It has become more spread out but 30 years ago when I was growing up almost all of West Roxbury was Italian and Irish and populations could be found in Dedham, Rosindale and Jamaica Plain.
There were plenty of other communities up and down the North and South shore.
Was Brockton? Marchiano being the greatest boxer of all time was from there no? Was that an Italian town?
Plenty in Brockton, but it was always a mixed area. Most recently it's been taken over by blacks, Mexican and Cape Verdean folks.
Marciano is the only heavy weight champ to retire without a defeat. There's a statue of him in Brockton. Brockton has and always will be a very tough town, way past blue color, just plain tough. It's the type place now that crack is openly sold along the street next to working girls patrolling the streets.
I'm sure it had some presence through the years as it is halfway between Boston and Providence. Most of the area was controlled by the "Saint", Tauton, Stoughton all that southeastern area..
