Boston

Boston
City
City of Boston
Clockwise: Skyline of Back Bay seen from the Charles River, Fenway Park, Christian Science Church, Boston Common and the Downtown Crossing skyline, skyline of the Financial District seen from the Boston Harbor, and Massachusetts State House
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Beantown,[3] The Hub,[3] The Cradle of Liberty,[4] The Cradle of Modern America,[3] The Athens of America,[4] The Walking City[3]
Motto: Sicut patribus sit Deus nobis (Latin: "As God was with our fathers, so may He be with us")
Location in Massachusetts highlighted in red. The remainder of Suffolk County is highlighted in pink.
Boston Location in the United States
Coordinates: 42°21′29″N 71°03′49″W / 42.35806°N 71.06361°W / 42.35806; -71.06361Coordinates: 42°21′29″N 71°03′49″W / 42.35806°N 71.06361°W / 42.35806; -71.06361
Country	United States of America
State	Massachusetts
County	Suffolk
Historic countries	Kingdom of England  Kingdom of Great Britain
Historic colonies	Massachusetts Bay Colony, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Settled (town)	September 7, 1630 (date of naming, O.S.)
Incorporated (city)	March 4, 1822
Government
• Type	Strong mayor – council
• Mayor	Marty Walsh (D)
• Council	Boston City Council
Area
• City	90 sq mi (232 km2)
• Land	48 sq mi (125 km2)
• Water	41 sq mi (107 km2)
• Urban	1,770 sq mi (4,600 km2)
• Metro	4,500 sq mi (11,700 km2)
• CSA	10,600 sq mi (27,600 km2)
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Population (2012)[5][6][7][8][9]
• City	636,479 (US: 21st)
• Density	12,900/sq mi (4,980/km2)
• Urban	4,180,000 (US: 10th)
• Metro	4,590,000 (US: 10th)
• CSA	7,600,000 (US: 6th)
• Demonym	Bostonian
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code(s)	53 total ZIP codes:[10] 02108–02137, 02163, 02196, 02199, 02201, 02203, 02204, 02205, 02206, 02210, 02211, 02212, 02215, 02217, 02222, 02228, 02241, 02266, 02283, 02284, 02293, 02295, 02297, 02298, 02467 (02467 also includes parts of Newton and Brookline)
Area code(s)	617 and 857
FIPS code	25-07000
GNIS feature ID	0617565
Website	cityofboston.gov

Boston (pronounced ⁱ/ˈbɒstən/) is the capital and largest city^[11] of the state of Massachusetts (officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), in the United States. Boston also serves as county seat of the state's Suffolk County. The largest city in New England, the city proper, covering 48 square miles (124 km²), had an estimated population of 636,000 in 2012,^[6] making it the 21st largest city in the United States.^[5] The city is the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country.^[8] Greater Boston as a commuting region^[12] is home to 7.6 million people, making it the sixth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States.^[9][13]

One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan colonists from England.^[14][15] It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston. Upon American independence from Great Britain, the city continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub, as well as a center for education and culture.^[16] Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history helps attract many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone attracting over 20 million visitors.^[17] Boston's many "firsts" include the United States' first public school (1635),^[18] and first subway system (1897).^[19]

The area's many colleges and universities make Boston an international center of higher education and medicine, and the city is considered to be a world leader in innovation for a variety of reasons.^[20][21] Boston's economic base also includes finance,^[22] professional and business services, and government activities.^[23] The city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States,^[24] though it remains high on world livability rankings.^[25]

History

Boston's early European settlers had first called the area Trimountaine (after its "three mountains"—only traces of which remain today) but later renamed it Boston after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, from which several prominent colonists had come. The renaming, on September 7, 1630 (old style), was by Puritan colonists from England,^[15][26] who had moved over from Charlestown earlier that year in quest of fresh water. Their settlement was initially limited to the Shawmut Peninsula, at that time surrounded by the Massachusetts Bay and Charles River and connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. The peninsula is known to have been inhabited as early as 5000 BC.^[27]

In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Colony's first governor, John Winthrop, led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, a key founding document of the city. Puritan ethics and their focus on education influenced its early history;^[28] America's first public school was founded in Boston in 1635.^[18] Over the next 130 years, the city participated in four French and Indian Wars, until the British defeated the French and their native allies in North America. Boston was the largest town in British North America until Philadelphia grew larger in the mid 18th century.^[29]

Many of the crucial events of the American Revolution^[30]—the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's "midnight ride", the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston, and many others—occurred in or near Boston. After the Revolution, Boston's long seafaring tradition helped make it one of the world's wealthiest international ports, with rum, fish, salt, and tobacco being particularly important.^[31]

The Embargo Act of 1807, adopted during the Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812 significantly curtailed Boston's harbor activity. Although foreign trade returned after these hostilities, Boston's merchants had found alternatives for their capital investments in the interim. Manufacturing became an important component of the city's economy, and by the mid-19th century, the city's industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance. Until the early 20th century, Boston remained one of the nation's largest manufacturing centers and was notable for its garment production and leather-goods industries.^[2] A network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a dense network of railroads furthered the region's industry and commerce.^[32]

During this period Boston flourished culturally as well, admired for its rarefied literary life and generous artistic patronage,^[33][34] with members of old Boston families—eventually dubbed Boston Brahmins—coming to be regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites.^[35] Boston also became a center of the abolitionist movement.^[36] The city reacted strongly to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850,^[37] contributing to President Franklin Pierce's attempt to make an example of Boston after the Anthony Burns Fugitive Slave Case.^[38][39]

In 1822,^[40] the citizens of Boston voted to change the official name from "the Town of Boston" to "the City of Boston", and on March 4, 1822, the people of Boston accepted the charter incorporating the City.^[41] At the time Boston was chartered as a city, the population was about 46,226, while the area of the city was only 4.7 square miles (12 km²).^[41]

In the 1820s, Boston's population grew rapidly, and the city's ethnic composition changed dramatically with the first wave of European immigrants. Irish immigrants dominated the first wave of newcomers during this period, especially following the Irish Potato Famine—by 1850, about 35,000 Irish lived in Boston.^[42] In the latter half of the 19th century, the city saw increasing numbers of Irish, Germans, Lebanese, Syrians,^[43] French Canadians, and Russian and Polish Jews settled in the city. By the end of the 19th century, Boston's core neighborhoods had become enclaves of ethnically distinct immigrants—Italians inhabited the North End,^[44] Irish dominated South Boston and Charlestown, and Russian Jews lived in the West End. Irish and Italian immigrants brought with them Roman Catholicism. Currently, Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community,^[45] and since the early 20th century, the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics—prominent figures include the Kennedys, Tip O'Neill, and John F. Fitzgerald.^[46]

Between 1631 and 1890, the city tripled its area through land reclamation by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront.^[47] The largest reclamation efforts took place during the 19th century; beginning in 1807, the crown of Beacon Hill was used to fill in a 50-acre (20 ha) mill pond that later became the Haymarket Square area. The present-day State House sits atop this lowered Beacon Hill. Reclamation projects in the middle of the century created significant parts of the South End, the West End, the Financial District, and Chinatown. After The Great Boston Fire of 1872, workers used building rubble as landfill along the downtown waterfront. During the mid-to-late 19th century, workers filled almost 600 acres (2.4 km²) of brackish Charles River marshlands west of Boston Common with gravel brought by rail from the hills of Needham Heights. The city annexed the adjacent towns of South Boston (1804), East Boston (1836), Roxbury (1868), Dorchester (including present day Mattapan and a portion of South Boston) (1870), Brighton (including present day Allston) (1874), West Roxbury (including present day Jamaica Plain and Roslindale) (1874), Charlestown (1874), and Hyde Park (1912).^[48][49] Other proposals, for the annexation of Brookline, Cambridge,^[50] and Chelsea,^[51][52] were unsuccessful.

