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Top Boston Neighborhoods

  • Back Bay
  • Beacon Hill
  • Brookline
  • Charlestown
  • Fenway
  • Jamaica Plain
  • Midtown
  • North End
  • Seaport District
  • South Boston
  • South End
  • Waterfront

Back Bay

Back Bay meaning is a small bay or inlet of a lake.

The area underwent a major transformation after the city decided in 1856 to fill in the watery Back Bay (emphasis on the "Bay") and build the new neighborhood on 450 acres of manmade land. It took nearly a quarter century to complete.

Back Bay is bordered roughly by the Charles River on the north, the Public Garden on the East, Columbus Avenue on the south, and Kenmore Square to the West. Boston's Back Bay is a historic district recognized for its high concentration of Victorian-era brownstones and brick townhouses.

This high-end neighborhood is also known for its broad, tree-shaded streets - including the famed Commonwealth Avenue Mall - the sprawling green lawns of the Charles River Esplanade, and the world-class shopping on Newbury Street. Architectural details vary as well, from the pressed brick and sandstone of the French Academic to the stained glass and wrought iron of the High Victorian Gothic, to the carved gargoyles at copper cresting of the French Chateauesque style.

Known as one of Boston's trendiest areas for shopping and dining, Back Bay is a mix of students, professionals, affluent families, and retirees, all come to enjoy the neighborhood's lively atmosphere.

What is Back Bay known for?

  • Best shopping: Newbury Street, Copley Place, The Shops at the Prudential Center
  • Most green space: Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Public Garden, Charles River Esplanade
  • Best jog: Charles River Esplanade
  • Elegant architecture: Victorian brownstones with inviting front stoops and small but well-tended gardens

Best 4th of July celebration: July 4th Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular 

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BEACON HILL:

One of Boston’s most picturesque areas, tony Beacon Hill has steep streets lined with Federal-style and Victorian brick row houses lit by antique lanterns. The gold-domed Massachusetts State House overlooks Boston Common, with its winter skating pond. Across Charles Street, home to chic boutiques and antiques shops, is the formal Public Garden. The Charles River Esplanade’s Hatch Shell hosts summer concerts.

Beacon Hill is bordered on the South by the largest gems in the famed Emerald Necklace, the 50-acre Boston Common, and Public Garden. To the North is Cambridge Street, home of the nation's #1 ranked hospital, Massachusetts General. The State House on the East and Arlington Street and the banks of the Charles on the West.

Beacon Hill, separated in two by the charming village shops of Charles Street consists of 150 to 175-year-old townhomes that line the Hill proper, and mostly elegant, late 19th and early 20th century homes in the area known as the Flat of the Hill.

What is Beacon Hill known for?

  • Historic Architecture: Federal-style rowhouses, brick sidewalks, and gas-lit streets
  • Best high-end boutiques & antique shops, especially along Charles Street
  • Acorn Street, the most photographed street in America
  • The Massachusetts State House and its magnificent gilded dome
  • Cheers, the bar made famous in the television series of the same name.
  • Best neighborhood Halloween celebration

South End:

The South End is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States which is bordered by Back Bay, Chinatown, and Roxbury. It is distinguished from other neighborhoods by its Victorian-style houses and the parks in and around the area. The South End is the largest intact Victorian row-house district in the country, covering over 300 acres (120 ha), It has eleven residential parks. In 1973, the South End was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Much of the neighborhood was originally marshlands in Boston's South Bay. After it was filled in, construction began in 1849.

What is the South End known for?

  • Tree-lined streets of red-brick bow-front townhouses dating to the 1800s
  • Some of Boston's best restaurants, design stores and boutiques, especially along Tremont, Shawmut and Washington streets
  • SoWa (for South of Washington), where some of the city's better contemporary art galleries are located

SoWa Open Market: Every Sunday from May to October, this outdoor market includes an extensive arts/crafts section, an award winning farmer’s market and a collection of the best food trucks around

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The Fenway/Kenmore:

The Fenway–Kenmore area was formed by land annexed from neighboring Brookline in the 1870s as part of the Brookline-Boston annexation debate of 1873 as well as from land filled in conjunction with the creation of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted parks in the 1890s.

Fenway Park, baseball park in Boston that is home to the Red Sox, the city's American League (AL) team. Opened in 1912, it is the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball and one of its most famous.

It first opened on April 20th, 1912. Ironically, Fenway opened just a few days after the Titanic sank

Students, visitors and young people throughout the city are drawn to the lively restaurants, music venues and nightlife of Kenmore Square and Lansdowne Street. Huntington Avenue, which forms the southeast edge of the neighborhood, is celebrated as Boston’s “Avenue of the Arts” and is lined by Symphony Hall, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Huntington Theater, and New England Conservatory. The neighborhood’s preeminent green space is the Back Bay fens, a unique urban park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted as part of Boston’s Emerald Necklace.

