Forest Hills Train Station

This is my station! The rep it’s got is worse than what it really is. It was bad when I first move to JP, years ago, but now it’s just a harmless train station. It’s clean and buzzing with people.

Recent business has taken me to this train station on a weekly basis. Never made it down this far South before after being in Boston over 10 years. My philosophy in dealing with the new situation is simple: get in, get out.
Positives: Orange line trains will wait a good deal of time before departing and they sound an alarm soon before taking off, so you’re less likely to experience the extreme frustration when you round a corner and suddenly see the train pulling away.

Clean and fast. Lots of police. Ride from am to latenight and never seen unsafe situation. Still I meet my mom in person when she visits from the burbs.

Hello everyone i was wondering if you could let me know if this place has enough parking to park here for the day. This would be mon-​sat. Or if there is parking nearby

If you gave a child in 1980 grey and orange crayons and ordered him to draw a station, he’d draw Forest Hills Station. Made of steel, glass, cement, and bad taste, it stands like a wart on the otherwise relatively attractive face of JP’s Forest Hills section.
The outside of the station features bus pick-​ups and poor signage on three sides, a green line trolley stop that is marked despite it not being operational for over a decade, and crowds of people that are virtually impossible to penetrate.
Once inside, things aren’t so bad anymore. There’s a little donut place called Mike’s Donuts. Mike’s Donuts has terrible coffee and pretty bad donuts. But if you need a donut and coffee, Mike’s can sell you them. The news stand isn’t bad, but they run out of the Globe by 8am most days.
There are ample CharlieCard machines, and a big train platform. There is also fruit and flowers for sale.
Security there is almost always a presence, so you don’t have to worry about crime.
Beware the bell system. The way it works is a bell rings, and then you have 30 seconds before the train leaves. In practice, the train’s doors are often closed when this happens, or you might be sitting there for 5 minutes.

Can this station please get the revamp that so many other stations are getting. I want it to be pretty so when I wait in the morning the water dripping down from the bricks wont fall on me anymore. oh, totally put in an antenna there too… so i can get cellphone reception. *sigh*. i have been on the forest hills T stop for 4 years now, and i do love that i’m the last stop and also the first stop. I have memorized your schedule and you are fairly good most of the time.
But please, give this T stop some money!

Forest Hills definitely gets a worse rap than it deserves. Maybe it has something to do with the Fox-​style fear reporting the Boston Metro often seems to engage in when discussing crime on the T, particularly at Forest Hills Station… but I have never had a problem here at all. This isn’t because I only ride the T at rush hour, or because I carefully mind my own business. This is because as «crazy» as some of the people who hang around Forest Hills seem to be, they are simply not a real threat. Most of these individuals are just down and out, afflicted with alcoholism or drug addiction, passing the time before they return to the Shattuck for the night. They’re not going to go out of their way to make your life miserable.
As far as T stations go, FH is pretty excellent. I mean, it’s only a subway station, nothing to get all jazzed up about, but it does have its perks. You get to wait underground in the winter. You always get a seat. There is a fruit stand, albeit a slightly overpriced one, staffed by a really friendly man. And there’s also a little flower shop, where the woman will tell you, in all honesty, which flowers are going to be dead tomorrow and which will last at least a week.
The best part? Arnold Arboretum and Forest Hills Cemetery (art installations year round!) are only steps away.

Many moons ago when I lived in JP, Forest Hills was my stop.
What the hell was I thinking that year? A skinny white bitch walking a good ¾ mile past FH to get to my apartment (where I lived alone, across from the cemetery — freaky anyone?), often times drunk as a frickin skunk, not such a good idea.
At the time, it was the craziest place I had lived (this was pre– Bay Village, and man do I have some stories about that ‘hood!), and I really did enjoy the entertainment and didn’t feel intimidated or frightened.
I can’t recall ever feeling particularly unsafe. I should have though, because I once ran through the entire station and then up the hill to my apartment barefoot. I’m surprised I still have all ten toes. Damn cute toes, I might add.

I don’t dislike FH. It was my stop for a couple of years and I never had a problem there. Except this one time, I was getting money out of the ATM and this dragon lady with curled over nails was all up in my grill. I was brazen enough to say, «Need to step off, mama.» And she backed away, probably thinking I was crazier than her. When in doubt– out crazy the crazies. Sing something, feign a shoulder tic, do what you have to.
For those afraid of dragon ladies or groups of young hoodlums, maybe you should get off at Stonybrook. Forest Hills does have its share of crime, but it’s a large hub, where many buses drop off and pick up. So it’s kind of a given. Be careful and mind your business and you’ll probably be ok. If you’re not, go bugnuts on them and they’ll probably leave you alone.

The most unsafe part of Forest Hills Station is the police officers: the other day I saw one almost run over several people as he flipped on the siren and roared out of the area next to the South St doors that they use as a parking lot. It was almost movie-​like, with people leaping out of the way as he tore past. But I’ve never had any trouble with fellow riders, beyond the usual spitting, screaming, and blasting music that’s par for the course on the T. (I am a tall, broad-​shouldered guy though, so I’m probably not the first person someone would pick a fight with.) There’s a decent (and reasonably-​priced) florist here, which makes my wife happy because she gets flowers often and makes me happy because it’s right on the way home. They also often sell produce here, which is convenient though a bit more costly than the average grocery store.

Two different apartments and a few years, i used this station, and never had a problem with it. Never felt at all unsafe. Nice and big, there’s almost always a train waiting for you to get on. And since it’s at the end, you always get a seat! There are even little convienience stores there if you need a bagel or a drink. You can connect to busses or trains, without much effort. And dont worry about going in groups, this is a normal stop with normal people. Im a small female, and i was often there by myself, even at night, and never had the slightest problem. Who cares if thers a group of people being loud? Go back a few nites and it may have been you and your friends. lol

I give the Forest Hills Train Station (last stop on the Orange line) 3 stars for pure entertainment value. I commuted in and out of this station for a year and I have never, repeat never, seen so many crazy people and happenings as I did here. Firstly, time does not seem to affect the FHTS. Drunken fights? Pickpockets going after your wallet? Half-​naked, drug-​induced debauchery? Yeah that’s all happening at 8 AM when you’re on your way to work. The people here are WAY tapped and its quite a shame really, FHTS is a sort of microcosm of an entire class of people that the Commonwealth forgot.
So, enjoy the show, but travel in groups please.
To it’s credit, there was always a train waiting for me at this station and there were rarely back ups or delays… just crime.