By the early and mid-20th century, the city was in decline as factories became old and obsolete, and businesses moved out of the region for cheaper labor elsewhere.^[53] Boston responded by initiating various urban renewal projects under the direction of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which was established in 1957. In 1958, BRA initiated a project to improve the historic West End neighborhood. Extensive demolition was met with vociferous public opposition.^[54] The BRA subsequently reevaluated its approach to urban renewal in its future projects, including the construction of Government Center. In 1965, the first Community Health Center in the United States opened, the Columbia Point Health Center, in the Dorchester neighborhood. It mostly served the massive Columbia Point public housing complex adjoining it, which was built in 1953. The health center is still in operation and was rededicated in 1990 as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center.^[55] The Columbia Point complex itself was redeveloped and revitalized into a mixed-income community called Harbor Point Apartments from 1984 to 1990.^[56] By the 1970s, the city's economy boomed after 30 years of economic downturn. A large number of high rises were constructed in the Financial District and in Boston's Back Bay during this time period.^[57] This boom continued into the mid-1980s and later began again. Hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women's Hospital lead the nation in medical innovation and patient care. Schools such as Boston University, the Harvard Medical School, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory attract students to the area. Nevertheless, the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s.^[58]

Boston is an intellectual, technological, and political center but has lost some important regional institutions,^[59] including the acquisition of The Boston Globe by The New York Times,^[60] and the loss to mergers and acquisitions of local financial institutions such as FleetBoston Financial, which was acquired by Charlotte-based Bank of America in 2004.^[61] Boston-based department stores Jordan Marsh and Filene's have both been merged into the Cincinnati–based Macy's.^[62] Boston has experienced gentrification in the latter half of the 20th century,^[63] with housing prices increasing sharply since the 1990s.^[24] Living expenses have risen, and Boston has one of the highest costs of living in the United States,^[64] and was ranked the 129th most expensive major city in the world in a 2011 survey of 214 cities.^[65] Despite cost of living issues, Boston ranks high on livability ratings, ranking 36th worldwide in quality of living in 2011 in a survey of 221 major cities.^[66] On April 15, 2013, at approximately 2:50 p.m. EDT, two Chechen Islamist brothers exploded two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds.^[67]

Boston skyline from Student Village II at Boston University.

Geography

Boston has an area of 89.6 square miles (232.1 km²)—48.4 square miles (125.4 km²) (54.0%) of land and 41.2 square miles (106.7 km²) (46.0%) of water—and is the country's third most densely populated city that is not a part of a larger city's metropolitan area.^{[Note 1]} This is largely attributable to the rarity of annexation by New England towns. The city's official elevation, as measured at Logan International Airport, is 19 ft (5.8 m) above sea level.^[68] The highest point in Boston is Bellevue Hill at 330 feet (100 m) above sea level, and the lowest point is at sea level.^[69] Situated near the Atlantic Ocean, Boston is the only state capital in the contiguous United States with an ocean coastline.^[70]

Boston is surrounded by the "Greater Boston" region and is contiguously bordered by the cities and towns of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy. The Charles River separates Boston from Watertown and the majority of Cambridge, and the mass of Boston from its own Charlestown neighborhood. To the east lie Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (which includes part of the city's territory, specifically Calf Island, Gallops Island, Great Brewster Island, Green Island, Little Brewster Island, Little Calf Island, Long Island, Lovells Island, Middle Brewster Island, Nixes Mate, Outer Brewster Island, Rainsford Island, Shag Rocks, Spectacle Island, The Graves, and Thompson Island). The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and the city of Quincy and the town of Milton. The Mystic River separates Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett, and Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor separate East Boston from Boston proper.^[71]

The city's water supply, from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs to the west,^[72] is one of the very few in the country so pure as to satisfy federal quality standards without filtration.^[73]

Boston skyline from Logan International Airport in the early morning

Cityscape

Boston is sometimes called a "city of neighborhoods" because of the profusion of diverse subsections; the city government's Office of Neighborhood Services has officially designated 23 neighborhoods.^[74]

More than two-thirds of inner Boston's modern land area did not exist when the city was founded, but was "made" by filling over the centuries,^[47] notably with earth from the leveling or lowering of Boston's three original hills (the "Trimountain", after which Tremont Street is named), and with gravel brought by train from Needham to fill the Back Bay.^[16] Downtown and its immediate surroundings consists largely of low-rise (often Federal style and Greek Revival) masonry buildings, interspersed with modern highrises, notably in the Financial District, Government Center, and South Boston.^[75] Back Bay includes many prominent landmarks, such as the Boston Public Library, Christian Science Center, Copley Square, Newbury Street, and New England's two tallest buildings—the John Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center.^[76] Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent illuminated beacon, the color of which forecasts the weather.^[77] Smaller commercial areas are interspersed among areas of single-family homes and wooden/brick multi-family row houses. The South End Historic District is the largest surviving contiguous Victorian-era neighborhood in the US.^[78] The geography of downtown and South Boston was particularly impacted by the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (known unofficially as the "Big Dig"), which allowed for the removal of the unsightly elevated Central Artery and the incorporation of new green spaces and open areas.^[79]

Parks and recreation

Boston Common, located near the Financial District and Beacon Hill, is the oldest public park in the United States.^[80] Along with the adjacent Boston Public Garden, it is part of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to encircle the city. The Emerald Necklace includes Jamaica Pond, Boston's largest body of freshwater, and Franklin Park, the city's largest park and home of the Franklin Park Zoo.^[81] Another major park is the Esplanade, located along the banks of the Charles River. The Hatch Shell, an outdoor concert venue, is located adjacent to the Charles River Esplanade. Other parks are scattered throughout the city, with the major parks and beaches located near Castle Island; in Charlestown; and along the Dorchester, South Boston, and East Boston shorelines.^[82]

Boston's park system is well-reputed nationally. In its 2013 ParkScore ranking, The Trust for Public Land reported that Boston was tied with Sacramento and San Francisco for having the third-best park system among the 50 most populous US cities.^[83] ParkScore ranks city park systems by a formula that analyzes the city’s median park size, park acres as percent of city area, the percent of residents within a half-mile of a park, spending of park services per resident, and the number of playgrounds per 10,000 residents.

