I've lived in Winter Hill since Fall 2003 and I have no complaints. It's no Teele Square -- it's a little grittier, a little more rough around the edges, but I've never felt truly unsafe, and I'll walk the five minutes from the bus stop to my apartment alone at 12:30 at night (I live near the Star Market on Broadway). To say WH is ghetto-like is sort of unfair -- it's not as nice as the Teele/Davis/Porter area, and it's more "ethnic," but it's got a nice character to it. And no college students.

I don't know much about the residential area near Union Sq., but I've never heard anyone complain about it. I've walked in the area a ton and Union looks pretty nice -- I walk down Walnut a lot from WH to Union and I find the area there to be really nice.

Tons of buses run through Union. In Winter Hill, you'll have a decent selection too. The 89 my lifeblood (I work at Tufts).