Boston, Massachusetts - Districts
From wiki.travel.com
DistrictsBoston is a city of diverse neighborhoods, many of which were originally towns in their own right before being assimilated into the city itself. These neighborhoods still go by their original names and people will often tell you they are from JP (Jamaica Plain), Southie (South Boston), Dot (Dorchester) or Eastie (East Boston) rather than from Boston. Alternatively, people from the suburbs will tell you they are from Boston when in fact they live in one of the nearby (or even outlying) suburbs. If in doubt, you can look for Resident Parking Only signs which will tell you what neighborhood you are in. These distinctions can cause problems when trying to send mail or when using directory assistance to search for phone numbers. When sending letters to residents, zip codes will often be valid for several different neighborhood labels. Boston will work, but so will Dorchester, or even sub-neighborhoods such as Neponset, Uphams Corner and Fields Corner. Residents still use them with pride. To this day, if you dial 411 to search for a phone number, the listing may not be found under Boston, but in the neighborhood where the person/business is located. Another consequence of this expansion is that the neighborhoods, in addition to their cultural identities, also retained most of their street names, regardless of whether or not Boston -or another absorbed town- already had a street with the same name. According to a recent survey by The Boston Globe, there are at least 200 street names that are duplicated in one or more neighborhoods in Boston. For instance, Washington Street in Downtown Boston, is different from Washington Street in Dorchester and another Washington Street in Jamaica Plain. This can play havoc with web-based mapping and direction services. Be aware that geographic references tend to mean little. For example, South Boston is different from the South End, which is actually west of South Boston and north of Dorchester and Roxbury. Some other confusing notables: East Boston and Charlestown are further north than the North End. The West End is in the northern part of town (bordering the North End and Charles River). Dorchester Heights is located well within South Boston. Among Boston's many neighborhoods, the historic areas of Back Bay, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Downtown, the Fenway, the Financial District, Government Center, the North End, and the South End comprise the area considered Boston Proper. It is here where most of the buildings that make up the city's skyline are located. Boston neighborhoods (nicknames in parentheses):
Boston/Allston-Brighton|Allston and Boston/Allston-Brighton|Brighton are abutting neighborhoods. Brighton is rather suburban, and home to the largest population of Asians in the City of Boston--even more than Chinatown in absolute terms. Allston is more urban than Brighton and smaller. It is closer to the City and quite close to Harvard Square in Cambridge. In fact, Harvard University has recently published plans to expand Harvard Sq. into North Allston. You will often hear them called Allston-Brighton, although they are quite distinct. They are connected to the rest of the city by a narrow neck of land between the Charles River and the town of Brookline. Boston/East Boston|East Boston is on a peninsula across Boston Harbor from the main bulk of the city. Logan Airport is in East Boston. Several underwater tunnels connect East Boston to the rest of the city. Boston/Charlestown|Charlestown is across the Charles River, on the part of the mainland where Cambridge and Somerville are located. It is where you will find the Bunker Hill Monument. The South End, North End, South Boston, and the West End are not the neighborhoods farthest in these respective directions. They are named for their positions relative to the original peninsula of Boston, which as been landfilled to such an extent that the South End is now landlocked. The Back Bay is one of the few neighborhoods with streets organized in a grid. It is so named because it used to be mud flats on the river, until the city filled in the bay in a land-making project ending in 1862. It is now one of the higher-rent neighborhoods in the city. The north-south streets crossing the axis of Back Bay are organized alphabetically. Starting from the east, at the Public Garden, and heading west, they are: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester (pronounced 'gloster'), and Hereford. After Hereford is Massachusetts Avenue, more commonly known as Mass. Av., and then Charlesgate, which marks the western boundary of Back Bay. The alphabetical street names continue a little way into the Fenway neighborhood on the other side of Charlesgate, with Ipswich, Jersey, and Kilmarnock, but the streets are no longer arranged in a grid. There are also several districts you might hear mentioned. Districts are generally areas of common interest located within a larger neighborhood:
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