68 Blocks: Life, death, hope: Part 1 of 5

Dreams cut short, dreams reborn

It’s a neighborhood known for trouble, but Bowdoin-Geneva is much more than that. A Globe team spent months there, listening and asking why violence persists where love and loyalty also run so strong.

68 blocks: Life, death, hope

The Boston Globe spent a year observing the troubled Dorchester neighborhood of Bowdoin-Geneva.

Interactive Map

Homicides and shootings in Bowdoin-Geneva

In the past 25 years, the neighborhood has consistently been more dangerous than Boston as a whole.

Photos and audio

Faces and voices of Bowdoin-Geneva

The Globe chose Instagram photos taken in the area and spoke with the photographers to hear the story behind the image.

Graphic

How Bowdoin-Geneva has evolved

Less than 150 years ago, the portion of Dorchester known as Bowdoin-Geneva was rocky countryside with few residents.

Special Section

68 Blocks: Life, Death, Hope

A five-part Globe series on Boston’s Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood.

SHOOTING IN CONNECTICUT

//c.o0bg.com/rf/image_90x90/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/16/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/suarez_newtownphoto16_MET_009--90x90.jpg Gunman forced way into Conn. school; motive unclear

The gunman forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary and unleashed a rain of bullets, striking each of his 6- and 7-year-old victims more than once.

ark Sherlach and his wife, Sandy Hook Elementary School psychologist Mary Sherlach. Mary Sherlach was killed during the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

Victims of the shootings

A list of the names and ages of those killed in the massacre that left 28 people dead in Newtown, Conn.

Molly Delaney (left) comforted her 11-year-old daughter, Milly, during a service in honor of the victims.

Abruptly, Christmas joy feels unthinkable — and essential

People everywhere in Newtown, Conn., struggled with whether, and how, to go on with something that seemed like normal life.

Kevin Cullen

Slaughter of the innocents

Dr. Judy Palfrey has been waiting for a serious debate about limiting access to high-powered weapons ever since she treated an 11-year-old victim 21 years ago.

People brought flowers to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Saturday.

Stricter gun regulation may be tough sell

People on both sides of the gun control debate are asking whether the carnage in Conn. might change the trend of fewer restrictions at state and national levels.

Metro

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Workers cut into the pavement on a Boston street to fix a manhole cover. Castings are the cause of more rough rides in the city than potholes.

App shows jarring role of cast-metal covers in Boston

It turns out that manhole covers, grates, and other cast-metal lids are responsible for about eight times as many bumps and divots in the road as plain old potholes.