The Back Bay Fens, one of six links in Boston’s historic Emerald Necklace park system

Midtown: 

Newly popular and skirting the eastern edge of the Boston Common is a revitalized, mixed-use urban neighborhood known as Midtown. Popular with its nightlife offerings and Theater District as one end, this compact, walkable neighborhood boasts the chic W Hotel and residences anchoring one end of the district and the elegant Ritz-Carlton hotel and residences at its opposite end. 

Midtown residential is comprised almost entirely of contemporary condominiums with a few renovated lofts repurposed from late 19th-century office and manufacturing buildings. Midtown's theaters, restaurants, boutique hotels and chic condominium developments, including The Ritz-Carlton Residences, 45 Province Street, Millennium Place, and Millennium Tower, make it an increasingly popular destination.

Served by the MBTA's red, orange and green lines, Midtown is just steps from the 50 acres of green that comprise the center stone in this city's famed Emerald Necklace of parklands, the historic Boston Common. In recent years, Midtown has become a choice neighborhood for Boston's young professionals.

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North End:

Boston's story can be told right here, where Boston began and Paul Revere lived, where waves of Jewish, Irish, and finally, Italian immigrants recast this neighborhood in their own cultural traditions. Today, the North End retains its old-world charm; Italian is still heard in the streets, fresh pasta and cannolis are still sold from small shops, and wonderful restaurants abound. But it is also very much of the 21st century, connected to the Greenway and offering unique residential opportunities.

Charlestown:

The original capital of the Massachusetts Bay colony. Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, a historic waterfront neighborhood with Irish-American roots. The Freedom Trail climbs streets lined with brick townhouses and clapboard triple-decker homes to the Bunker Hill Monument, site of a key Revolutionary War battle. The 1797 U.S.S. Constitution warship and its museum are in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Main Street’s traditional pubs and stylish restaurants draw young professionals and families.

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Seaport District

The tides are quickly changing in Boston’s Seaport. No longer a land of parking lots and warehouses, the Seaport has become Boston’s newest mixed-use neighborhood, full of office buildings, luxury condominiums, retail stores, cultural offerings and restaurants. All these amenities, coupled with the location — across from downtown, right off of the highway, and just a short T ride to the airport — have transformed the Seaport into a highly desirable area for Boston luxury real estate. 

Also known as the South Boston Waterfront and Innovation District, the Seaport District includes the area just east of the Fort Point Channel. The area is also known by its neighborhood names, including Seaport Place, Fort Point, Fan Pier and Liberty Wharf. A number of small pocket gardens are located throughout the Seaport District, especially along Northern Avenue, and the Harborwalk extends along its piers, designed to connect the public to a clean and restored Boston Harbor. 

Since Mayor Menino rebranded the Seaport as the Innovation District, thousands of jobs and individuals have made the transition across the Fort Point Channel. Luxury lofts continue to take shape to cater to the residential and visitor expansion, as do a number of new dining options from small local eateries to larger restaurant developments. For example, Barbara Lynch, the famed Boston restaurateur, launched restaurants Menton, Sportello, and Drink, and Joanne Chang opened an outpost of the acclaimed Flour Bakery + Café. Liberty Wharf, a $60 million development, caters especially well to crowds looking for waterfront dining, offering Jerry Remy’s, Temazcal, Del Frisco’s, and the 3-story Legal Harborside. 

Seaport District Cultural Attractions:

Fort Point artist studios and galleries

Waterfront

The Waterfront is located just below the North End of Boston and follows the shoreline of Boston Harbor and Fort Point Channel. Historically, the Waterfront served as the manufacturing and storage hub of Boston’s bustling harbor.

Today, Boston’s historic wharves are home to some of the most exclusive Boston Waterfront properties, many of them restored wharves that have been refurbished into luxury townhomes and condominiums. The Waterfront neighborhood is highly sought after for its incredible views, its proximity to Boston's bustling Financial District as well as its close relationship to Boston's linear urban park system, the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

What is the Waterfront known for?

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Brookline:

Located South and West of the Charles River campus of Boston University, Brookline is an idyllic, 6.8 square mile town that was settled in the 17th century, incorporated in 1705, and now consists of over 20 distinct neighborhoods. These offer everything from urban, condominium living to rambling, 19th-century estates.

Brookline is noted equally for its exemplary school system (both public and private) as it is for its sylvan, often arboretum-like setting. Brookline is home to The Country Club, the first of its kind in the country, it has hosted the U.S. Open several times. This 58,000 resident suburb is also famously the birthplace of John F. Kennedy.

Served by the MBTA green line, Brookline had an early 20th-century blossoming as one of Boston's streetcar suburbs. Many multi-family condominiums and apartments flank the rail line to this day. The town boasts five retail centers, five fire stations, and the main library with two branch locations, and is home to several institutions of higher education.

