WELCOME TO WEST ROXBURY

This area of Boston is known for its quality homes and neighborhoods. It abuts both Brookline and Newton. The areas of Brookline and Newton that border West Roxbury shares the same zip code, Chestnut Hill’s 02467. The rest of West Roxbury has the zip code 02132. All of the neighborhoods of West Roxbury have many important features. Here is a brief tour of some of the neighborhoods.

The Chestnut Hill section of West Roxbury appears to be a part of Brookline. It has similar housing stock of single family homes and even has the same streets since the city line crosses a number of them in the South Brookline neighborhood. This West Roxbury neighborhood lies along the VFW (Veteran of Foreign Wars) Parkway, a multi-lane tree-lined roadway that is also known as Route 1. One of the area’s largest apartment complexes, Hancock Village, borders this area along with a very popular shopping plaza on VFW Parkway. The western border of this neighborhood is the West Roxbury Parkway that originates in South Brookline and continues into West Roxbury and crosses over the VFW Parkway.

South of the VFW Parkway, the neighborhood that runs along the West Roxbury Parkway is also known as Peak’s Hill area. This part of West Roxbury Parkway is a beautifully green scenic road with a lush median strip separating two sides of this tree-lined thoroughfare. Classic center entrance Colonials and stately Tudor homes line West Roxbury Parkway and are the predominant housing stock on the tree-lined side streets. There are also smaller Colonial and Cape style homes. This area of West Roxbury is abutting Roslindale and shares the Roslindale zip code. One needs to verify the property’s deed to determine whether the house is in West Roxbury or Roslindale since many of the streets cross over each of the areas’ boundaries.

One of the best features of West Roxbury is the three commuter train stops. The Bellevue train stop is in an area known as Bellevue Hill. Some of the largest and most beautiful turn of the century homes in all of West Roxbury is located here. The sales prices for the houses in this neighborhood are usually the highest in West Roxbury. Bellevue Hill’s reputation is not just for the beautiful homes, but also their larger well-landscaped lots and charming tree lined streets. The neighborhood borders the West Roxbury Parkway to the east. It southern section is in close proximity to the Stony Brook Reservation land and its northern area borders the commercial district on Centre Street which includes a second train stop, the Highland stop.

The main commercial district of West Roxbury lines Centre Street and is serviced by both the Highland train stop and the West Roxbury Train stop. Between the 2 train stops and close to Centre Street is Billings Field, one of the largest green spaces in West Roxbury and home of many local little league baseball teams.
You can find almost anything you need along the West Roxbury commercial district including West Roxbury’s branch of the Boston Library. Many thriving local small businesses along with larger chain stores, including a super market, ad variety to the area. Family-style restaurants and coffee shops line Center Street plus local pubs and bars offer a full menu. The local residents, Bellevue Hill and the Highland neighborhoods, are very fortunate to be able to walk from home and buy all of their necessities!

Northwest of Center Street and the commercial district is an area called the Highlands Neighborhood. This area has beautifully maintained homes of all sizes and styles on lovely streets. There are a small number of condominiums in this area and most have been built during the past fifteen years. Though the majority of the housing stock is single family houses, there are some two family homes available and many house extended families that have resided in West Roxbury for many generations. Many Boston commuters seek out this neighborhood to live in because of the easy access to the commuter train and connecting buses. All you need to do is drive through this area to understand why it is so popular!

North of the Highland’s Neighborhood on the other side of the VFW Parkway is the Newton Line/Brook Farm Area of West Roxbury. This is a small section consisting of less than twenty small side streets where the majority of the homes were built since WWII. During the past twenty years, large townhouse condominium complexes have been added to this neighborhood. The Brook Farm area is both the residential neighborhood and undeveloped land consisting of four large cemeteries, Mount Benedict, St. Joseph, Mount Lebanon, and Gethemane. The cemeteries abut the Newton Line where there are large tracts of undeveloped land that is both privately owned and owned by the City of Newton. The combination of the cemetery land along with the undeveloped land creates a rural atmosphere and is very unusual for a Boston address. On the southwestern side of the St. Joseph Cemetery and with a VFW Parkway address is Boston owned land being used as a municipal service area and the site of West Roxbury High School. The addition of a large Home Depot has opened the doors for some more commercial development in the area.

Further along the VFW Parkway heading south you will find the area’s major landmark, the V.A. Hospital. The Dedham Town Line bound the neighborhood surrounding the V.A. Hospital and the end of Center Street with a large street called Spring Street cutting through the center. This area has a diversity of housing stock from single and multi-family houses to larger apartment and condominium complexes. Spring Street has a scattering of commercial buildings and local businesses. This part of the VFW Parkway is primarily a large commercial district offering many different retail businesses. The access to Route 128 (the Route 95 Beltway) makes this area very desirable for those who need to commute using this major highway. Dual income households looking for easy access in and out of Boston find this area to be well suited for their commuter needs

Washington Street, a large, mostly commercial city street is bounded by the Dedham Line and continues northeast through West Roxbury into Roslindale. At varying distances to Washington Street is the Stoney Brook Reservation, one of Boston’s finest open green spaces. The neighborhoods surrounding Washington Street have many shopping conveniences along with easy access to this wonderful reservation land. There is a wide range of housing stock including some of Boston’s finest collection of triple-deckers. This area has a higher percentage of tenant population due to the large number of rental units. This neighborhood is well connected with bus lines connecting to the commuter rail and into downtown Boston.