“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
Many of you know that our little church, First Assembly of God of Framingham, is located in the downtown Framingham area and that I live just about a mile north of downtown Framingham. The PERCEPTION of downtown Framingham is usually bad. Many people will not even venture into downtown Framingham. There are fears of shootings, gang fights, high crime, and being surrounded by strange people who do not speak English. While some of that stuff admittedly HAS happened in downtown Framingham, I’ve found that downtown Framingham is MUCH nicer and MUCH safer than most affluent suburbanites believe it to be. In fact, in the thirteen years since our church relocated to downtown Framingham from the “Lokerville” section near the Natick line, I’ve experienced downtown Framingham becoming NICER and a little safer.
On Thursday, August 9, I attended the “Downtown Framingham Renaissance” meeting at the Memorial Building. (I’ve been attending those meetings for about a year and half.) At this week’s meeting, Engineer (and M.I.T. graduate) Frank Mahady of FXM Associates presented the results of a “Downtown Market Potential” study, using Power Point. I would NEVER be able to write about ALL the statistics and conclusions of the FXM Associates study as there are just SO many
of them, but here are some interesting FACTS:
1. 2,299 people in the IMMEDIATE downtown Framingham area.
2. The racial breakdown of these 2,299 people is:
61% White; 9% Black/African-American; 29% Latino;
Many of you know that our little church, First Assembly of God of Framingham, is located in the downtown Framingham area and that I live just about a mile north of downtown Framingham. The PERCEPTION of downtown Framingham is usually bad. Many people will not even venture into downtown Framingham. There are fears of shootings, gang fights, high crime, and being surrounded by strange people who do not speak English. While some of that stuff admittedly HAS happened in downtown Framingham, I’ve found that downtown Framingham is MUCH nicer and MUCH safer than most affluent suburbanites believe it to be. In fact, in the thirteen years since our church relocated to downtown Framingham from the “Lokerville” section near the Natick line, I’ve experienced downtown Framingham becoming NICER and a little safer.
On Thursday, August 9, I attended the “Downtown Framingham Renaissance” meeting at the Memorial Building. (I’ve been attending those meetings for about a year and half.) At this week’s meeting, Engineer (and M.I.T. graduate) Frank Mahady of FXM Associates presented the results of a “Downtown Market Potential” study, using Power Point. I would NEVER be able to write about ALL the statistics and conclusions of the FXM Associates study as there are just SO many
of them, but here are some interesting FACTS:
1. 2,299 people in the IMMEDIATE downtown Framingham area.
2. The racial breakdown of these 2,299 people is:
61% White; 9% Black/African-American; 29% Latino;
1 %“other”.
3. The median household income for residents in the IMMEDIATE
downtown Framingham area is $32,158.
I constantly have people telling me that “downtown Framingham is full of minorities who can’t speak English”. While downtown Framingham DOES have a high number of Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, Spanish-speaking “Hispanics”, and Russian-speaking Russians, the above statistics do indicated that well over half of the residents of downtown Framingham are “White” and my experience of BEING in downtown Framingham constantly is that the first-language of the overwhelming majority ofthese Whites is English.
The demographic figures for those who live one mile from downtown Framingham (in all directions) skews much higher for White people and for income level. And, the demographic figures for those who live three miles from downtown Framingham (in all directions) shows that most of this group is quite affluent.
The study concluded that downtown Framingham is a GOOD place in which to locate a business, especially a “destination restaurant”.
Incidentally, I hope no one takes this piece as being racist. It is not
intended that way at all. Rather, I just wanted to present the facts. For
instance, most of my own ethnic background is French Canadian. My grandparents were from Quebec. It is common for people to say things such as, “Nobody in Quebec speaks English.” or “Everybody in Quebec is French”. In fact, there are communities in Quebec where 50-75% of the people speak English as their FIRST language...and at least 20% of the population of Quebec have no French ancestry.
It’s always interesting to learn the FACTS rather than going by rumor and perception.
Downtown Framingham is NOT the horrible urban jungle that so many scared, white suburbanites believe it to be. We’ve got the FACTS to prove it!
3. The median household income for residents in the IMMEDIATE
downtown Framingham area is $32,158.
I constantly have people telling me that “downtown Framingham is full of minorities who can’t speak English”. While downtown Framingham DOES have a high number of Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, Spanish-speaking “Hispanics”, and Russian-speaking Russians, the above statistics do indicated that well over half of the residents of downtown Framingham are “White” and my experience of BEING in downtown Framingham constantly is that the first-language of the overwhelming majority ofthese Whites is English.
The demographic figures for those who live one mile from downtown Framingham (in all directions) skews much higher for White people and for income level. And, the demographic figures for those who live three miles from downtown Framingham (in all directions) shows that most of this group is quite affluent.
The study concluded that downtown Framingham is a GOOD place in which to locate a business, especially a “destination restaurant”.
Incidentally, I hope no one takes this piece as being racist. It is not
intended that way at all. Rather, I just wanted to present the facts. For
instance, most of my own ethnic background is French Canadian. My grandparents were from Quebec. It is common for people to say things such as, “Nobody in Quebec speaks English.” or “Everybody in Quebec is French”. In fact, there are communities in Quebec where 50-75% of the people speak English as their FIRST language...and at least 20% of the population of Quebec have no French ancestry.
It’s always interesting to learn the FACTS rather than going by rumor and perception.
Downtown Framingham is NOT the horrible urban jungle that so many scared, white suburbanites believe it to be. We’ve got the FACTS to prove it!
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