**The Best Thing About Boston?** 

The wider Boston region, even if you define it conservatively, contains dozens and dozens of other towns and communities. Living “in town” (as it is called), is a patchwork of hundreds of neighborhoods all with mini-cultures and a host of shops and restaurants. They all have their tree-lined streets and parks and respites from the commotion. It doesn't take long to find your rhythm. If you can afford the rent or mortgage in Boston proper, it's got a lot of world-class stuff. You'll never tire of the scenery and there's a host of possibilities for something new every single day. Plus, the New England Autumn and some of the best healthcare hubs in the country.

You will never be bored. And neither will your kids.

**The Worst Thing About Boston?** 

It’s expensive. The median U.S. home price of around $200,000 buys about 371 square feet of residential space in Boston.  As for renting, the region is among the four or five priciest in the nation. Only if you’re coming from San Francisco, San Jose, and New York City (and maybe D.C and LA.) will Boston’s housing costs not shock you. And, it’s dense.  It's full of narrow lanes and tight fits. You don’t need a car if you live in town and nor should you want one. It’s called “The Walking City” and there’s nowhere to park.

**How You Living?** 

Some of the towns and cities—including Waltham, Sudbury, Winchester, and Stoneham—are downright pastoral, with widely spaced single-family homes amid lush yards and down long driveways. Some—including Boston proper Quincy, Medford, and Cambridge—are mostly densely urban and come with all the bustle you would expect to find in a big city.

Downtown Boston is expensive, but so are those farther-flung pastoral areas, where single-family houses with yards can quickly run into the seven figures each.

If you’re used to sizable yards and lots of elbow room, you should probably forget it. There will be crowds and unless you move to the region’s farther reaches, you will hear your neighbors from time to time.

Picking a neighborhood you like is supremely important. They are often distinct in terms of retail, parkland, and transit options and as such, the neighborhood you pick will become a neighborhood you spend a lot of time in—as opposed to many cities, where one amorphously bleeds into another.

**Neighborhoods:**

**Allston** is close to many colleges and universities in and around the City, so it’s known for its student population and twenty-something artists. In recent years though, immigrants and young professionals have moved to the area. 

**The Back Bay** is old money and new money trying to become old money. An historic district neighborhood, it’s pretty gorgeous.

**Bay Village** is a brick row house oasis. The neighborhood is surrounded by Chinatown, Back Bay, the South End. and Downtown. Bay Village features tree-lined streets and shops and restaurants. One of the smallest neighborhoods in Boston makes up for its lack of size with its atmosphere.

Boston’s **Beacon Hill** is certainly one of the city’s prettiest enclaves, though hardly a landing pad for the progressive set. Familiarize yourself with the term “Brahmins.” Also, young doctors who work at MGH and John Kerry.

**Brighton** is a peaceful neighborhood for young families and professionals. Sitting on the shores of the Charles River, Brighton has many multi-family homes and condos. 

**Charlestown** is on the north side of the City, on the banks of Boston Harbor and the Mystic River.  The neighborhood has historical roots, but it has turned into a busy, modern-day neighborhood. Lots of Boaters and the boater-adjacent and families wise enough to have snatched up townhouses back in the day.

Located along the southern edge of Downtown, Boston's **Chinatown** is a commercial and cultural hub for the City's Chinese community. The Leather District is a small neighborhood just east of Chinatown, nestled between Dewey Square and Kneeland Street. The nine distinct blocks are noted for their 19th century brick warehouse structures.

**Dorchester** is the largest neighborhood in Boston and also one of the most diverse. Long-time residents mingle together with new immigrants from Vietnam, Cape Verde, Ireland, and many other countries. A rising number of hipsters and UMass-Boston students have discovered its charms, and upcoming redevelopment suggests momentum that way.

**Downtown** has served as Boston's hub since the 1700s. Home to City Hall, numerous corporate headquarters, condos and apartments, and some of Boston’s most beloved tourist attractions — including the historic Freedom Trail and Faneuil Hall.

**East Boston** is a vibrant neighborhood featuring one of the most beautiful waterfronts in the City. Once a center for shipbuilding it has always been a neighborhood of immigrant multi-generational Eastie families. It houses the city’s largest population of foreign-born residents.You can see the diversity in the neighborhood’s many ethnic restaurants. 

**Fort Point/Seaport/Innovation District**
Not clear whether it’s still up and coming or peaked but it’s happening and it’s on the water.
It’s popular with business professionals, empty nesters who came back to the city, artists who have found a way not to get forced out.

