The district around the Broadway T station in Southie, once home to Whitey Bulger's Triple O's, used to be called the Lower End and more recently was considered part of the neighborhood's expansive West Side.
But the triangle along Dorchester Avenue and West Broadway up to A Street has undergone massive changes in the past decade and now a new name for the mini-district is gaining traction — Broadway Village.
If it sounds pretentious, it's not intended to be. Twelve years ago this area between the Broadway and Fourth Street bridges was primarily an industrial district. Bordered by Gillette on one side, nearby was the empty Court Square Press printing plant, a shuttered Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church and the closed Cardinal Cushing High School, mixed in with local hangouts such as the Cornerstone, Mul's Diner, Amrheins and the Quiet Man Pub. But there were also ramshackle auto garages, gas stations and empty lots.
Now there are hundreds of high-end condos — including those at the rehabbed church and printing press — and several new luxury apartment complexes. There's a Franklin Cafe, a Stephi's restaurant and, yes, a Starbucks. A plan for an upscale 14-story boutique hotel has been OK'd, on the site of a former gas station, a 160-unit residential project at A and West Third Streets in on the table, and there's rumors that the Cornerstone site may soon host more upscale housing.
Whoever came up with the Broadway Village name hasn't come forward. It was one of a number of suggestions sent to an email address on a billboard atop the now-demolished Quiet Man Pub that said "This corner needs a name."
"The area has changed so much" said Southie resident Dom Lange who put up the sign, and has sold real estate here for 12 years. "It deserved a new name."
Broadway Village was chosen by more than 50 percent of some 200 people who voted on a new neighborhood name on a subsequent online poll.
"I would have preferred something edgier, but I like Broadway Village," said Bill Gleason, president of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, who bought a condo here 12 years ago. "Everything we've done here has been about making this area feel more like a residential village."
Gleason said truckers used to come over the bridges and dump trash and empty ashtrays in the streets.
"It's been about changing the mindset of what this area is now," Gleason added. "The name seems to be sticking."
But not everyone likes it. John Libonati, co-owner of Social Wines, an upscale liquor store that opened in the area several years ago, isn't having it.
"I don't like the name Broadway Village. It makes the area feel small," said Libonati, who said he'd prefer the acronym WEBR for West Broadway. "But I don't think this area needs to be renamed. It's South Boston, that's what I tell my customers."
Michael LeBlanc, an architect designing a high-end rental project at 22-26 West Broadway, uses the moniker, while acknowledging that rebranding efforts usually come from realtors trying to add value.
"But it can be a healthy way for people to ID their neighborhood and capture the spirit of a place" LeBlanc said.
He added that sometimes neighborhood names change because people want to forget. The Lower End calls up the era of Bulger and of a ramshackle district where residents were lower on the economic and social scale.
The area's new residents are more affluent and Whitey's old haunt at 28-30 West Broadway is on the market for $3.9 million.
"I hear more people using the name," said Lange, who named his new brokerage Broadway Village Real Estate. "We're not trying to impose it on people. If it sticks it's because the residents like it and that's good. If it doesn't, well that's OK too."
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