Quaint Quarter

This is the second in an occasional series spotlighting Boston’s neighborhoods.

About 10 people were present when last month’s meeting of the Rutland Street Association was called to order. On the agenda: crime on the South End street, nominations for the soon-to-be-vacant association presidency and arrangements for the spring potluck.

The residents quickly put the crime issue to rest, deciding to step up their neighborhood watch efforts. After all, no one at the meeting had witnessed any crime on Rutland Street. Most only worried about the alley near Number 35, where residents hear rumbling and shouting after dark – but consensus decided that it’s probably just local teenagers.

“We’ll call each other if we hear anything, OK?” said an older woman. All agreed. On to the potluck.

The Rutland Street Association is responsible for only one street in a vast, overlapping web of community groups and neighborhood coalitions that watch over the historic Boston neighborhood.

HISTORIC CHALLENGES

The South End – the largest surviving Victorian neighborhood in the country, according to the National Register of Historic Places – is full of trees, parks and side streets lined with quaint red brick houses that run crosswise and intersect the main arteries of Huntington and Shawmut avenues and Tremont and Washington streets.

Because the South End is listed on the National Register, the Boston Landmarks Commission mandates that the characteristic redbrick brownstones cannot be altered in any way, at least on their front façades. Even the local Rent-A-Center has a gold-lettered sign.

“It’s beautiful,” said Boston University College of Communication senior and South End resident Natalie Rhodes.

But can she personalize her house? “Oh, God no,” she said.

When Boston was founded in 1635, the South End didn’t exist. Back then, Washington Street, today’s unofficial South End border, served as an artery connecting Boston with the rest of Massachusetts.

It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that Boston’s burgeoning population demanded more housing, leading officials to fill in parts of Back Bay and South Bay – creating the modern South End.

“Flooding has always been a problem,” said South End Neighborhood Coalition Vice President John Archibald. “Now, we have pumping stations and even a resident flooding committee, but we always keep an eye on the ground water level.”

But Archibald’s coalition deals with much more than flooding. Founded as a neighborhood watch, it grew to include dozens of residents who attend regular meetings and staff more subcommittees than Archibald can name. The groups tackle problems like trash accumulation, public safety and transportation.

“Trash is a problem everywhere,” Archibald said. But in the South End, he added, residents are focused on keeping the area clean.

They’re also focused on keeping it safe. Sgt. Mike Casinelli of Boston’s District 4 is charged with keeping watch over the South End. With 80,000 residents – including the populations of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain – District 4 is the busiest police station in New England, Casinelli said.

The local crime rate has remained static, with a slight spike in youth crime.

At a recent community meeting, Casinelli said gang activity is on the rise, but District 4 officers have gang members “on the ropes.” Gang members in the South End rarely carry weapons because of frequent police crackdowns, he said.

Transportation issues also plague many South End residents, with permanent parking spaces costing up to $60,000, according to several real estate listings.

“Take the bus, take the Silver Line, take a taxi, use the valet,” Archibald advised potential South End visitors. “But don’t try to park.”

However, the Silver Line offers some controversy of its own. Though the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority project that connects the South End, Roxbury, Chinatown, South Boston and downtown is now complete, some residents say the bus network is insufficient.

“All [the MBTA] has done is take a diesel bus, replace the engine with compressed natural gas and paint it silver,” said Robert Terrell, a long-time transit activist and executive director of the Washington Street Corridor Coalition.

Though Archibald said the MBTA could have spent the money to expand subway lines, he conceded that “I guess the Silver Line is better than nothing.”

EXPANDING EXPENSES

Getting to the South End is one thing. Staying there is quite another.

With apartment rents climbing to $2,000 and renovated condos fetching nearly half-a-million dollars, residents acknowledge that it’s not a neighborhood for everyone.

Lee Martz, the Union Park Neighborhood Association secretary who has lived in the South End for 21 years, said the value of her condo has more than doubled over the past 10 years to more than $500,000.

“When I moved here, the South End was not a comfortable place to live,” Martz said, noting that realtors told her the neighborhood wasn’t safe.

However, property value has become a more pressing issue than safety.

“Low-income families can’t afford the increase in taxes,” let alone the price of a new home, she said.

Rhodes, the BU student, said she can only afford to live there because of financial aid.

“I love it here, but for what I’m paying I could have a pool and a valet in Chicago,” she said.

A WEALTH OF DIVERSITY

“There are yuppies, here, yeah,” Rhodes said of the neighborhood’s demographic breakdown. “I see a lot of gay guys with pug dogs. It’s trendy.”

Martz offered a longer-term perspective on the area’s diversity, saying it reminds her of the Greenwich Village neighborhood she grew up in during the 1950s.

But an influx of money has compromised the spark that made the South End artsy and interesting, she added.

One young entrepreneur, Matt Arsenault, said he hopes to capitalize on that money by opening a new pricey restaurant in the South End.

“There is room for fine dining here, in addition to all the great restaurants there are now,” he said. “I love Pho Republique. I love Union on Washington Street. There’s a lot of competition though, and space is so tight. All I need is a liquor license.”