Climate

Boston has a continental climate with some maritime influence, and using the −3 °C (27 °F) coldest month (January) isotherm, the city lies within the transition zone from a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) to a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa),^[84][85] although the suburbs north and west of the city are significantly colder in winter and solidly fall under the latter categorisation. Summers are typically warm to hot, rainy, and humid, while winters oscillate between periods of cold rain and snow, with cold temperatures. Spring and fall are usually mild, with varying conditions dependent on wind direction and jet stream positioning. Prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore minimize the influence of the Atlantic Ocean.^[86]

The hottest month is July, with a mean temperature of 73.4 °F (23.0 °C). The coldest month is January, with a mean of 29.0 °F (−1.7 °C). Periods exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) in summer and below 10 °F (−12 °C) in winter are not uncommon but rarely extended, with about 13 days per year seeing the former extreme,^[87] and the most recent subzero reading occurring on January 24, 2011.^[88] The city averages roughly 95 nights per year with low temperatures at or below freezing.^[87] Extremes have ranged from −18 °F (−28 °C) on February 9, 1934, up to 104 °F (40 °C) on July 4, 1911.^[88]

Boston's coastal location on the North Atlantic moderates its temperature, but makes the city very prone to Nor'easter weather systems that can produce much snow and rain.^[89] The city averages 43.7 inches (1,110 mm) of precipitation a year, with 45.1 inches (115 cm) of snowfall a year.^[87][90] Snowfall increases dramatically as one goes inland away from the city (especially north and west of the city)—away from the moderating influence of the ocean.^[91] Most snowfall occurs from December through March. There is usually little or no snow in April and November, and snow is rare in May and October.^[92][93]

Fog is fairly common, particularly in spring and early summer, and the occasional tropical storm or hurricane can threaten the region, especially in early autumn. Due to its situation along the North Atlantic, the city is often subjected to sea breezes, especially in the late spring, when water temperatures are still quite cold and temperatures at the coast can be more than 20 °F (11 °C) colder than a few miles inland, sometimes dropping by that amount near midday.^[94][95] Thunderstorms occur from May to September, that are occasionally severe with large hail, damaging winds and heavy downpours.^[89] Although downtown Boston has never been struck by a violent tornado, the city itself has experienced many tornado warnings. Damaging storms are more common to areas north, west, and northwest of the city.^[96]

Climate data for Boston (Logan Airport), 1981−2010 normals, extremes 1872−present
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	72 (22)	70 (21)	89 (32)	94 (34)	97 (36)	100 (38)	104 (40)	102 (39)	102 (39)	90 (32)	83 (28)	76 (24)	104 (40)
Average high °F (°C)	35.8 (2.1)	38.7 (3.7)	45.4 (7.4)	55.6 (13.1)	66.0 (18.9)	75.9 (24.4)	81.4 (27.4)	79.6 (26.4)	72.4 (22.4)	61.4 (16.3)	51.5 (10.8)	41.2 (5.1)	58.8 (14.9)
Daily mean °F (°C)	29.0 (−1.7)	31.7 (−0.2)	38.3 (3.5)	48.1 (8.9)	58.0 (14.4)	67.7 (19.8)	73.4 (23)	72.1 (22.3)	64.9 (18.3)	54.0 (12.2)	44.8 (7.1)	34.7 (1.5)	51.4 (10.8)
Average low °F (°C)	22.2 (−5.4)	24.7 (−4.1)	31.1 (−0.5)	40.6 (4.8)	49.9 (9.9)	59.5 (15.3)	65.4 (18.6)	64.6 (18.1)	57.4 (14.1)	46.5 (8.1)	38.0 (3.3)	28.2 (−2.1)	44.1 (6.7)
Record low °F (°C)	−13 (−25)	−18 (−28)	−8 (−22)	13 (−11)	31 (−1)	41 (5)	50 (10)	46 (8)	34 (1)	25 (−4)	−2 (−19)	−17 (−27)	−18 (−28)
Precipitation inches (mm)	3.36 (85.3)	3.25 (82.6)	4.32 (109.7)	3.74 (95)	3.48 (88.4)	3.68 (93.5)	3.43 (87.1)	3.29 (83.6)	3.44 (87.4)	3.94 (100.1)	3.99 (101.3)	3.78 (96)	43.7 (1,110)
Snowfall inches (cm)	14.0 (35.6)	11.3 (28.7)	7.8 (19.8)	1.9 (4.8)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1.3 (3.3)	8.8 (22.4)	45.1 (114.6)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	11.3	9.8	11.6	11.2	12.0	10.8	9.6	9.4	8.6	9.4	10.6	11.6	125.9
Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	6.8	5.3	4.2	.8	0	0	0	0	0	.1	.8	4.6	22.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours	164.3	169.5	213.9	228.0	266.6	288.0	300.7	275.9	237.0	207.7	144.0	142.6	2,638.2
Source: NOAA[97][87] HKO (sun only, 1961–1990),[90]

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1722	10,567	—
1765	15,520	+46.9%
1790	18,320	+18.0%
1800	24,937	+36.1%
1810	33,787	+35.5%
1820	43,298	+28.1%
1830	61,392	+41.8%
1840	93,383	+52.1%
1850	136,881	+46.6%
1860	177,840	+29.9%
1870	250,526	+40.9%
1880	362,839	+44.8%
1890	448,477	+23.6%
1900	560,892	+25.1%
1910	670,585	+19.6%
1920	748,060	+11.6%
1930	781,188	+4.4%
1940	770,816	−1.3%
1950	801,444	+4.0%
1960	697,197	−13.0%
1970	641,071	−8.1%
1980	562,994	−12.2%
1990	574,283	+2.0%
2000	589,141	+2.6%
2010	617,594	+4.8%
2012	636,479	+3.1%
* = population estimate. Source: United States Census records and Population Estimates Program data.[98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109]

In 2010 Boston was estimated to have 618,000 residents (a density of 12,200 persons/sq mile, or 4,700/km²) living in 272,000 housing units—^[5] a 5% population increase over 2000. Some 1.2 million persons may be within Boston's boundaries during work hours, and as many as 2 million during special events. This fluctuation of people is caused by hundreds of thousands of suburban residents who travel to the city for work, education, health care, and special events.^[110]

In the city, the population was spread out with 21.9% at age 19 and under, 14.3% from 20 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.^[111] There were 252,699 households, of which 20.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 25.5% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.0% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.08.^[111]

The median income for a household in the city was $51,739, and the median income for a family was $61,035. Full-time year-round male workers had a median income of $52,544 versus $46,540 for full-time year-round female workers. The per capita income for the city was $33,158. 21.4% of the population and 16.0% of families are below the poverty line. Of the total population, 28.8% of those under the age of 18 and 20.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.^[112]

