Neighborhoods in Boston

Neighborhoods In Boston

Boston is sometimes called a "city of neighborhoods." There are 21 designated neighborhood areas in Boston used by the city. Bostonians also have a variety of overlapping districts which they consider neighborhoods, squares, areas, etc. Many other boundaries established by the city's residential parking districts, the U.S. Postal Service, and a multitude of individual neighborhoods and neighborhood associations exist throughout the city.

"Neighborhoods" exist on both large and small scales. Brighton (including Allston), Charlestown, Dorchester (including South Boston, Mattapan, and Hyde Park), Roxbury (including West Roxbury, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain), have all at some point been municipalities independent from downtown Boston, providing a source of well-defined boundaries for the largest areas. Neighborhood associations often form around much smaller communities, or around a commercial district (often with "Square" in the name) with a well-defined center but poorly identified extremities.

Boston's leveling and expansion by landfill has influenced the naming of certain neighborhoods, such as the Back Bay, South Cove, and Fort Point. The West End, North End, and South End are no longer at those geographic extremities, due to the annexation of surrounding communities. The names originally referred to their positions on the Shawmut Peninsula, the original extent of Boston.

Further information: History of Boston, Massachusetts