby. All kinds of people come through here every day, doing their daily routine and living their life just the same as I do. With all of these people living in one area you would think there would be some kind of community value, but that is no existent. There is a small convenience store located within the complex. They have all kinds of goods that you would need to buy for a quick snack or a last minute meal topper, but they are marked way up. There is also a place where you can bring your dry cleaning and a restaurant as well. But, the restaurant doesn’t open and I don’t think that there is actually any kind of restaurant there. Location is key to this community, or lack thereof. Located right next to the University of Massachusetts Boston on one side, and the Boston harbor on the other side. Being that it is also on a peninsula, that leaves only one other direction, but there isn’t anything there either. Communities have places that they can go and congregate and hang out, but not here. There is no lobby in the buildings or a common building to meet in. There are two pools where people could go and meet, but they are only open during the summertime. Being part of Dorchester, there isn’t an immediate thought that it’s a nice place to have a community. In fact it is separated from both Dorchester and South Boston by about a mile a piece. The only way to get to anything is to take the train or a bus. At least having a car is free at the Harbor Point Apartments. What the area does offer is located inside of the complex, with such things as a fitness center, pools, tennis courts, open greens, and the Boston harborwalk. These things make the community friendlier, because you can meet people playing tennis or by the pool or even in the gym. However, just like the pool the tennis courts are closed during most of the months, for what reason I am not sure. The only feature that they offer that actually stays open is the gym. It is open from 6am-10pm, so it is accessible most of the time and it is a very nice gym. Brand new to the complex, it has all new machines, and even has a redbox inside where you can rent DVD’s and video games for only a dollar per night. The gym is the best feature of Harbor Point. Looking into the lobby of my building, I never expected to learn so much about the people that lived in my building or about the community. The people that live here have different values and understandings about life, coming from different areas, but they all manage to find Harbor Point a place to call home. The lobby isn’t the most spectacular place to see, but the apartments are well built and management is very good about making your home a home to you. Becoming a member of Harbor Point was a good choice, even though the area isn’t the most desirable.