In 1950, whites represented 94.7% of Boston's population.^[113] From the 1950s to the end of the 20th century, the proportion of non-Hispanic whites in the city declined; in 2000, non-Hispanic whites made up 49.5% of the city's population, making the city majority-minority for the first time. However, in recent years the city has experienced significant gentrification, in which affluent whites have moved into formerly non-white areas. In 2006, the US Census Bureau estimated that non-Hispanic whites again formed a slight majority. But as of 2010, in part due to the housing crash, as well as increased efforts to make more affordable housing more available, the minority population has rebounded. This may also have to do with an increased Latino population and more clarity surrounding US Census statistics, which indicate a Non-Hispanic White population of 47 percent (some reports give slightly lower figures).^{[114][115][116]}

Race/Ethnicity Composition (2010)^[6]

Race/Ethnicity	Percentage
White (includes White Hispanics)	53.9%
Black or African American	24.4%
Native American	0.4%
Asian	8.9%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.0%
Two or more races	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	17.5%
Non-Hispanic Whites	47.0%

People of Irish descent form the largest single ethnic group in the city, making up 15.8% of the population, followed by Italians, accounting for 8.3% of the population. People of West Indian ancestry are another sizable group, at 6.0%,^[117] about half of whom are of Haitian ancestry. Some neighborhoods, such as Dorchester, have received an influx of people of Vietnamese ancestry in recent decades. Neighborhoods such as Jamaica Plain and Roslindale have experienced a growing number of Dominican Americans.^[118] The city and greater area also has a large immigration population of South Asians, including the tenth-largest Indian community in the country.

The city has a sizable Jewish population with an estimated 25,000 Jews within the city and 227,000 within the Boston metro area; the number of congregations in Boston is estimated at 22.^[119][120] The adjacent communities of Brookline and Newton are both approximately one-third Jewish.^[119]

The city is the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country.^[8] Greater Boston as a commuting region^[12] is home to 7.6 million people, making it the fifth-largest Combined Statistical Area in the United States.^[9][13]

Crime

The city has seen a great reduction in violent crime since the early 1990s. Boston's low crime rate since the 1990s has been credited to the Boston Police Department's collaboration with neighborhood groups and church parishes to prevent youths from joining gangs, as well as involvement from the United States Attorney and District Attorney's offices. This helped lead in part to what has been touted as the "Boston Miracle". Murders in the city dropped from 152 in 1990 (for a murder rate of 26.5 per 100,000 people) to just 31—not one of them a juvenile—in 1999 (for a murder rate of 5.26 per 100,000).^[121]

In the 2000s, however, the annual murder count has fluctuated by as much as 50% compared with the year before, with 60 murders in 2002, followed by just 39 in 2003, 61 in 2004, and 73 in 2005. In 2008 there were 62 reported homicides.^[122] Although the figures are nowhere near the high-water mark set in 1990, the aberrations in the murder rate have been unsettling for many Bostonians and have prompted discussion over whether the Boston Police Department should reevaluate its approach to fighting crime.^{[121][122][123]}

Economy

A global city, Boston is placed among the top 30 most economically powerful cities in the world.^[124] Encompassing $363 billion, the Greater Boston metropolitan area has the sixth-largest economy in the country and 12th-largest in the world.^[125]

Boston's colleges and universities have a significant effect on the regional economy, with students contributing an estimated $4.8 billion annually to the city's economy.^[126] The area's schools are major employers and attract industries to the city and surrounding region. The city is home to a number of technology companies and is a hub for biotechnology, with the Milken Institute rating Boston as the top life sciences cluster in the country.^[127] Boston receives the highest absolute amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health of all cities in the United States.^[128] The city is also considered highly innovative for a variety of reasons that include the presence of academia, access to venture capital, and the presence of many high-tech companies.^[21][129]

Tourism comprises a large part of Boston's economy, with 21.2 million domestic and international visitors spending $8.3 billion in 2011.^[130] Because of Boston's status as a state capital and the regional home of federal agencies, law and government are another major component of the city's economy.^[2] The city is a major seaport along the United States' East Coast and the oldest continuously operated industrial and fishing port in the Western Hemisphere.^[131]

Other important industries are financial services, especially mutual funds and insurance.^[2] Boston-based Fidelity Investments helped popularize the mutual fund in the 1980s and has made Boston one of the top financial cities in the United States.^[22][132] The city is home to the headquarters of Santander Bank, and Boston is a center for venture capital firms. State Street Corporation, which specializes in asset management and custody services, is based in the city. Boston is a printing and publishing center^[133] — Houghton Mifflin is headquartered within the city, along with Bedford-St. Martin's Press and Beacon Press. Pearson PLC publishing units also employ several hundred people in Boston. The city is home to three major convention centers—the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay, and the Seaport World Trade Center and Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on the South Boston waterfront.^[134]

Several major companies headquartered within Boston or nearby—especially along Route 128,^[135] the center of the region's high-tech industry. In 2006 Boston and its metropolitan area ranked as the fourth-largest cybercity in the United States with 191,700 high-tech jobs.^[136]

Culture

Boston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the non-rhotic Eastern New England accent known as Boston English,^[137] and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood, salt, and dairy products.^[138] Irish Americans are a major influence on Boston's politics and religious institutions. Boston also has its own collection of neologisms known as Boston slang.^[139]

Several theatres are located in or near the Theater District south of Boston Common, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Citi Performing Arts Center, the Colonial Theater, and the Orpheum Theatre.^[140] Symphony Hall (located west of Back Bay) is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, (and the related Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is one of the largest youth orchestras in the nation) and the Boston Pops Orchestra, while the Boston Ballet performs at the Boston Opera House. Other performing-arts organizations located in the city include the Boston Lyric Opera Company, Opera Boston, Boston Baroque (the first permanent Baroque orchestra in the US),^[141] and the Handel and Haydn Society (one of the oldest choral companies in the United States).^[142] The city is a center for contemporary classical music with a number of performing groups, several of which are associated with the city's conservatories and universities. These include the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Boston Musica Viva.^[141]

There are several major annual events such as First Night, which occurs on New Year's Eve, the Boston Early Music Festival, the annual Boston Arts Festival at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, and Italian summer feasts in the North End honoring Catholic saints.^[143] The city is the site of several events during the Fourth of July period. They include the week-long Harborfest festivities^[144] and a Boston Pops concert accompanied by fireworks on the banks of the Charles River.^[145]

Boston is one of the birthplaces of the hardcore punk genre of music. The area's musicians have contributed significantly to this music scene over the years (see also Boston hardcore). The city's neighborhoods were home to one of the leading local third wave ska and ska punk scenes in the 1990s, led by bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Allstonians. The 1980s' hardcore punk-rock compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A. highlights some of the bands that built the genre. Several nightclubs, such as The Channel, Bunnratty's in Allston, and The Rathskeller, were renowned for showcasing both local punk-rock bands and those from farther afield. All of these clubs are closed. Many were razed or converted during recent gentrification.^[146]

Because of the city's prominent role in the American Revolution, several historic sites relating to that period are preserved as part of the Boston National Historical Park. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line of bricks embedded in the ground. The city is also home to several art museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.^[147] The Institute of Contemporary Art is housed in a contemporary building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in the Seaport District.^[148] The University of Massachusetts Boston campus on Columbia Point houses the John F. Kennedy Library. The Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States),^[149] Boston Children's Museum, Bull & Finch Pub (whose building is known from the television show Cheers),^[150] Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium are within the city.

