They're completely different areas that, despite what you'd expect from the names, don't even border on each other. To be as politically correct as possible, West Roxbury is a relatively pricey suburb SW of Boston while Roxbury borders the city itself, and is having some problems these days, but they're working hard to improve it. "

comparing apples and violent crime would work as a metaphor!

apples = west roxbury!  (yes definitely live in west roxbury. need a car though)
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No comparison. It's like comparing apples and squash. (Okay, maybe that's a bad metaphor, but you get my drift).

Roxbury is very close to Boston proper. It's also larger than most people think and actually includes Mission Hill, Fort Hill, South End, etc. However, the part you are likely speaking of is pretty beat down. Don't get me wrong - it has a strong history and a strong community but it's struggling. The recent recession has not helped at all. Every street has foreclosures and short sales. There is a fair amount of crime. In my opinion one of the reasons this part of the city has not developed is the lack of light rail. Transportation by bus is slow due to crappy traffic in this area.

West Roxbury is quite a bit more homogeneous racially. It is clean, neat and has a highly developed ""Main Street"". On either side of Centre Street are two hills. One is called Bellvue Hill and has larger homes and was once upon a time more prestigious. The other hill peaks somewhere around  Mount Vernon if I remember correctly, and is quickly catching up with home values on the other side, although the actual housing stock is limiting in size and original detail. The Mount Vernon side seemed more working class.

I live in Jamaica Plain which was once part of West Roxbury. We have a couple of great blogs, one is the JP Historical society and the other is Remember JP or something like that. They're both on my blog:

www.TheBostonHomeTeam.com/blog
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