**Kenway / Fenmore** means living in the shadow of Fenway Park and has its advantages (and one large, crowded disadvantage).  Baseball fans. BU and Emerson grads live here as well as  those mysterious folks who can afford the new luxury condos.

**Hyde Park** is Boston’s southernmost neighborhood. It has all the amenities of the city in a suburban environment. The Neponset River runs through its center. You can see the community spirit in the neighborhood’s many shops and restaurants

**Jamaica Plain** “JP” is the classic streetcar suburb that has become home to funky twenty-somethings and funky families with their funky little kids. 

**Mid-Dorchester** is a vibrant neighborhood home to diverse cultures and many immigrant-owned businesses. The city is bringing lots of new development to the area, including housing and light industrial and commercial opportunities. With the improvement of the Fairmount/ Indigo Line, there's now easy access to jobs and the downtown financial area.

**Mission Hill** offers diverse housing styles; new condos, brick row houses, and triple-decker homes make the neighborhood an architectural landmark. 

**The North End** is a hub for the City's Italian-American community. Its character is woven through the neighborhood's narrow, yet vibrant streets. The North End also boasts some of the City's best restaurants and old-world cafes. it’s become a melting pot of old-timers, Suffolk students, and young professionals.

**Roslindale Village** is the original Main Street district. There's a vibrant shopping and dining area with unique shops and bistros. Downtown is just a quick ride away on the MBTA Orange Line and Commuter Rail. Here you’ll find the Arnold Arboretum. It's a 265-acre park that’s part of Boston’s Emerald Necklace. Many of the area’s colonial homes are now condos that house the City’s growing population

**Roxbury** is a former farming community and home to the Shirley Eustis House. It’s the nation’s only remaining country house that a British Royal Colonial Governor built. Today, Roxbury is the heart of Black culture in Boston.

**South Boston (Southie)** is the stuff of The Departed and Affleck/Damon/Walhberg. Perhaps no other region in America is as stereotyped as Boston. Southie is at the heart of the gritty Irish-American stereotype. It’s an urban neighborhood of working class Irish American Catholics that Boston has become so well known for but people with money are suddenly moving in. 

**The South End** is a cosmopolitan neighborhood. It is just minutes away from Downtown and the Back Bay, and has recently become one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods. Once an urban jungle, it’s the premier spot for the hip urbane with money, and still the flagship gay mecca. It is shared with folks with cash and also people in the nearby housing projects.

**The West End** has always been an ethnically diverse and vibrant neighborhood. It’s home to prominent Boston institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital and TD Garden. With a bustling business community and a growing residential population, the West End is an up-and-coming neighborhood in Boston.

**West Roxbury** is in the southwest corner of the City of Boston. Today, people know the neighborhood for its civic activism and youth programs. West Roxbury has a suburban vibe with its tree-lined streets and single-family homes.

**The Wharf District** was formed during the “Big Dig Project”, with the demolition of the Central Artery and creation of the Greenway.

**The Squares**: Most of them are pretty easily accessible by subway but some require a bus. Some are in Boston and some are in towns on the edge of the city but regardless the great public transport here makes them all relevant choices when you're getting down to neighborhoods. 

**Harvard Square** is home to Harvard students, former Harvard students, Harvard employees, Harvard professors, 30-something professionals, and many an entrenched family.

**Inman Square** is like the rebellious young member of the Square family. The culturally diverse East Cambridge neighborhood is a treasure trove of multicolored storefronts and restaurants.  It’s home to professionals, working people, and students from nearby MIT and Harvard. With strong Brazilian and Portuguese influences, the neighborhood has a cultural flair.

**Central Square** is one of the rougher and tumbler parts of Cambridge -- some people like that. There’s a significant homeless and indigent population, so the rest of the residents are people who don’t mind that, meaning young and chill.

**Porter Square** is nestled between Davis and Harvard Squares, it’s crawling with grad students (Lesley University is headquartered here; Harvard Law School isn't terribly far) young professionals and multi-generational families. Porter is considerably dense with goods (including a Japanese Mall) and is a chowhound's playground. 

**Davis Square** is the glam part of Somerville (sort of) with Tufts students and professors, young professionals, and entrenched locals who have managed to hang onto their rentals.

**Union Square**: There’s a fast pace of new development in the neighborhood. It’s where the New York Times goes to gauge Greater Boston’s hipness quotient. Curbed calls this home to “the tattooed and mustachioed.” And writes that it houses the city’s most serious eaters and drinkers.

**Why You Should Move Here Now?** 

It’s not for the faint of heart but, the experience, if you can afford it, is a fun ride. A lifetime worth of culture, history, educated people, diversity, doctors and stuff for all ages to enjoy. 


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