Boston has been a noted religious center from its earliest days. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston serves nearly 300 parishes and is based in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (1875) in the South End, while the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, with the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (1819) as its episcopal seat, serves just under 200 congregations. Unitarian Universalism has its headquarters on Beacon Hill. The Christian Scientists are headquartered in Back Bay at the Mother Church (1894). The oldest church in Boston is First Church in Boston, founded in 1630.^[151] King's Chapel, the city's first Anglican church, was founded in 1686 and converted to Unitarianism in 1785. Other churches include Christ Church (better known as Old North Church, 1723), the oldest church building in the city, Trinity Church (1733), Park Street Church (1809), Old South Church (1874), Jubilee Christian Church and Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Mission Hill (1878).^[152]

Media

Newspapers

The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald are two of the city's major daily newspapers. The city is also served by other publications such as Boston magazine, The Improper Bostonian, DigBoston, and the Boston edition of Metro. The Christian Science Monitor, headquartered in Boston, was formerly a worldwide daily newspaper but ended publication of daily print editions in 2009, switching to continuous online and weekly magazine format publications.^[153] The Boston Globe also releases a teen publication to the city's public high schools, called Teens in Print or T.i.P., which is written by the city's teens and delivered quarterly within the school year.^[154]

The city's growing Latino population has given rise to a number of local and regional Spanish-language newspapers. These include El Planeta (owned by the former publisher of The Boston Phoenix), El Mundo, and La Semana. Siglo21, with its main offices in nearby Lawrence, is also widely distributed.^[155]

Various LGBT publications serve the city's large LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community such as The Rainbow Times, the only minority and lesbian-owned LGBT newsmagazine. Founded in 2006, The Rainbow Times is now based out of Boston, but serves all of New England.^[156]

Radio and television

Boston has the largest broadcasting market in New England, with the radio market being the eleventh largest in the United States.^[157] Several major AM stations include talk radio WRKO 680 AM, sports/talk station WEEI 850 AM, and CBS Radio WBZ 1030 AM.^[158] WBZ (AM) broadcasts a news radio format. A variety of FM radio formats serve the area, as do NPR stations WBUR and WGBH. College and university radio stations include WERS (Emerson), WHRB (Harvard), WUMB (UMass Boston), WMBR (MIT), WZBC (Boston College), WMFO (Tufts University), WBRS (Brandeis University), WTBU (Boston University, campus and web only), WRBB (Northeastern University) and WMLN (Curry College).

The Boston television DMA, which also includes Manchester, New Hampshire, is the seventh largest in the United States.^[159] The city is served by stations representing every major American network, including WBZ 4 and its sister station WSBK 38 (the former with CBS, the latter an MyNetwork TV affiliate), WCVB 5 (ABC), WHDH 7 (NBC), WFXT 25 (Fox), and WLVI 56 (The CW). The city is also home to PBS station WGBH 2, a major producer of PBS programs,^[160] which also operates WGBX 44. Spanish-language television networks, including MundoFox (WFXZ 24), Univision (WUNI 27), Telemundo (WNEU 60), and Telefutura (WUTF 66), have a presence in the region. Most of the area's television stations have their transmitters in nearby Needham and Newton along the Route 128 corridor.^[161]

Sports

Boston has teams in the four major North American professional sports leagues plus Major League Soccer, and has won 34 championships in these leagues, as of 2013. They are one of five cities (along with New York, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia) to have won championships in all four major sports. It has been suggested^{[162][163][164]} that Boston is the new "TitleTown, USA", as the city's professional sports teams have won eight championships since 2001: Patriots (2001, 2003, and 2004), Red Sox (2004, 2007, and 2013), Celtics (2008), and Bruins (2011). No other city has won major championships in the four current major American sports leagues in as short a time period; only New York has done so faster, in the days of the old American Basketball League.

The Boston Red Sox, a founding member of the American League of Major League Baseball in 1901, play their home games at Fenway Park, near Kenmore Square in the city's Fenway section. Built in 1912, it is the oldest sports arena or stadium in active use in the United States among the four major professional American sports leagues, encompassing Major League Baseball, the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.^[165] Boston was the site of the first game of the first modern World Series, in 1903. The series was played between the AL Champion Boston Americans and the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates.^[166][167] Persistent reports that the team was known in 1903 as the "Boston Pilgrims" appear to be unfounded.^[168] Boston's first professional baseball team was the Red Stockings, one of the charter members of the National Association in 1871, and of the National League in 1876. The team played under that name until 1883, under the name Beaneaters until 1911, and under the name Braves from 1912 until they moved to Milwaukee after the 1952 season. Since 1966 they have played in Atlanta as the Atlanta Braves.^[169] Thanks to the heritage of the Braves, Boston can legitimately claim to be the longest active professional sports city in North America, two years longer than Toronto (whose Argonauts were founded in 1873), and three longer than Chicago (whose Cubs, while founded in the same year, took a two-year hiatus following the Great Chicago Fire).

The TD Garden, formerly called the FleetCenter, is adjoined to North Station and is the home of three major league teams: the Boston Blazers of the National Lacrosse League, the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League; and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. The arena seats 18,624 for basketball games and 17,565 for ice hockey games. The Bruins were the first American member of the National Hockey League and an Original Six franchise.^[170] The Boston Celtics were founding members of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the NBA.^[171] The Celtics have the distinction of having won more championships than any other NBA team, with seventeen.^[172]

While they have played in suburban Foxborough since 1971, the New England Patriots of the National Football League were founded in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, changing their name in 1971 to better reflect its status as New England's team. The team won the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003, and 2004.^[173] They share Gillette Stadium with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. The Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer, which formed in 2009, play their home games at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville.^[174]

The area's many colleges and universities are active in college athletics. Four NCAA Division I members play their games in the city—Boston College (Atlantic Coast Conference), Boston University (Patriot League), Harvard University (Ivy League), and Northeastern University (Colonial Athletic Association). Of the four, only Boston College participates in college football at the highest level, the Football Bowl Subdivision. Harvard participates in the second-highest level, the Football Championship Subdivision. All but Harvard belong to the Hockey East conference; Harvard belongs to the ECAC in hockey. The hockey teams of these four universities meet every year in a four-team tournament known as the "Beanpot Tournament", which is played at the TD Garden over two Monday nights in February.^[175]

One of the best known sporting events in the city is the Boston Marathon, the 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in the Back Bay which is the world's oldest annual marathon,^[176] run on Patriots' Day in April. On April 15, 2013, two explosions killed three people and injured hundreds at the marathon.^[67]

Another major annual event is the Head of the Charles Regatta,^[177] held in October.