Jamaica Plain:

Long known for its bucolic setting just minutes from downtown Boston, Jamaica Plain offers a rare combination of urban and suburban conveniences. Originally part of Roxbury, Jamaica Plain was annexed to Boston in 1873 and the once farming community became a favorite destination for country estates of Boston’s well to do. A site of many 19th-century transportation developments—from horse-drawn omnibuses to railroads, streetcars, and parkways—the area transformed into a 20th-century streetcar suburb with commuters flocking to new single-family houses, two-family dwellings, and three-deckers that lined the neighborhood. 

Today, “JP” has evolved into one of Boston’s most diverse and dynamic neighborhoods. Even with relatively high population density, however, residents and visitors still have access to an abundance of open green space. Often referred to in the 19th century as "the Eden of America," JP is home to Jamaica Pond, the original potable water source for Boston, the Arnold Arboretum and its wonderful walking trails, as well a significant portion of Boston’s Emerald Necklace, the park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 19th century. Integral parts of the neighborhood, the greenery of JP contributes to a quality of life distinct to this setting alone. 

What is Jamaica Plain known for?

  • Historic Architecture: Greek Revival style of the 1830s and ‘40s
  • Opportunities for guided tours and casual strolls through the Arnold Arboretum, Forest Hills Cemetery, and around Jamaica Pond
  • Site of the Samuel Adams Brewery
  • The original J.P. Licks ice cream shop, a favorite across Massachusetts
  • Quirky boutique shops and a variety of restaurants on Centre Street
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South Boston: 

South Boston (colloquially Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. It has undergone several demographic transformations since being annexed to the city of Boston in 1804. The neighborhood, once primarily farmland,[2] is popularly known by its twentieth century identity as a working class Irish Catholic community. Throughout the twenty-first century, the neighborhood has become increasingly popular with millennial professionals. 

South Boston contains Dorchester Heights, where George Washington forced British troops to evacuate during the American Revolutionary War. South Boston has undergone gentrification, and consequently, its real estate market has seen property values join the highest in the city. South Boston has also left its mark on history with Boston busing desegregation. South Boston is also home to the St. Patrick's Day Parade, a celebration of the Irish-American culture and the Evacuation Day observance.

Dorchester:

Dorchester is a neighborhood comprising more than 6 square miles (16 km2) in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, Dorset, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This dissolved municipality, Boston's largest neighborhood by far,[3] is often divided by city planners in order to create two planning areas roughly equivalent in size and population to other Boston neighborhoods

The Dorchester neighborhood has a very diverse population, which includes a large concentration of African Americans, European Americans (particularly those of Irish, German, Italian, and Polish origin), Caribbean Americans, Latinos, and East and Southeast Asian Americans. Dorchester also has a significant LGBT population, with active political groups and the largest concentration of same-sex couples in Boston after the neighborhoods of South End and Jamaica Plain.

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Cambridge:

Cambridge (keɪmbrɪdʒ/[4] KAYM-brij) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the most populous city in the county, the fourth-largest in Massachusetts behind Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, and ninth-most populousin New England.[5]The city was named in honor of theUniversity of Cambridge in Cambridge, England, which was an important center of the Puritan theology that was embraced by the town's founders.[6]: 18  

Harvard University, an Ivy League university founded in Cambridge in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT),Lesley University, and Hult International Business School also are based in Cambridge.[7]Radcliffe College, a women's liberal arts college, was based in Cambridge from its 1879 founding until its assimilation into Harvard in 1999.

Everett:

Everett was originally part of Charlestown, and later Malden. It separated from Malden in 1870.[5] The community was named after Edward Everett,[6] who served as U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, the 15thGovernor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State. He also served as President of Harvard University.[7] In 1892, Everett was upgraded from a town to a city. On December 13, 1892, Alonzo H. Evans defeated George E. Smith to become Everett's first mayor.[8] Landfill has expanded the Everett shoreline over the centuries.[9] At some point between 1905[10] and 1912,[11] it connected the mainland to what was formerly White Island in the Mystic River. The bridge of the Grand Junction Railroad was originally built using this island for part of the crossing. 

On September 16, 2014, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted to approve Wynn Resorts' proposal for a $1.6 billion casino to be located on a 33-acre site on the Mystic River in Everett.[21] The casino, named Encore Boston Harbor, opened on June 23, 2019.[22] After a remediation process to clean the site, Wynn Resorts constructed[23] Encore Boston as an integrated resort with a hotel, a harborwalk, restaurants, a casino, spa, retail outlets, and meeting and convention space.[24] Public amenities along the year-round harborwalk include a picnic park, paths for bikers and pedestrians, viewing decks, waterfront dining and retail,[25] a performance lawn, floral displays,[26] and boat docks.[27] Wynn Resorts described the $2.6 billion development as "the largest private single-phase construction project in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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