Government

Boston has a strong mayor – council government system in which the mayor (elected every fourth year) has extensive executive power. Marty Walsh became Mayor in January 2014, his predecessor Thomas Menino's twenty-year tenure having been the longest in the city's history.^[178] The Boston City Council is elected every two years; there are nine district seats, and four citywide "at-large" seats.^[179] The School Committee, which oversees the Boston Public Schools, is appointed by the mayor.^[180]

In addition to city government, numerous commissions and state authorities—including the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport)—play a role in the life of Bostonians. As the capital of Massachusetts, Boston plays a major role in state politics.

The city has several federal facilities, including the John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building, the Thomas P. O'Neill Federal Building,^[181] the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Federally, Boston is split between two congressional districts. The northern three-fourths of the city is in the 7th district, represented by Mike Capuano since 1998. The southern fourth is in the 8th district, represented by Stephen Lynch.^[182] Both are Democrats; a Republican has not represented a significant portion of Boston in over a century. The state's senior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Elizabeth Warren, first elected in 2012. The state's junior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Ed Markey, who was elected in 2013 to succeed John Kerry after Kerry's appointment and confirmation as the United States Secretary of State.

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 17, 2012[183]
Party		Number of Voters	Percentage
	Democratic	211,257	54.58%
	Republican	25,903	6.69%
	Green-Rainbow	686	0.17%
	Unaffiliated	147,813	38.19%
Total		387,040	100%

Education

Primary and secondary education

The Boston Public Schools enrolls 57,000 students attending 145 schools, including its prestigious "exam" secondary schools: Boston Latin Academy, John D. O'Bryant School of Math & Science, and Boston Latin School. The Boston Latin School, established 1635, is the oldest public high school in the US; Boston also operates the United States' second oldest public high school, and its oldest public elementary school.^[18]

The system's students are 35% Black or African American, 42% Hispanic or Latino, 13% White, and 8% Asian.^[184] There are private, parochial, and charter schools as well, and approximately 3,300 minority students attend participating suburban schools through the Metropolitan Educational Opportunity Council.^[185]

Higher education

Greater Boston has more than 100 colleges and universities, with 250,000 students enrolled in Boston and Cambridge alone.^[186] Its largest private universities include Boston University (the city's fourth-largest employer)^[187] with its main campus along Commonwealth Avenue and a medical campus in the South End; Northeastern University in the Fenway area;^[188] Suffolk University near Beacon Hill, which includes law school and business school;^[189] and Boston College, which straddles the Boston (Brighton)–Newton border.^[190] Boston's only public university is the University of Massachusetts Boston, on Columbia Point in Dorchester. Roxbury Community College and Bunker Hill Community College are the city's two public community colleges.

Smaller private schools include Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons College, Wheelock College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, New England School of Law (originally established as America's first all female law school),^[191] and Emerson College.^[192]

Boston is home to several conservatories and art schools, including Lesley University College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Art, New England Institute of Art, New England School of Art and Design (Suffolk University), and the New England Conservatory (the oldest independent conservatory in the United States).^[193] Other conservatories include the Boston Conservatory, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Berklee College of Music.^[194]

Several universities located outside Boston have a major presence in the city. Harvard University, the nation's oldest, is located across the Charles River in Cambridge. Its business and medical schools are in Boston, and there are plans for additional expansion into Boston's Allston neighborhood.^[195] The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which originated in Boston and was long known as "Boston Tech", moved across the river to Cambridge in 1916.^[196] Tufts University, whose main campus is north of the city in Somerville and Medford, administers its medical and dental school adjacent to the Tufts Medical Center, a 451-bed academic medical institution that is home to both a full-service hospital for adults and the Floating Hospital for Children.^[197]

Healthcare

The Longwood Medical and Academic Area, adjacent to the Fenway district, is a region of Boston with a concentration of medical and research facilities, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.^[198] Massachusetts General Hospital, which recently achieved the accolades of being ranked #1 in the Nation as America's Best Hospital,^[199] is near the Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital nearby. St. Elizabeth's Medical Center is in Brighton Center of the city's Brighton neighborhood. New England Baptist Hospital is in Mission Hill. The city has Veterans Affairs medical centers in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury neighborhoods.^[200] The Boston Public Health Commission, an agency of the Massachusetts government, oversees health concerns for city residents.^[201]

Many of Boston's medical facilities are associated with universities. The facilities in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area and in Massachusetts General Hospital are affiliated with Harvard Medical School.^[202] Tufts Medical Center (formerly Tufts-New England Medical Center), located in the southern portion of the Chinatown neighborhood, is affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine. Boston Medical Center, located in the South End neighborhood, is the primary teaching facility for the Boston University School of Medicine as well as the largest trauma center in the Boston area;^[203] it was formed by the merger of Boston University Hospital and Boston City Hospital, which was the first municipal hospital in the United States.^[204]

Transportation

Logan Airport, located in East Boston and operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), is Boston's principal airport.^[205] Nearby general aviation airports are Beverly Municipal Airport to the north, Hanscom Field to the west, and Norwood Memorial Airport to the south. Massport also operates several major facilities within the Port of Boston, including a cruise ship terminal and facilities to handle bulk and container cargo in South Boston, and other facilities in Charlestown and East Boston.^[206]

Downtown Boston's streets grew organically, so they do not form a planned grid,^[207] unlike those in later-developed Back Bay, East Boston, the South End, and South Boston. Boston is the eastern terminus of I-90, which in Massachusetts runs along the Massachusetts Turnpike. The elevated portion of the Central Artery, which carried most of the through traffic in downtown Boston, was replaced with the O'Neill Tunnel during the Big Dig, substantially completed in early 2006.

With nearly a third of Bostonians using public transit for their commute to work, Boston has the fifth-highest rate of public transit usage in the country.^[208] The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA—known as the "T") operates the oldest underground rapid transit system in the United States and is the fourth busiest rapid transit system in the country,^[19] with 65.5 miles (105 km) of track on four lines.^[209] The MBTA also operates busy bus and commuter rail networks, and water shuttles.^[209]

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Chicago lines originate at South Station, which serves as a major intermodal transportation hub, and stop at Back Bay. Fast Northeast Corridor trains, which serve New York City, Washington, D.C., and points in between, also stop at Route 128 Station in the southwestern suburbs of Boston.^[210] Meanwhile, Amtrak's Downeaster service to Maine originates at North Station.^[211]

Nicknamed "The Walking City", Boston hosts more pedestrian commuters than do other comparably populated cities. Owing to factors such as the compactness of the city and large student population, 13% of the population commutes by foot, making it the highest percentage of pedestrian commuters in the country out of the major American cities.^[212] In 2011, Walk Score ranked Boston the third most walkable city in the United States.^[213][214] As of 2013, Walk Score still ranks Boston as the third most walkable US city, with a Walk Score of 79, a Transit Score of 74, and a Bike Score of 68.^[215]

Between 1999 and 2006, Bicycling magazine named Boston three times as one of the worst cities in the US for cycling;^[216] regardless, it has one of the highest rates of bicycle commuting.^[217] In 2008, as a consequence of improvements made to bicycling conditions within the city, the same magazine put Boston on its "Five for the Future" list as a "Future Best City" for biking,^[218][219] and Boston's bicycle commuting percentage increased from 1% in 2000 to 2.1% in 2009.^[220] The bikeshare program called Hubway launched in late July 2011,^[221] logging more than 140,000 rides before the close of its first season.^[222] The neighboring municipalities of Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline joined the Hubway program in summer 2012.^[223]

Sister cities

Boston has eight official sister cities as recognized by Sister Cities International.^[224]

City	Country	Since	References
Kyoto  Japan	Japan	1959	[225]
Strasbourg  France	France	1960	[226][227]
Barcelona  Spain	Spain	1980	[228][229]
Hangzhou  People's Republic of China	People's Republic of China	1982	[224]
Padua  Italy	Italy	1983	[230]
Melbourne  Australia	Australia	1985	[231]
Taipei  Taiwan	Republic of China (Taiwan)	1996	[232]
Sekondi-Takoradi  Ghana	Ghana	2001	[224]

Boston has less formal friendship or partnership relationships with three additional cities.

City	Country	Since	References
Boston  UK	United Kingdom	1999	[233][234][235]
Haifa  Israel	Israel	1999	[236]
Valladolid  Spain	Spain	2007	[237]

See also

• Boston–Halifax relations
• Boston nicknames
• List of diplomatic missions in Boston
• List of people from Boston
• List of tallest buildings in Boston
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Boston, Massachusetts
• 2013 Boston Marathon bombings

Notes

References

Specific

General

• Bluestone, Barry; Stevenson, Mary Huff (2002). The Boston Renaissance: Race, Space, and Economic Change in an American Metropolis. Russell Sage Foundation. ISBN 978-1-61044-072-1. 
• Bolino, August C. (2012). Men of Massachusetts: Bay State Contributors to American Society. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4759-3376-5. 
• Christopher, Paul J. (2006). 50 Plus One Greatest Cities in the World You Should Visit. Encouragement Press, LLC. ISBN 978-1-933766-01-0. 
• Hull, Sarah (2011). The Rough Guide to Boston (6 ed.). Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4053-8247-2. 
• Kennedy, Lawrence W. (1994). Planning the City Upon a Hill: Boston Since 1630. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-0-87023-923-6. 
• Morris, Jerry (2005). The Boston Globe Guide to Boston. Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-0-7627-3430-6. 
• Vorhees, Mara (2009). Lonely Planet Boston City Guide (4 ed.). Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74179-178-5. 
• Wechter, Eric B. et al. (2009). Fodor's Boston 2009. Random House Digital, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-0699-1. 

Further reading

• Beagle, Jonathan M.; Penn, Elan (2006). Boston: A Pictorial Celebration. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4027-1977-6. 
• Brown, Robin; The Boston Globe (2009). Boston's Secret Spaces: 50 Hidden Corners In and Around the Hub (1 ed.). Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-0-7627-5062-7.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)
• Hantover, Jeffrey; King, Gilbert (2008). City in Time: Boston. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4027-3300-0. 
• O'Connor, Thomas H. (2000). Boston: A to Z. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00310-1. 
• Price, Michael; Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell (2000). Boston's immigrants, 1840–1925. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-0921-4. 
• Krieger, Alex; Cobb, David; Turner, Amy, eds. (2001). Mapping Boston. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-61173-2. 
• Seasholes, Nancy S. (2003). Gaining Ground: A History of Landmaking in Boston. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-19494-5. 
• Shand-Tucci, Douglass (1999). Built in Boston: City & Suburb, 1800–2000 (2 ed.). University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1-55849-201-1. 
• Southworth, Michael; Southworth, Susan (2008). AIA Guide to Boston, 3rd Edition: Contemporary Landmarks, Urban Design, Parks, Historic Buildings and Neighborhoods (3 ed.). Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-0-7627-4337-7. 
• Vrabel, Jim; Bostonian Society (2004). When in Boston: A Time Line & Almanac. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 978-1-55553-620-6.  Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)
• Whitehill, Walter Muir; Kennedy, Lawrence W. (2000). Boston: A Topographical History (3 ed.). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00268-5. 

External links

Find more about Boston at Wikipedia's sister projects
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks
	Travel guide from Wikivoyage
	Learning resources from Wikiversity

• Boston on the Open Directory Project
• City of Boston official website
• Historical Maps of Boston from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
• Boston Streets: Mapping Directory Data from Tufts University, with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and The Bostonian Society
• Maps of income, landfill growth, public transport, and squares from Radical Cartography
• Boston Evening Transcript, Google news archive. —PDFs of 14,086 issues, dating from 1851 to 1915.

v t e City of Boston Topics Annual events Arts Dialect Diplomatic missions Public Library Public Schools Culture Demographics Economy Education Geography Higher Education History Historic Places northern southern People Songs Skyscrapers Media Nicknames Politics Port Sister cities Sports Timeline Transportation Government Government Mayors City council City Hall Elections Police Fire Emergency (EMS) FinComm Redevelopment (BRA) Housing (BHA) Attractions Franklin Park Zoo Museum of Fine Arts Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum New England Aquarium Bunker Hill Monument Freedom Trail Fenway Park USS Constitution John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Faneuil Hall Institute of Contemporary Art Museum of Science Boston Common Paul Revere House Boston Convention and Exhibition Center Hynes Convention Center Business districts Back Bay Downtown Fenway–Kenmore Financial District Government Center Innovation District North End South End Route 128 corridor List of companies in Boston Neighborhoods Allston-Brighton Allston Brighton Back Bay Bay Village Beacon Hill Harbor Islands Charlestown Chestnut Hill Chinatown Columbia Point Dorchester Downtown Crossing East Boston Fenway–Kenmore Financial District Forest Hills Fort Point Government Center Hyde Park Jamaica Plain Leather District Longwood Mattapan Mission Hill North End Readville Roslindale Roxbury South Bay South Boston South End West End West Roxbury Suffolk County Boston-Cambridge Metro Massachusetts United States

v t e Municipalities and communities of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States County seat: Boston Cities Boston Chelsea Revere Winthrop Neighborhoods of Boston Allston Brighton Charlestown Chestnut Hill Dorchester E. Boston Hyde Park Jamaica Plain Mattapan Mission Hill Readville Roslindale Roxbury S. Boston W. Roxbury

v t e Region of Greater Boston Counties Belknap, NH Bristol, MA Bristol, RI Essex, MA Hillsborough, NH Kent, RI Merrimack, NH Middlesex, MA Newport, RI Norfolk, MA Plymouth, MA Providence, RI Rockingham, NH Strafford, NH Suffolk, MA Washington, RI Worcester, MA Major cities Boston Cities and towns 100k-250k Cambridge Lowell Manchester Providence Worcester Cities and towns 25k-100k Andover Arlington Attleboro Beverly Billerica Braintree Bridgewater Brockton Brookline Chelmsford Chelsea Concord (New Hampshire) Coventry Cranston Cumberland Danvers Dartmouth Derry Dover (New Hampshire) Dracut East Providence Everett Fall River Fitchburg Framingham Franklin Gloucester Haverhill Johnston Lawrence Leominster Lexington Lynn Malden Marlborough Marshfield Medford Melrose Merrimack (New Hampshire) Methuen Milford (Massachusetts) Milton Nashua Natick Needham New Bedford Newport Newton North Andover North Attleboro North Kingstown North Providence Norwood Pawtucket Peabody Plymouth Quincy Revere Rochester Salem (Massachusetts) Salem (New Hampshire) Saugus Shrewsbury Somerville South Kingstown Stoughton Taunton Tewksbury Wakefield Waltham Warwick Watertown Wellesley West Warwick Westwood Weymouth Woburn Woonsocket Cities and towns 10k-25k Abington Acton Acushnet Amesbury Amherst (New Hampshire) Ashland Athol Auburn Barrington Bedford (Massachusetts) Bedford (New Hampshire) Bellingham Belmont Beverly Bristol Burlington Burrillville Canton Carver Central Falls Charlton Clinton Concord (Massachusetts) Dedham Dudley Duxbury East Bridgewater East Greenwich Easton Exeter Fairhaven Foxborough Gardner Goffstown Grafton Groton Hampton Hanover Hanson Hingham Holbrook Holden Holliston Hooksett Hopkinton Hudson (Massachusetts) Hudson (New Hampshire) Hull Ipswich Kingston Laconia Lakeville Leicester Lincoln (Rhode Island) Londonderry Lunenburg Lynnfield Mansfield Marblehead Maynard Medfield Medway Middleborough Middletown Milford (New Hampshire) Millbury Narragansett Newburyport Norfolk Northborough Northbridge North Reading North Smithfield Norton Norwell Oxford Peabody Pelham Pembroke Pepperell Portsmouth (Rhode Island) Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Randolph Raymond Raynham Reading Rehoboth Rockland Scituate (Massachusetts) Scituate (Rhode Island) Seekonk Sharon Smithfield Somerset Somersworth Southbridge Stoneham Spencer Sudbury Swampscott Swansea Tiverton Tyngsborough Uxbridge Walpole Wareham Warren (Rhode Island) Wayland Webster Westborough Westerly Westford Weston Westport Whitman Wilmington Winchendon Winchester Windham Winthrop Wrentham Sub-regions Boston Proper Central Massachusetts Merrimack Valley MetroWest North Shore Rhode Island South Coast South Shore

v t e  Commonwealth of Massachusetts Boston (capital) Topics Index Administrative divisions Congressional districts Elections Geography Geology Government History Images Music People State symbols Transportation Villages Visitor attractions Windmills Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Sports Regions The Berkshires Blackstone Valley Cape Ann Cape Cod Central Massachusetts Greater Boston The Islands Merrimack Valley MetroWest Montachusett-North County North Shore Pioneer Valley Quabbin Valley Southeastern Massachusetts South Coast South County South Shore Western Massachusetts Counties Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester Cities Agawam Amesbury Attleboro Barnstable Beverly Boston Braintree Bridgewater Brockton Cambridge Chelsea Chicopee Easthampton Everett Fall River Fitchburg Franklin Gardner Gloucester Greenfield Haverhill Holyoke Lawrence Leominster Lowell Lynn Malden Marlborough Medford Melrose Methuen New Bedford Newburyport Newton North Adams Northampton Palmer Peabody Pittsfield Quincy Randolph Revere Salem Somerville Southbridge Springfield Taunton Waltham Watertown Westfield West Springfield Weymouth Winthrop Woburn Worcester Note: Municipalities not listed have a town meeting form of government (see all municipalities)

v t e Northeast megalopolis Major metropolitan areas New York city Philadelphia city Washington city Boston city Baltimore city Other cities (over 100,000) Newark Jersey City Yonkers Worcester Providence Springfield Alexandria Paterson Bridgeport Elizabeth Hartford New Haven Stamford Allentown Manchester Waterbury Cambridge Lowell

v t e New England Topics Climate Cuisine Culture Demographics Economy Elections Flag Geography Geology Government History Politics Sports States Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont Major cities Augusta Bangor Boston Bridgeport Burlington Cambridge Concord Fall River Hartford Lowell Lynn Manchester Montpelier New Bedford New Haven New London Portland Providence Quincy Springfield Stamford Waterbury Worcester State capitals Augusta Boston Concord Hartford Montpelier Providence Passenger rail MBTA (MA, RI) Northeast Corridor (CT, MA, RI) Acela Express (CT, MA, RI) Downeaster (ME, NH, MA) Vermonter (CT, MA, VT) Shore Line East (CT) Metro-North (CT) High-speed Northern New England (proposed) Airports Bradley (CT) Burlington (VT) T. F. Green (RI) Manchester–Boston (NH) Logan (MA) Portland (ME) Category Portal

v t e State capitals of the United States     AL Montgomery AK Juneau AZ Phoenix AR Little Rock CA Sacramento CO Denver CT Hartford DE Dover FL Tallahassee GA Atlanta HI Honolulu ID Boise IL Springfield IN Indianapolis IA Des Moines KS Topeka KY Frankfort LA Baton Rouge ME Augusta MD Annapolis MA Boston MI Lansing MN Saint Paul MS Jackson MO Jefferson City MT Helena NE Lincoln NV Carson City NH Concord NJ Trenton NM Santa Fe NY Albany NC Raleigh ND Bismarck OH Columbus OK Oklahoma City OR Salem PA Harrisburg RI Providence SC Columbia SD Pierre TN Nashville TX Austin UT Salt Lake City VT Montpelier VA Richmond WA Olympia WV Charleston WI Madison WY Cheyenne DC Washington1 Territories: AS Pago Pago GU Hagåtña MP Saipan PR San Juan VI Charlotte Amalie 1 Federal capital.

v t e All-America City Award: Hall of Fame Akron, Ohio Anchorage, Alaska Asheville, North Carolina Baltimore, Maryland Boston, Massachusetts Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Dayton, Ohio Des Moines, Iowa Edinburg, Texas Fayetteville, North Carolina Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Worth, Texas Gastonia, North Carolina Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Rapids, Michigan Hickory, North Carolina Independence, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri Laurinburg, North Carolina New Haven, Connecticut Peoria, Illinois Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Roanoke, Virginia Rockville, Maryland Saint Paul, Minnesota San Antonio, Texas Seward, Alaska Shreveport, Louisiana Tacoma, Washington Toledo, Ohio Tupelo, Mississippi Wichita, Kansas Worcester, Massachusetts

v t e Mayors of cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in Massachusetts     Marty Walsh (Boston) Joseph M. Petty (Worcester) Domenic Sarno (Springfield) Patrick O. Murphy (Lowell) Henrietta Davis (Cambridge) ^[a] acting Other states AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY