City of Boston
Flag Seal
Nickname: Beantown, The Hub (of the Solar System),1 The Cradle of Liberty, City on a Hill, Athens of America
Location in Suffolk County in Massachusetts, USA
Coordinates: 42°21′28″N 71°03′42″W / 42.35778, -71.06167
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Suffolk
Settled	1630
Incorporated (city)	1822
Government
- Mayor	Thomas M. Menino (D)
Area
- City	89. A nickname is a Name of an entity or thing that is not its Proper name. Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This list of countries, arranged alphabetically The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The political units and divisions of the United States include The 50 states (four of these being officially styled as Commonwealths) which are typically The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. This is a list of Massachusetts counties, consisting of the 14 Massachusetts counties Suffolk County is a County of Massachusetts. As of 2000 the population was 689807 The Mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston Massachusetts. Thomas Michael Menino (born December 27, 1942) is the mayor of Boston Massachusetts, United States and the city's first The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status 6 sq mi (232. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. 1 km²)
- Land	48. To help compare different Orders of magnitude and geographical regions we list here areas between 100 km² and 1000 km² 4 sq mi (125. 4 km²)
- Water	41. 2 sq mi (106. 7 km²)
- Metro	4,511. 5 sq mi (11,684. 7 km²)
Elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Population (2006)[1][2]
- City	590,763
- Density	12,327/sq mi (4,815/km²)
- Urban	4,313,000
- Metro	4,455,217
- Demonym	Bostonian
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	617 / 857
FIPS code	25-07000
GNIS feature ID	0617565
1 The State House, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, is the hub of the Solar System
Website: www.cityofboston.gov

Boston (pronounced /ˈbɒstən/ (help·info)) is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large Metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place The Eastern Time Zone ( ET) of the Western Hemisphere falls mostly along the east coast of North America and the west coast of South America UTC−5 is the Time offset used in the North American Eastern Time Zone during Standard time and in the North American Central Time Zone during Daylight saving time ( DST The Eastern Time Zone ( ET) of the Western Hemisphere falls mostly along the east coast of North America and the west coast of South America UTC−4 is the Time offset used in the Atlantic Standard Time Zone in Canada in winter and the North American Eastern Time Zone during A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating Telephone number ranges to countries regions areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks Area code 617 once covered the entire Greater Boston (Eastern Massachusetts area reaching beyond the I-495 loop Area code 857 is an overlay of parts of Area code 617. It was added to create more Telephone numbers Consequently it is mainly used for Cellular phones Federal Information Processing Standards ( FIPS) are publicly announced standards developed by the United States Federal government for use by all non-military The Geographic Names Information System ( GNIS) is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout This article is about a building For the similarly-named legislative body see Massachusetts House of Representatives. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr, (August 29 1809 &ndash October 7 1894 was a Physician by profession but achieved fame as a Writer; he was one of the best The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. In countries with federal Constitutions divided into subnational entities known as states, the state capital is the administrative center The English noun commonwealth dates from the fifteenth century. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The city is located in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Suffolk County is a County of Massachusetts. As of 2000 the population was 689807 The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[3] The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the entire region. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the ^[4] The city, which had an estimated population of 590,763 in 2006, lies at the center of the Cambridge–Boston-Quincy metropolitan area—the 10th-largest metropolitan area (5th largest CSA) in the U. Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston Massachusetts. Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas|Table of United States Core Based Statistical AreasIn the United States, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB has produced Table of United States Combined Statistical AreasThe United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. S. , with a population of 4. 5 million.

In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, Shawmut Peninsula is the Promontory of land on which Boston Massachusetts was built ^[5] During the late eighteenth century Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" This article is about the 1770 incident The Boston Massacre is also used colloquially to describe portions of a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. The Boston Tea Party was an act of Direct action protest by the American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, occurred within the city and surrounding areas. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775 on Breed's Hill, as part of the Siege of Boston during the American Revolutionary Background Prior to 1775 the British had imposed taxes onto the Americans which they did not take kindly to After American independence was attained Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now attracts 16. 3 million visitors annually. ^[6][5] The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635),^[7] and first college, Harvard College (1636), in neighboring Cambridge. The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, a Private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. Boston was also home to the first subway system in the United States. A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway ^[8]

Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices One involves creating new land from sea- or riverbeds the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state (such as after In the United States, all local governments are considered "creatures of the state" according to Dillon's Rule, which resulted from the work of John Forrest Dillon With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education^[9] and a center for medicine. The city's economy is also based on research, finance, and technology – principally biotechnology. Biotechnology is Technology based on Biology, especially when used in Agriculture, Food science, and Medicine. Boston has been experiencing gentrification and has one of the highest costs of living in the United States. Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is the change in an Urban area associated with the movement of more affluent individuals into a lower-class Cost of living is the Cost of maintaining a certain Standard of living. ^[10]

History

Main article: History of Boston, Massachusetts

Boston in 1772. The history of Boston Massachusetts, intertwines with the History of the United States.

Boston was founded on September 17, 1630 by Puritan colonists from England. Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, ^[5] The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony are sometimes confused with the Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony ten years earlier in what is today Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it was an English settlement on the east coast of North America Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers (or Pilgrim Mothers) is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth Plymouth Colony (sometimes New Plymouth or The Old Colony) was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 until 1691 Bristol County is a County located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, adjacent to the state of Rhode Island. Plymouth County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts. Barnstable County is a County located in the US state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands The two groups are historically distinct and differed in religious practice. The separate colonies were not united until the formation of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691. The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony chartered October 7, 1691 in North America by William and Mary, the joint

The Shawmut peninsula was connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, and surrounded by the waters of Massachusetts Bay and the Back Bay, an estuary of the Charles River. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas Massachusetts Bay is one of the large bays of the Atlantic Ocean that form the distinctive shape of the coastline of the U An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open The Charles River is a small relatively short River in Massachusetts, USA, that separates Boston from Cambridge and Several prehistoric Native American archaeological sites excavated in the city have shown that the peninsula was inhabited as early as 5,000 BC. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States ^[11] Boston's early European settlers first called the area Trimountaine, but later renamed the town after Boston, Lincolnshire, England, from which several prominent colonists had emigrated. A large number of places in the US were named after places in England as a result of English settlers and explorers Boston ( is a town and small Port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Massachusetts Bay Colony's original governor, John Winthrop, gave a famous sermon entitled "A Model of Christian Charity," popularly known as the "City on a Hill" sermon, which captured the idea that Boston had a special covenant with God. The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it was an English settlement on the east coast of North America John Winthrop ( 12 January 1587/8 26 March 1649) led a group of English Puritans to the New World, joined City upon a hill is a phrase that is associated with John Winthrop 's Sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" given in 1630 (Winthrop also led the signing of the Cambridge Agreement, which is regarded as a key founding document of the city. The Cambridge Agreement was an agreement made on August 29, 1629, between the shareholders of the Massachusetts Bay Company. ) Puritan ethics molded a stable and well-structured society in Boston. For example, shortly after Boston's settlement, Puritans founded America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635),^[7] and America's first college, Harvard College (1636). The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, a Private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts Boston was the largest town in British North America until the mid-1700s. ^[12]

Part of current downtown Boston by its harbor.

In the 1770s, British attempts to exert more stringent control on the thirteen colonies, primarily via taxation, prompted Bostonians to initiate the American Revolution. The Thirteen Colonies were part of what became known as British America, a name that was used by Great Britain until the Treaty of Paris (1783 recognized the In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" ^[5] The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and several early battles occurred in or near the city, including the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. This article is about the 1770 incident The Boston Massacre is also used colloquially to describe portions of a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. The Boston Tea Party was an act of Direct action protest by the American colonists against the British Government in which they destroyed many The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775 on Breed's Hill, as part of the Siege of Boston during the American Revolutionary Background Prior to 1775 the British had imposed taxes onto the Americans which they did not take kindly to During this period, Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride. Paul Revere (bap December 22, 1734 ( OS) / January 1 1735 (NS &ndash May 10, 1818) was an American Silversmith

After the Revolution, Boston had become one of the world's wealthiest international trading ports due to the city's consolidated seafaring tradition – exports included rum, fish, salt, and tobacco. During this era, descendants of old Boston families became regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites; they were later dubbed the Boston Brahmins. Boston Brahmins, also called the First Families of Boston and cold roast Boston, are the class of New Englanders who claim hereditary and cultural descent In 1822, Boston was chartered as a city. ^[13]

The Embargo Act of 1807, adopted during the Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812 significantly curtailed Boston's harbor activity. The Embargo Act " was a series of laws passed by the Congress of the United States between the years 1806-1808 during the second term of President Thomas The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies 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-1800s, the city's industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance. Until the early 1900s, Boston remained one of the nation's largest manufacturing centers, and was notable for its garment production and leather goods industries. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process ^[6] A network of small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region made for easy shipment of goods and allowed for a proliferation of mills and factories. Later, a dense network of railroads facilitated the region's industry and commerce. From the mid- to late nineteenth century, Boston flourished culturally; it became renowned for its rarefied literary culture and lavish artistic patronage. It also became a center of the abolitionist movement. Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies ^[14] The city reacted strongly to the Fugitive Slave Law, which contributed to President Franklin Pierce's attempt to make an example of Boston after the Burns Fugitive Slave Case. The fugitive slave laws were laws passed by the United States Congress in 1793 and 1850 to provide for the return of slaves who escaped from one state Franklin Pierce (November 23 1804 &ndash October 8 1869 was an American politician and the fourteenth President of the United States, serving from 1853 to Burns Fugitive Slave Case ( 1854) was one of three famous fugitive slave cases arising in Boston Massachusetts, after the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law

Scollay Square in the 1880s

In the 1820s, Boston's population began to swell and the city's ethnic composition changed dramatically with the first wave of European immigrants. Government Center is a city square and plaza in Boston Massachusetts, bounded by Cambridge Court Congress and Sudbury Streets American immigration ( emigration to the United States of America) refers to the movement of non-residents to the United States. Irish immigrants dominated the first wave of newcomers during this period. By 1850, about 35,000 Irish lived in Boston. The Irish people ( Irish: Muintir na hÉireann, na hÉireannaigh, na Gaeil) are a Western European Ethnic group who originate ^[15] In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the city saw increasing numbers of Irish, Germans, Lebanese, French Canadians, and Russian and Polish Jews settle in the city. The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a Millennium. By the end of the nineteenth century, Boston's core neighborhoods had become enclaves of ethnically distinct immigrants – Italians inhabited the North End, the Irish dominated South Boston, and Russian Jews lived in the West End. Boston 's North End is the City 's oldest residential community where people have lived continuously since it was settled in the 1630s The West End of Boston Massachusetts is a neighborhood bounded generally by Cambridge Street to the south the Charles River to the west and northwest North

Irish and Italian immigrants brought with them Roman Catholicism. Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánach are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in Ireland. An Italian American is an American of Italian descent and/or dual citizenship Currently, Catholics make up Boston's largest religious community^[16] and since the early twentieth century the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics—prominent figures include the Kennedys, Tip O'Neill, and John F. Fitzgerald. The Kennedy family are a family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr ( December 9, 1912 &ndash January 5, 1994) was an American politician. For the American author John Fitzgerald see John D Fitzgerald.

Trinity Church reflected in the façade of the John Hancock Tower. For other churches with this name please see Trinity Church (disambiguation Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back

Between 1630 and 1890, the city tripled its physical size by land reclamation, by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront,^[17] a process Walter Muir Whitehill called "cutting down the hills to fill the coves. Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices One involves creating new land from sea- or riverbeds the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state (such as after Walter Muir Whitehill (1905-1978 was an author historian and the Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum from 1946 to 1973 " The largest reclamation efforts took place during the 1800s. Beginning in 1807, the crown of Beacon Hill was used to fill in a 50-acre (20 ha) mill pond that later became Haymarket Square. The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U Explanation The hectare is commonly used in most countries around the world especially in domains concerned with land planning and management such as Agriculture, Haymarket Square is an area of Boston Massachusetts, USA noted for its old style open air Markets Haymarket Square is an open-air fruit and vegetable The present-day State House sits atop this shortened Beacon Hill. This article is about a building For the similarly-named legislative body see Massachusetts House of Representatives. Reclamation projects in the middle of the century created significant parts of the South End, West End, the Financial District, and Chinatown. The West End of Boston Massachusetts is a neighborhood bounded generally by Cambridge Street to the south the Charles River to the west and northwest North The only historically Chinese area in New England, Chinatown Boston is located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. After The Great Boston Fire of 1872, workers used building rubble as landfill along the downtown waterfront. The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston 's largest urban fire and still one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history During the mid-to-late nineteenth century, workers filled almost 600 acres (2. 4 km²) of brackish Charles River marshlands west of the Boston Common with gravel brought by rail from the hills of Needham Heights. In addition, the city annexed the adjacent towns of Roxbury (1868), Dorchester (1870), Brighton, West Roxbury (including present day Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury), and Charlestown. Roxbury is a neighborhood within Boston, Massachusetts USA It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and became a Dorchester is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Brighton is a neighborhood of the City of Boston, Massachusetts, located in the northwest corner of the city Founded in 1630 (contemporaneously with Boston) West Roxbury, Massachusetts was originally part of the town of Roxbury and was mainly used as Jamaica Plain, commonly known as JP, is a historic neighborhood of 4 Charlestown is a part of the city of Boston, Massachusetts located on a peninsula north of Boston proper The last three towns were annexed in 1874. ^[18]

The first community health center in the United States was the Columbia Point Health Center in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Dorchester is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which It was opened in December 1965 and served mostly the massive Columbia Point public housing complex adjoining it. Columbia Point, now called Harbor Point, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts sits on a peninsula jutting out from the mainland It was founded by two medical doctors, Jack Geiger of Harvard University and Count Gibson of Tufts University. It is still in operation and was re-dedicated in 1990 as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center. ^[19]

The skyline of Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, home to some of the city's tallest skyscrapers, as seen from the Back Bay Fens. This list of tallest buildings in Boston ranks Skyscrapers in the U The Back Bay Fens, most commonly called simply The Fens, is a Parkland and Urban wild in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United The Prudential Tower, John Hancock Tower, 111 Huntington Avenue, and the Christian Science Center are all visible; left to right. The Prudential Tower, also known as the Prudential Building or colloquially as The Pru, is a Skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts Three different buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, have been known as the "John Hancock Building"

By the early and mid-twentieth century, the city was in decline as factories became old and obsolete, and businesses moved out of the region for cheaper labor elsewhere. ^[5] Boston responded by initiating various urban renewal projects under the direction of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which was established in 1957. Urban Renewal (similar to Urban Regeneration in British English) is a controversial U The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA is the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial developments In 1958, BRA initiated a project to improve the historic West End neighborhood. Extensive demolition garnered vociferous public opposition to the new agency. ^[20] BRA subsequently reevaluated its approach to urban renewal in its future projects, including the construction of Government Center. Government Center is a city square and plaza in Boston Massachusetts, bounded by Cambridge Court Congress and Sudbury Streets By the 1970s, the city's economy boomed after thirty years of economic downturn. Hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women's Hospital led the nation in medical innovation and patient care. Massachusetts General Hospital ( Mass General or MGH) is a Teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and a Biomedical research Both an international and regional referral center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC in Boston Massachusetts is a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH is the largest Hospital of Longwood Medical and Academic Area, in the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Schools such as Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern University attracted students to the Boston area. For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA. For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA. Northeastern University, abbreviated NU or NEU, is a private University in Boston Massachusetts. Nevertheless, the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s. Desegregation busing in the United States (also known as forced busing or busing) is the practice of attempting to integrate schools by assigning students to

The Columbia Point housing projects, built in 1953 on the Dorchester peninsula, had gone through bad times until there were only 350 families living in it in 1988. It was run down and dangerous. In 1984, the city of Boston gave control of it to a private developer, Corcoran-Mullins-Jennison, who re-developed and re-vitalised the property into an attractive residential mixed-income community called Harbor Point Apartments which was opened in 1988 and completed by 1990. It is a very significant example of revitalisation and re-development and was the first federal housing project to be converted to private, mixed-income housing in the United States.

In the early twenty-first century the city has become an intellectual, technological, and political center. It has, however, experienced a loss of regional institutions,^[21] which included the acquisition of the Boston Globe by The New York Times, and the loss to mergers and acquisitions of local financial institutions such FleetBoston Financial, which was acquired by Charlotte-based Bank of America in 2004. The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily Newspaper in Boston and in New England, FleetBoston Financial was a Boston, Massachusetts –based Bank created in 1999 by the merger of Fleet Financial Group and BankBoston Banc of America Securities Bank of America () is the largest bank by asset and second largest commercial Bank by deposits and Market capitalization in United The city also had to tackle gentrification issues and rising living expenses, with housing prices increasing sharply since the 1990s. Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is the change in an Urban area associated with the movement of more affluent individuals into a lower-class

Geography

See also: Neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts

A simulated-color satellite image of the Boston area taken on NASA's Landsat 3

The headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist in the Back Bay are dominated by a reflecting pool. Boston is sometimes called a "city of neighborhoods" because of the profusion of diverse subsections The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Landsat 3 is the third Satellite of the Landsat program. It was launched on March 5th 1978, with the primary goal of providing a global The Church of Christ Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of the book Science and Health with The tall buildings in the background are the Prudential Tower and 111 Huntington Avenue. The Prudential Tower, also known as the Prudential Building or colloquially as The Pru, is a Skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts

Owing to its early founding, Boston is very compact. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 89. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census 6 square miles (232. 1 km²)—48. 4 square miles (125. 4 km²) of it is land and 41. 2 square miles (106. 7 km²) (46. 0%) of it is water. This compares with cities of comparable population such as Denver at 154. The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States 9 square miles (401 km²) and Charlotte, North Carolina at 280. 5 square miles (726 km²). Of United States cities over 500,000 in population, only San Francisco is smaller in land area. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Boston's official elevation, as measured at Logan International Airport, is 19 feet (5. 8 m) above sea level. ^[22] The highest point in Boston is Bellevue Hill at 330 feet (101 m) above sea level, while the lowest point is at sea level. Bellevue Hill is the highest natural point in the city of Boston and Suffolk County. ^[23]

Boston is surrounded by the "Greater Boston" region, and bordered by the cities and towns of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy. Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston Massachusetts. Winthrop is a Town in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, near Boston. Somerville (pronunciation ˈsʌmərvɪl is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, is an important residential Suburb of Boston, which abuts it on the east Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States.

Much of the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods are built on reclaimed land—all of the earth from two of Boston's three original hills, the "trimount", was used as landfill material. Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices One involves creating new land from sea- or riverbeds the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state (such as after Only Beacon Hill, the smallest of the three original hills, remains partially intact; just half of its height was cut down for landfill. Other places are also named Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, covering approximately one square The downtown area and immediate surroundings consist mostly of low-rise brick or stone buildings, with many older buildings in the Federal style. Chester TownshipJPG|thumb|right|A federal style colonial home in Chester Township New Jersey]] Federal-style architecture occurred in the United States between 1780 Several of these buildings mix in with modern high-rises, notably in the Financial District, Government Center, the South Boston waterfront, and Back Bay, which 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. Government Center is a city square and plaza in Boston Massachusetts, bounded by Cambridge Court Congress and Sudbury Streets The Boston Public Library is the largest municipal public library in the United States. The Church of Christ Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of the book Science and Health with Copley Square named for the American portraitist John Singleton Copley (1738 &ndash 1815 is a public square located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts. Three different buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, have been known as the "John Hancock Building" The Prudential Tower, also known as the Prudential Building or colloquially as The Pru, is a Skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts ^[24] Near the John Hancock Tower is the old John Hancock Building with its prominent weather forecast beacon—whatever light illuminates gives an indication of weather to come: "steady blue. Three different buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, have been known as the "John Hancock Building" A weather beacon is a Beacon that indicates the local Weather forecast in a Code of colored or flashing lights clear view; flashing blue, clouds are due; steady red, rain ahead; flashing red, snow instead. " (In the summer, flashing red indicates instead that a Red Sox game has been rained out. The Boston Red Sox are a Professional baseball team based in Boston Massachusetts, and are the reigning (2007 World Series Champions. ) Smaller commercial areas are interspersed among single-family homes and wooden/brick multi-family row houses. Currently, the South End Historic District remains the largest surviving contiguous Victorian-era neighborhood in the U. S. ^[25]

Along with downtown, the geography of South Boston was particularly impacted by the Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) Project (or the "Big Dig"). The Big Dig is the unofficial name of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project ( CA/T) a Megaproject that rerouted the The Big Dig is the unofficial name of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project ( CA/T) a Megaproject that rerouted the The unstable reclaimed land in South Boston posed special problems for the project's tunnels. In the downtown area, the CA/T Project allowed for the removal of the unsightly elevated Central Artery and the incorporation of new green spaces and open areas. The Central Artery, officially the John F Fitzgerald Expressway, is a section of Freeway in downtown Boston Massachusetts, designated

Boston Common, located near the Financial District and Beacon Hill, is the oldest public park in the U. Boston Common is a central Public park in Boston, Massachusetts. S. ^[26] 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 Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Boston Common The Emerald Necklace consists of an 1100-acre chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline Massachusetts. Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American Franklin Park, which is also part of the Emerald Necklace, is the city's largest park and houses a zoo. The Emerald Necklace consists of an 1100-acre chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline Massachusetts. The Franklin Park Zoo, located in Boston Massachusetts, is one of the oldest zoos in the U ^[27] Another major park is the Esplanade located along the banks of the Charles River. An esplanade is a long open level area usually next to a river or large body of water where people may walk The Charles River is a small relatively short River in Massachusetts, USA, that separates Boston from Cambridge and 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. Castle Island is a 22 acre (89000 m² major recreation site located in South Boston on the shore of Boston Harbor, and the site of a five sided fort first built

The Charles River separates Boston proper from Cambridge, Watertown, and the neighborhood of Charlestown. To the east lies Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The Port of Boston is a major Seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston. The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and the city of Quincy and the town of Milton. The Neponset River is a River in eastern Massachusetts in the United States Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area The Mystic River separates Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett, while Chelsea Creek and Boston Harbor separate East Boston from Boston proper. The Mystic River is the name of a short river in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. ^[28]

Cityscape

Boston skyline from the north side of the Charles River.

Climate

Boston has what may basically be described as a continental climate, such as is very common in New England. Continental climate is a Climate that is characterized by Winter Temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of Snow cover each Year Summers are typically hot and humid, while winters are cold, windy and snowy. Prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore affect Boston, minimizing the influence of the Atlantic Ocean.

February in Boston has seen 70 °F (21 °C) only once in recorded history, on February 24, 1985. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The maximum temperature recorded in March was 90 °F (32 °C), on March 31, 1998. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Spring in Boston can be warm, with temperatures as high as the 90s when winds are offshore, though it is just as possible for a day in late May to remain in the lower 40s due to cool ocean waters. The hottest month is July, with an average high of 82 °F (28 °C) and average low of 66 °F (18 °C), with conditions usually humid. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 The coldest month is January, with an average high of 36 °F (2 °C) and an average low of 22 °F (-6 °C). ^[29] Periods exceeding 90 °F (32 °C) in summer and below 10 °F (−12 °C) in winter are not uncommon, but rarely prolonged. The record high temperature is 104 °F (40 °C), recorded July 4, 1911. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The record low temperature is -18 °F (-28 °C), recorded on February 9, 1934. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[30]

The city averages about 42 in (108 cm) of precipitation a year, with 40. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. 9 in (104 cm) of snowfall a year. ^[31] Snowfall increases dramatically as one goes inland away from the city and the warming influence of the ocean. ^[32] Most snowfall occurs December through March, usually with little or no snow in April and November and rare snow events in May and October. ^[33][34]

Boston's coastal location on the North Atlantic, though it moderates temperatures, also makes the city very prone to Nor'easter weather systems that can produce much snow and rain. A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below is a macro-scale Storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada. ^[35] Fog is prevalent, particularly in spring and early summer, and the occasional tropical storm or hurricane can threaten the region, especially in early autumn. A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low pressure center and numerous Thunderstorms that produce strong winds and Flooding

Demographics

Per capita income in the greater Boston area, by U. S. Census block group, 2000. The dashed line shows the boundary of the city of Boston.

According to the census^[37] of 2000, there were 589,141 people, (the population estimate of 2006 was 596,638 people),^[38] 239,528 households, and 115,212 families residing in the city. The United States Census is a decennial Census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population density was 12,166 people per square mile (4,697/km²). Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume Of major US cities,^[39] only New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago have a greater population density than Boston. The City of New York The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. ^[40] There were 251,935 housing units at an average density of 5,203 per square mile (2,009/km²).

However, the population of Boston can grow during the daytime to about 1. 2 million. This fluctuation of people is caused by suburban residents traveling to the city for work, education, medical purposes, and special events. ^[41]

According to the 2000 census, the racial makeup of the city was 49% Non-Hispanic White, 25% African American or Black, 8% Asian American, 1% Native American, 4% from other races, and 3% from two or more races. White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The term black people usually refers to a racial group of Humans with dark Skin color, but the term has also been used to categorise a number of diverse Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry. They include sub-ethnic groups such as Chinese Americans Filipino Americans Indian Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States 14% of the population was Hispanic or Latino who can be of any race. Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans of Hispanic or Latino descent, which comprises ancestry or origins in Hispanic America

According to a 2006 estimate, the White population comprises 53. 5% of the population, while Hispanics make up 15. 5%. ^[42] People of Irish descent form the largest single ethnic group in the city, making up 15. The Irish people ( Irish: Muintir na hÉireann, na hÉireannaigh, na Gaeil) are a Western European Ethnic group who originate The ancestry of the people of the United States is widely varied and includes descendants of Populations from around the World, some presumably extinct 8% of the population, followed by Italians, accounting for 8. The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging 3% of the population. People of West Indian ancestry are another sizeable group, at 6. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting 4%,^[43] about half of whom are of Haitian ancestry. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: Some neighborhoods, such as Dorchester, have received an influx of Vietnamese residents in recent decades. A Vietnamese American (người Mỹ gốc Việt is a resident of the United States who is of Vietnamese heritage Neighborhoods such as Jamaica Plain and Roslindale have experienced a growing number of Dominican Americans. A Dominican American (also Dominican-York) is an American who has ancestry from the Dominican Republic (not to be mistaken for Dominicans from the Commonwealth

There were 239,528 households, out of which 22. 7% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 27. 4% were married couples living together, 16. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** 4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51. 9% were non-families. 37. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2. 31 and the average family size was 3. 17. ^[44]

In the city the population was spread out with 19. 8% under the age of 18, 16. 2% from 18 to 24, 35. 8% from 25 to 44, 17. 8% from 45 to 64, and 10. 4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 92. 8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90. 2 males. ^[44]

The median income for a household in the city was $39,629, and the median income for a family was $44,151. In Probability theory and Statistics, a median is described as the number separating the higher half of a sample a population or a Probability distribution Males had a median income of $37,435 versus $32,421 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,353. Per capita income means how much each individual receives in monetary terms of the yearly income generated in the country 19. 5% of the population and 15. 3% of families are below the poverty line. The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of Income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate Standard of living in a given country Out of the total population, 25. 6% of those under the age of 18 and 18. 2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. ^[45]

Government

See also: List of Mayors of Boston, Boston Fire Department, Boston Emergency Medical Services, and Boston Finance Commission

Boston has a strong mayor system in which the mayor is vested with extensive executive powers. The Mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston Massachusetts. The Boston Fire Department ( BFD) provides fire protection services for Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Boston Emergency Medical Services ( Boston EMS) provides Advanced life support (ALS and Ambulance transport for the city of Boston, Massachusetts The Boston Finance Commission (FinComm is an agency that monitors finances for the city of Boston. The Mayor-Council government system sometimes called the Mayor-Commission government system is one of two variations of Government used for the most part in modern A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government The mayor is elected to a four-year term by plurality voting. The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member The city council is elected every two years. There are nine district seats, each elected by the residents of that district through plurality voting, and four at-large seats. Each voter casts up to four votes for at-large councilors, with no more than one vote per candidate. The candidates with the four highest vote totals are elected. The president of the city council is elected by the councilors from within themselves. The school committee for the Boston Public Schools is appointed by the mayor. Leadership The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the Boston School Committee a seven-member school board appointed by the Mayor after approval by a nominating ^[46] The Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Zoning Board of Appeals (a seven-person body appointed by the mayor) share responsibility for land-use planning. The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA is the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial developments ^[47]

Massachusetts State House designed by Charles Bulfinch

In addition to city government, numerous state authorities and commissions play a role in the life of Bostonians, including the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). This article is about a building For the similarly-named legislative body see Massachusetts House of Representatives. Charles Bulfinch ( August 8 1763 – April 15 1844) was an early American Architect, and has been regarded by many The Department of Conservation and Recreation ( DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Port Authority, or Massport, is a Port district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As the capital of Massachusetts, Boston plays a major role in state politics. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The city has several properties relating to the United States federal government, including the John F. The federal government of the United States is the central United States Governmental body established by the United States Constitution. Kennedy Federal Office Building and the Thomas P. O'Neill Federal Building. ^[48] The city also serves as the home of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, as well as the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (the First District of the Federal Reserve). The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is a federal court with Appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA This article is under the building's alternate name For a complete article please see Federal Reserve Bank Building (Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly The city is in the Eighth and Ninth Congressional districts. A congressional district is an electoral Constituency that elects a single member of a Congress. ^[49]

Crime

The city has seen a great reduction in violent crime since the early 1990s. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Boston's low crime rate in the last years of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first has been credited to its 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. The Boston Police Department ( BPD) has the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston Massachusetts. United States Attorneys (also known as federal prosecutors) represent the United States federal government in United States district court and A district attorney (DA is in some US jurisdictions the title of the local public official who represents the government in the prosecution of alleged criminals 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). In more recent years, however, the annual murder count has fluctuated by as much as 50% compared to the year before, with 60 murders in 2002, followed by just 39 in 2003, 64 in 2004, and 75 in 2005. Though 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. ^[50][51][52]

Economy

See also: Major companies in Greater Boston

Hyatt in downtown Boston

Boston's colleges and universities have a major impact on the city and region's economy. Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston Massachusetts. Not only are they major employers, but they also attract high-tech industries to the city and surrounding region, including computer hardware and software companies as well as biotechnology companies like Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co., Millipore, Genzyme, and Biogen Idec. Biotechnology is Technology based on Biology, especially when used in Agriculture, Food science, and Medicine. Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc The Takeda Oncology Company is a biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Merck & Co Inc ( also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the USA and Canada, is one of the largest Pharmaceutical companies Genzyme Corporation ( is a biotechnology company based in Cambridge Massachusetts. Biogen Idec Inc ( is a Biotechnology company specializing in drugs for neurological disorders, Autoimmune disorders and Cancer. According to a 2003 report by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, students enrolled in Boston's colleges and universities contribute $4. 8 billion annually to the city's economy. ^[53] Boston also receives the highest amount of annual funding from the National Institutes of Health of all cities in the United States. "NIH" redirects here For other meanings of NIH see NIH (disambiguation. ^[54]

Data from City-Data. com^[55]

Tourism comprises a large part of Boston's economy. In 2004 tourists spent $7. 9 billion and made the city one of the ten most popular tourist locations in the country. ^[6] Other important industries include financial services, especially mutual funds and insurance. Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investments that pools money from many investors and Invests it in Stocks bonds, Insurance, in Law and Economics, is a form of Risk management primarily used to hedge against the Risk of a contingent loss ^[6] 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. Fidelity Investments is a provider of investment products and services The city is also the regional headquarters of major banks such as Bank of America and Sovereign Bank, and a center for venture capital. Banc of America Securities Bank of America () is the largest bank by asset and second largest commercial Bank by deposits and Market capitalization in United Sovereign Bank ( is the 19th-largest Banking institution in the United States. Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is a type of Private equity capital typically provided to immature high-potential growth companies State Street Corporation, which specializes in asset management and custody services, is headquartered in the city. Boston is also a printing and publishing center – Houghton Mifflin is headquartered within the city, along with Bedford-St. Martin's Press, Beacon Press, and Little, Brown and Company. Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational Publisher in the United States. Bedford/St Martin's is a United States publishing company specializing in college Humanities Textbooks Bedford/St Little Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner James Brown. Pearson PLC publishing units also employ several hundred people in Boston. Pearson plc () is a London -based media conglomerate. It is the largest book Publisher in the UK, India, Australia The city is home to four major convention centers: the Hynes Convention Center in the Back Bay, the Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester, and the World Trade Center Boston and Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on the South Boston waterfront. Conference centre redirects here For the conference facility in Salt Lake City Utah that is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day The John B Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center located in Boston 's Back Bay has of exhibit space and can accommodate up to four concurrent events The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC is the largest exhibition center in the Northeast United States, with some 516000 square feet (about 4 Because of its status as a state capital and the regional home of federal agencies, law and government is another major component of the city's economy. ^[6]

Major companies headquartered within the city include the Liberty Mutual insurance company, Gillette (now owned by Procter & Gamble), and Teradyne, one of the world's leading manufacturers of semiconductor and other electronic test equipment. Liberty Mutual Group (LMG Liberty Liberty Mutual is an American Insurance company. Procter & Gamble Co ( P&G,) is a Fortune 500, American global corporation based in Cincinnati Ohio, that manufactures a wide Teradyne, a US company is a supplier of Automatic test equipment (ATE New Balance has its headquarters in the city. New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc ( NBAS) is a Footwear manufacturer based in Boston Massachusetts. Boston is also home to management consulting firms The Boston Consulting Group, Monitor Group, and Bain & Company, as well as the private equity group Bain Capital. Management consulting refers to both the industry of and the practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing business problems “BCG” redirects here For other uses see BCG (disambiguation. Monitor Group is a privately-owned global Management consulting firm Bain & Company is a Management consulting firm headquartered in Boston Massachusetts. ^[56] Other major companies are located outside the city, especially along Route 128. Route 128, also known as the Yankee Division Highway (for the 26th Infantry Division) and originally the Circumferential Highway, is a partial ^[57] The Port of Boston is a major seaport along the United States' East Coast, and is also the oldest continuously-operated industrial and fishing port in the Western Hemisphere. The Port of Boston is a major Seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston. For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies West ^[58] Boston is classified as a "Gamma world city" by a study group at Loughborough University in England. Loughborough University is a Campus university located in the Market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands

Education

See also: List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston

Partial map of colleges and universities within Boston's Inner Core

Boston's reputation as the Athens of America derives in large part from the teaching and research activities of more than 100 colleges and universities located in the Greater Boston Area,^[59] with more than 250,000 students attending college in Boston and Cambridge alone. Colleges and Universities in metropolitan Boston include City of Boston Four-year colleges and graduate universities Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston Massachusetts. ^[9] Within the city, Boston University exudes a large presence as the city's fourth-largest employer,^[60] and maintains a campus along the Charles River on Commonwealth Avenue and its medical campus in the South End. For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA. Commonwealth Avenue (colloquially referred to as Comm Ave by locals the latter word pronounced in the same manner as "have" is a major street in the cities of Northeastern University, another large private university, is located in the Fenway area, and is particularly known for its Business and Health Science schools and cooperative education program. Northeastern University, abbreviated NU or NEU, is a private University in Boston Massachusetts. Fenway-Kenmore is an area of Boston, Massachusetts. While it can be considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes in reality it is composed of numerous Wheelock College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Simmons College, Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Wentworth Institute of Technology, founding members of the Colleges of the Fenway, are adjacent to Northeastern University. Wheelock College is an institution of higher learning located in Boston Massachusetts. Massachusetts College of Art and Design (also known as MassArt) is a publicly funded college of visual and Applied art, founded in 1873 Simmons College is a liberal arts women's college in Boston Massachusetts. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences ( MCPHS) is an accredited private institution providing traditional and non-traditional programs of study focusing on professional Wentworth Institute of Technology is a design and engineering college located in Boston Massachusetts. The Colleges of the Fenway consortium include Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Suffolk University, a small private university known for its law school, maintains a campus on Beacon Hill. Suffolk University is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, situated on Beacon Hill. Suffolk University Law School is a private law school in downtown Boston Massachusetts, United States. New England School of Law, a small private law school located in the theater district, was originally established as America's only all female law school. The New England School of Law (NESL is located in Boston Massachusetts in the theater district ^[61] Emerson College, a small private college with a strong reputation in the fields of performing arts, journalism, writing, and film, is located nearby on Boston Common. Emerson College is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts that focuses on "communication and the arts" Boston College, whose original campus was located in South Boston, moved its campus west to a site that straddles the Boston(Brighton)-Newton border. For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA. Boston College is expanding further into the Brighton neighborhood following the purchase of adjacent land from the Boston Catholic Archdiocese. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston ( Latin: Archidioecesis Bostoniensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church ^[62]

Harvard Yard, Cambridge, heart of the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, Harvard University, and located just across the Charles River from the Allston neighborhood of Boston. Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Charles River is a small relatively short River in Massachusetts, USA, that separates Boston from Cambridge and Allston is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, USA, located in the western part of the city

Boston is also home to several conservatories and art schools, including the Art Institute of Boston, Massachusetts College of Art, and the New England Conservatory of Music (the oldest independent conservatory in the United States). A university school of music or college of music, or academy of music or conservatoire ( French, but used in British English) &mdash The Art Institute of Boston (AIB is a private non-profit art school in Boston Massachusetts, and a part of Lesley University. Massachusetts College of Art and Design (also known as MassArt) is a publicly funded college of visual and Applied art, founded in 1873 ^[63] Other conservatories include the Boston Conservatory, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Berklee College of Music. BoCo is a nickname for the Boston Conservatory for other uses see Boco (disambiguation. The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (also known as the Museum School or SMFA) is an undergraduate and graduate College located in Berklee College of Music, founded in 1945 is an independent music College in Boston Massachusetts. Boston has one major public university, the University of Massachusetts Boston, located on Columbia Point in Dorchester, while Roxbury Community College and Bunker Hill Community College are the city's two community colleges. The University of Massachusetts Boston is a major coeducational public research university located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dorchester is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Bunker Hill Community College is a two-year college located in Charlestown Massachusetts, which is a neighborhood of Boston.

Several major national universities located outside Boston have a major presence in the city. Harvard University, the nation's oldest, and arguably best known, institution of higher learning, is located across the Charles River in Cambridge. Cambridge Massachusetts is a City in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. The business and medical schools are in Boston, and there are plans for additional expansion into Boston's Allston neighborhood. Harvard Business School ( HBS) is a renowned Business school in the United States Harvard Medical School ( HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University and currently the #1 medical school in America as ranked by U Allston is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, USA, located in the western part of the city ^[64] 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. The history of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spans almost 150 years since it was founded in 1861 Tufts University 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. Tufts Medical Center (until recently Tufts-New England Medical Center) is a medical institution in Boston Massachusetts occupying space between Chinatown Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, is the only evangelical Christian college in metropolitan Boston and is active in Christian ministry in the City of Boston. Eastern Nazarene College ( ENC) is a college of the liberal arts and sciences in Quincy, Massachusetts. Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Evangelicalism is a theological movement tradition and system of beliefs most closely associated with Protestant Christianity, which identifies with the Gospel In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform clergy functions such as teaching of beliefs ^[65]

Boston Public Schools, the oldest public school system in the U. Leadership The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the Boston School Committee a seven-member school board appointed by the Mayor after approval by a nominating S. , enrolls 57,000 students from kindergarten to grade 12. ( German, literally means "children's garden" is a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling ^[7] The system operates 145 schools, which includes Boston Latin School (the oldest public school in the United States, established in 1635; which, along with Boston Latin Academy, is a highly prestigious public exam school admitting students in the 7th and 9th grades only and serving grades 7–12), English High (the oldest public high school, established 1821), and the Mather School (the oldest public elementary school, established in 1639). The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts, making it the Boston Latin Academy is a Public Exam school school in the Boston Public School system for students from 7th to 12th grade The English High School of Boston Massachusetts is a high school that was founded in 1821. High school is the name used in some parts of the world (in particular Scotland, North America and Australia) to describe an institution The Mather School is the oldest public elementary school in North America. ^[7] The city also has private, parochial, and charter schools. Charter schools are elementary or secondary schools in the United States that receive public money but 3000 students of racial minorities attend participating suburban schools through the Metropolitan Educational Opportunity Council, or METCO. METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity is a Boston -based program operated and funded by the Department of Education (MA DOE of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts In 2002, Forbes Magazine ranked the Boston Public Schools as the best large city school system in the country, with a graduation rate of 82%. Forbes is an American Publishing and media company Its flagship publication Forbes magazine is published bi-weekly ^[66] In 2005, the student population within the school system was 45. 5% Black or African American, 31. 2% Hispanic or Latino, 14% White, and 9% Asian, as compared with 24%, 14%, 49%, and 8% respectively for the city as a whole. ^[67][68]

Culture

Main article: Culture in Boston, Massachusetts

See also: Sites of interest in Boston, Massachusetts

See also: List of Registered Historic Places in Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Quincy Market designed by Alexander Parris

Boston shares many cultural roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the non-rhotic Eastern New England accent known as Boston English, and a regional cuisine with a large emphasis on seafood, rum, salt, and dairy products. The Culture of Boston Massachusetts, shares many roots with greater New England, including a dialect of the Eastern New England accent popularly The following is a list of sites of interest in Boston Massachusetts. List of Registered Historic Places in Suffolk County Massachusetts: Boston Charlestown Quincy Market is a historic building in a shopping center called Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston Massachusetts. Alexander Parris ( November 24, 1780 - June 16, 1852) was a prominent American Architect - Engineer. English pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups the rhotic (ˈroʊtɪk and non-rhotic, depending on when the sound typically represented Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. The Boston accent is found not only in the city of Boston Massachusetts itself but also much of eastern Massachusetts New England cuisine is a type of American cuisine found in New England, in the northeastern region of the United States. Irish Americans are a major influence on Boston's politics and religious institutions. Irish Americans (Gael-Mheiriceánach are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in Ireland. Boston also has its own collection of neologisms known as Boston slang. A neologism (from Greek neo = "new" + logos = "word" is a word that although devised relatively recently in a specific time period has been

Many consider Boston to have a strong sense of cultural identity, perhaps as a result of its intellectual reputation; much of Boston's culture originates at its universities. ^[69] The city has several ornate theatres, including the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston Opera House, Citi Performing Arts Center, and the Orpheum Theatre. The Cutler Majestic Theatre at Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, is a 1903 " Beaux Arts " style theater designed by the The first Boston Opera House was built in 1909 on Huntington Ave Citi Performing Arts Center, formerly the Wang Center for the Performing Arts, is located in Boston Massachusetts, USA. Renowned performing arts organizations include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Ballet, Boston Pops, Celebrity Series of Boston, Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Lyric Opera Company, OperaBoston, Emmanuel Music, and the Handel and Haydn Society (one of the oldest choral companies in the United States). The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based at Symphony Hall in Boston Massachusetts, USA The Boston Ballet is a professional Ballet company based in Boston Massachusetts. The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded in 1885 as a subsection of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO founded four years earlier The Celebrity Series of Boston is a non-profit performing arts presenter established in Boston Massachusetts by Boston Impresario Aaron Richmond The Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF is a music festival held every two years in Boston, Massachusetts USA for all people interested in historical music performance Boston Lyric Opera (BLO is New England’s favorite opera company Emmanuel Music is a Boston-based collective group of singers and instrumentalists founded in 1970 by Craig Smith The Handel and Haydn Society is a chorus and period instrument orchestra in the city of Boston Massachusetts. ^[70] There are also many major annual events such as First Night, which occurs during New Year's Eve, Italian summer feasts in the North End honoring Catholic saints, and several events during the Fourth of July. For "the law of the first night" see Droit de seigneur First Night is an outdoor artistic and cultural celebration on New Year's New Year's Eve is on December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year and the day before New Year's Day. In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July (or the Fourth) is a Federal holiday commemorating the adoption These events include the week-long Harborfest festivities^[71] and a Boston Pops concert accompanied by fireworks on the banks of the Charles River. The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded in 1885 as a subsection of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO founded four years earlier The Charles River is a small relatively short River in Massachusetts, USA, that separates Boston from Cambridge and ^[72]

Symphony Hall designed by McKim, Mead, and White. Symphony Hall in Boston Massachusetts is widely considered to be one of the two or three finest Concert halls in the world alongside Amsterdam's Concertgebouw McKim Mead and White was a prominent architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century

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. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The Boston National Historical Park is an association of sites that showcase Boston 's role in the American Revolution. Many are found along the Freedom Trail, which is marked by a red line or bricks embedded in the ground. The Freedom Trail is a red (mostly brick path through downtown Boston Massachusetts which leads to sixteen significant historic sites The city is also home to several prominent art museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States attracting over one million visitors a year The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court is a Museum in Boston, Massachusetts with a collection of over 2500 works of European In December 2006 the Institute of Contemporary Art moved from its Back Bay location to a new contemporary building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro located in the Seaport District. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA is an Art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, in the U Ica exterior institute contemporary art bostonjpg|thumb|250px|Exterior shot of the ICA Institute of Contemporary Art Boston September 2 2007]] Diller Scofidio + Renfro is a New York The University of Massachusetts campus at Columbia Point houses the John F. Kennedy Library. The University of Massachusetts (officially nicknamed UMass) is the five-campus public university system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the Presidential library and Museum of the 35th President of the United States, John F The Boston Athenaeum (one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States),^[73] Boston Children's Museum, Bull & Finch Pub (whose building is known from the television show Cheers), Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium are within the city. Boston Athenæum is an independent Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston Children's Museum is a Children's museum in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the education of children The Bull & Finch Pub is a bar / restaurant located on Beacon Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, across from the Boston Public Garden Cheers is an American Situation comedy television series that ran eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993 The Museum of Science ( MoS) is a Boston Massachusetts landmark located in Science Park a plot of land spanning the Charles River. The New England Aquarium, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is one of the most prominent and popular public aquariums in the United States

Boston is also one of the birthplaces of the hardcore punk genre of music. Hardcore punk (now usually referred to as simply hardcore) is a subgenre of Punk rock that originated in North America in the late 1970s Boston musicians have contributed greatly to this music scene over the years (see also Boston hardcore). Boston Hardcore is the influential Hardcore punk scene of Boston Massachusetts. Boston 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, The Allstonians, Skavoovie and the Epitones, and the Dropkick Murphys. Third wave ska is a Music genre that was a revival of Jamaican Ska with various additional American and British styles of music such Ska punk is a fusion Music genre that combines Ska and Punk rock. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a Ska-core band from Boston, Massachusetts. The Allstonians are a third-wave Reggae / Ska music group formed in Allston Massachusetts in 1992. Skavoovie and the Epitones is a ten piece Third wave ska band that formed in Newton, Massachusetts in 1994 Dropkick Murphys are a Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, U The 1980s hardcore punk rock compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A. highlights some of the bands that built the genre. This Is Boston Not LA is a Hardcore punk Compilation album released in 1982. 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. The Channel was a Boston music venue that was part of the underground arts community of south Boston (known as Fort Point Allston is a neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, USA, located in the western part of the city The Rathskeller (known as The Rat for short was a Kenmore Square Live music venue in Boston Massachusetts that opened in 1974 All of these clubs are now closed, and in many cases razed during recent gentrification. ^[74]

Media

Main article: Media in Boston, Massachusetts

Copley Square with the Boston Public Library designed by Charles Follen McKim on the left, and Old South Church designed by Charles Amos Cummings on the right. The following is a list of media companies located and/or serving Boston Massachusetts: Newspapers Daily The Boston Globe, Copley Square named for the American portraitist John Singleton Copley (1738 &ndash 1815 is a public square located in the Back Bay neighborhood of The Boston Public Library is the largest municipal public library in the United States. Charles Follen McKim ( August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was one of the most prominent American Beaux-Arts Architects Old South Church, more formally Old South Church in Boston and sometimes New Old South Church, was completed in 1873 on newly filled land in the Back Bay Charles Amos Cummings (1823&ndash1911 nineteenth century American architect and architectural historian who worked primarily in the Venetian Gothic style

The Boston Globe (owned by The New York Times Company) and the Boston Herald are Boston's two major daily newspapers. The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily Newspaper in Boston and in New England, The New York Times Company ( is an American media company It is The Boston Herald is a Tabloid -format Daily newspaper, the smaller of the two big dailies in Boston Massachusetts, United States A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint. The Christian Science Monitor, a third daily, is edited in Boston and printed in a series of regional presses across the U. The Christian Science Monitor (CSM is an international Newspaper published daily Monday through Friday S. The city is also served by other publications such as The Boston Phoenix, Boston magazine, The Improper Bostonian, Boston's Weekly Dig, and the Boston edition of Metro. The Phoenix is the name of several Alternative weekly Newspapers published by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston Boston magazine is a Monthly Magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication for more than 40 years The Improper Bostonian is a glossy lifestyle guide for the city of Boston. Boston's Weekly Dig sometimes just called the Weekly Dig or even just the Dig is a free Alternative newsweekly Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the Metro newspapers The Boston Globe also releases a teen publication to the city's public high schools. The newspaper Teens in Print or T. i. P. is written by the city's teens and delivered quarterly within the school year. ^[75]

Boston has the largest broadcasting market in New England, with the Boston radio market being the eleventh largest in the United States. ^[76] Several major AM stations include talk radio WRKO 680 AM, sports/talk station WEEI 850 AM, and news radio WBZ 1030 AM. Amplitude modulation ( AM) is a technique used in electronic communication most commonly for transmitting information via a Radio Carrier wave Talk radio is a Radio format containing discussion about topical issues WRKO (680 AM) is a Radio station based in Boston Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a Radio format devoted entirely to Discussion and Broadcasting of sporting events. WEEI is a sports Radio station in Boston Massachusetts that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham Massachusetts. WBZ is the callsign for an AM Radio station in Boston Massachusetts which is owned by CBS Radio (formerly Infinity Broadcasting A variety of FM radio formats serve the area, as do NPR stations WBUR and WGBH. This article is about Broadcast radio, for other uses see Radio (disambiguation. WBUR refers to one of two stations in Massachusetts WBUR AM and FM both owned by Boston University. WGBH-TV WGBH (897 FM MHz) is a Public radio station located in Boston Massachusetts. College and university radio stations include WERS (Emerson), WHRB (Harvard), WUMB (UMass Boston), WMBR (M. WERS (889 FM is one of Emerson College 's two radio stations (the other being campus radio station WECB) located in Boston, Massachusetts WHRB is a commercial FM radio station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. WUMB-FM (919 FM) in Boston Massachusetts) is the Radio station of University of Massachusetts Boston, and broadcasts an Adult album alternative WMBR is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT–run student broadcasting station licensed in Cambridge Massachusetts and broadcasting on 88 I. T. ), WZBC (Boston College), WMFO (Tufts University), WBRS (Brandeis University), WTBU (Boston University, campus and web only), and WRBB (Northeastern University). WZBC (903 FM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Alternative format WMFO (915 FM) is a Radio station licensed to Medford Massachusetts, USA WBRS is a student-run community and College radio station in Waltham Massachusetts, west of Boston. WTBU (640 AM 893 FM is a student-run Part 15 radio station at Boston University.

The Boston television DMA, which also includes Manchester, New Hampshire, is the seventh largest in the United States. A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area, DMA or simply market is a region where the Population Manchester is the largest city in the US state of New Hampshire and the largest city of northern New England, an area composed of Vermont, ^[77] The city is served by stations representing every major American network including WBZ 4 (CBS), WCVB 5 (ABC), WHDH 7 (NBC), WFXT 25 (Fox), WUNI 27 (Univision), and WLVI 56 (The CW). In the United States, for most of the history of broadcasting there were only three or four major national broadcasting networks WBZ-TV, channel 4 is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Boston Massachusetts. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's WFXT, channel 25 is an Owned-and-operated station of the News Corporation -owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Boston Massachusetts. WUNI channel 27 is the Univision Television affiliate for the Greater Boston market Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States and Puerto Rico. WLVI-TV, channel 56 is a CW Television Network affiliate licensed to Cambridge Massachusetts, and serving the Boston Massachusetts television market The CW Television Network ( The CW) is a Television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006-2007 television season. Boston is also home to PBS station WGBH 2, a major producer of PBS programs, which also operates WGBX 44. The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) is a Non-profit Public broadcasting Television service with 354 member TV stations in the For the radio station specifically see WGBH (FM. WGBH is a non-commercial Television and Radio broadcast service located in Boston WGBX-TV ('GBH 44 is a Public television station located in Boston Massachusetts. Most Boston television stations have their transmitters in nearby Needham and Newton. Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, is an important residential Suburb of Boston, which abuts it on the east ^[78]

Sports

Prudential Tower lit up for the 2007 World Series. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation.

Main article: Sports in Boston

The Boston Red Sox are a founding member of the American League of Major League Baseball and are the 2007 World Series champions. Boston Massachusetts, is home to several major league sports teams including the Boston Red Sox ( Baseball) Boston Celtics ( Basketball) and The Boston Red Sox are a Professional baseball team based in Boston Massachusetts, and are the reigning (2007 World Series Champions. The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League ( AL) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in The 2007 World Series, the 103rd edition of Major League Baseball 's championship series, began on Wednesday October 24 and ended on Sunday October The team plays its home games at Fenway Park, near Kenmore Square in the Fenway section. Kenmore Square is a square in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, consisting of the intersection of several main avenues (including Fenway-Kenmore is an area of Boston, Massachusetts. While it can be considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes in reality it is composed of numerous Built in 1912, it is the oldest sports arena or stadium in active use in the United States among the four major professional sports. Boston was also the site of the first game of the first modern World Series, in 1903. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The series was played between the Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ^[79] Persistent reports that the team was known in 1903 as the "Boston Pilgrims" appear to be unfounded. ^[80] The Boston Braves were Boston's NL team (1871-1953) until they moved to Milwaukee in 1953, then later Atlanta in 1966 where they currently play as the Atlanta Braves.

The TD Banknorth Garden (formerly called the Fleet Center, and the Shawmut Center) is adjoined to North Station and is the home of two major league teams: the Boston Bruins ice hockey team of the National Hockey League and the Boston Celtics basketball team of the National Basketball Association. TD Banknorth Garden is a sports Arena in Boston Massachusetts. North Station, located at Causeway and Nashua Streets in Boston Massachusetts is a major transportation hub The Boston Bruins are a professional Ice hockey team based in Boston Massachusetts. Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America The Boston Celtics are an American professional Basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, playing in the Atlantic Division of the Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m The Bruins were the first American member of the National Hockey League and an Original Six franchise. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America For the first ships of the United States Navy, see Six original United States frigates. The Boston Celtics were founding members of the Basketball Association of America, one of the two leagues that merged to form the NBA. The Celtics have the distinction of having more national titles than any other NBA team with 16 championships from 1957 to 1986. ^[81]

A Boston Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park

Although the team has played in suburban Foxboro since 1971, the New England Patriots are Boston's football team. Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately 22 miles (35 km southwest of Boston and 18 miles (29 km The New England Patriots, commonly called the " Pats " by sports writers and fans are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston The team was founded in 1960 as the Boston Patriots, a charter member of the American Football League, and in 1970 the team joined the National Football League. Note There were three earlier and unrelated major American professional football leagues of the same name One in 1926, one in 1936-1937 and one in 1940-1941 The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. The team has won three Super Bowl titles since the 2001 season (in 2001, 2003, and 2004). professional American football, the Super Bowl is the Championship game of the National Football League (NFL ^[82] They share Gillette Stadium with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Gillette Stadium is the home Stadium for the New England Patriots football team and the New England Revolution soccer team The New England Revolution, nicknamed the Revs, is a professional soccer club based in Foxborough Massachusetts, that participates in Major League Major League Soccer ( MLS) is the top-flight professional Soccer league in the United States and Canada with 14 teams 13 in the U There has also been talk of a possible Arena Football League expansion team coming to Boston sometime in the next few years. The Arena Football League (AFL was founded in 1987 as an American football indoor league. ^[83]

Boston's many colleges and universities are active in college athletics. There are four NCAA Division I members in the city: Boston College (member of the Atlantic Coast Conference), Boston University (America East Conference), Northeastern University (Colonial Athletic Association), and Harvard University (Ivy League). The National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA, often pronounced "N-C-Double-A" is a voluntary association of about 1200 institutions conferences organizations For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. For similarly-named academic institutions see Education in Boston MA. Member schools There are nine schools with full membership All-Time Conference Membership Northeastern University, abbreviated NU or NEU, is a private University in Boston Massachusetts. The Colonial Athletic Association, also known as the CAA, is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located in East The Ivy League is an Athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. All except Harvard, which belongs to ECAC Hockey, belong to the Hockey East conference. ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I Ice hockey. Hockey East Association is a college athletic conference which operates in New England. 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 Banknorth Garden over two Monday nights in February. This page is about the cooking vessel If you were looking for the ice hockey tournament it is at Beanpot (Ice Hockey A beanpot ^[84]

One of the most famous sporting events in the city is the Boston Marathon, the 26. The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon sporting event hosted by the city of Boston, Massachusetts 2 mile (42. 2 km) run from Hopkinton to Copley Square in the Back Bay. Hopkinton is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriot's Day in April and as the home of computer storage firm EMC Corporation The Marathon, the world's oldest, is popular and heavily attended. ^[85] It is run on Patriots' Day in April and always coincides with a Red Sox home baseball game that starts at 11:05 AM (10:05 beginning in 2007), the only MLB game all year to start before noon local time. Patriots' Day (sometimes spelled Patriot's Day or Patriots Day) is a Civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord ^[86] Another major event held in the city is the Head of the Charles Regatta rowing competition on the Charles River. The Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR or HOTC, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the

Healthcare and utilities

See also: List of hospitals in Boston

Longwood Medical Area

The Longwood Medical Area 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, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. The Boston Cannons are a professional Lacrosse team based in Boston Massachusetts. Major League Lacrosse is a professional outdoor Lacrosse league that is made up of teams within the United States. Harvard Stadium is a Horseshoe -shaped football Stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, in the United States For the article on the former MILL team see Boston Blazers (1992-1997 The Boston Blazers are an Indoor lacrosse team in the The National Lacrosse League (NLL is the league of men's indoor lacrosse in North America. History During the inaugural 2004 season The New England Riptide lost the championship game against the now defunct NY/NJ Juggernauts National Pro Fastpitch (NPF formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL is the only professional women's Softball league in the United States List of Hospitals in Massachusetts ( US state) sorted by location Longwood Medical and Academic Area (also known as Longwood Medical Area, LMA, or just Longwood) is a world-famous medical campus located in Boston Both an international and regional referral center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC in Boston Massachusetts is a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH is the largest Hospital of Longwood Medical and Academic Area, in the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Children's Hospital Boston is a Children's hospital located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is part of a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute. Harvard Medical School ( HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University and currently the #1 medical school in America as ranked by U The Harvard School of Public Health is ( Colloquially HSPH) is one of the professional Graduate schools of Harvard University. Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. ^[87] Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is near the Beacon Hill neighborhood, with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital nearby. Massachusetts General Hospital ( Mass General or MGH) is a Teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and a Biomedical research Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, known locally as Mass Eye and Ear, is a specialty hospital providing patient care for disorders of the eye ear nose throat head Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is a rehabilitation Hospital located in Boston Massachusetts. Boston also has VA medical centers in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury neighborhoods. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs ( VA) is a government-run military Veteran benefit system with Cabinet -level status The VA Boston Healthcare System is a set of hospitals run by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the Greater Boston area ^[88]

Many of Boston's major medical facilities are associated with universities. The facilities in the Longwood Medical Area and MGH are world-renowned research medical centers affiliated with Harvard Medical School. 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. Tufts Medical Center (until recently Tufts-New England Medical Center) is a medical institution in Boston Massachusetts occupying space between Chinatown The Tufts University School of Medicine is one of the eight schools that comprise Tufts University. 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;^[89] it was formed by the merger of Boston University Hospital and Boston City Hospital, which was the first municipal hospital in the U. Boston Medical Center ( BMC) is a Non-profit 581-bed medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston University School of Medicine ( BUSM) is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. A trauma center is a Hospital equipped to provide comprehensive Emergency medical services to patients suffering traumatic injuries S. ^[90]

Water supply and sewage-disposal services are provided by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC serves retail customers with water services in Boston Massachusetts. ^[91] The Commission in turn purchases wholesale water and sewage disposal from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA is a Public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and Sewage The city's water comes from the Quabbin Reservoir and the Wachusett Reservoir, which are about 65 miles (105 km) and 35 miles (56 km) west of the city respectively. The Quabbin Reservoir is the largest Body of water in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and was built between 1930 and 1939 The Wachusett Reservoir is the second largest body of water in the state of Massachusetts. ^[92] NSTAR is the exclusive distributor of electric power to the city, though due to deregulation, customers now have a choice of electric generation companies. NSTAR was also the name of the Ion Engine tested on NASA 's space probe Deep Space 1. Electric power is defined as the rate at which Electrical energy is transferred by an Electric circuit. Natural gas is distributed by KeySpan Corporation (the successor company to Boston Gas); only commercial and industrial customers may choose an alternate natural gas supplier. Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane, KeySpan Corporation, now part of National Grid USA, was the fifth largest distributor of Natural gas in the United States. ^[93]

Verizon, successor to New England Telephone, NYNEX, Bell Atlantic and earlier, the Bell System, is the primary wired telephone service provider for the area. "Verizon" redirects here this article is about the corporation see also Verizon Wireless, Verizon Online DSL and Verizon FiOS. New England Telephone was a Bell Operating Company that served most of New England as a part of the original AT&T for seven decades from the creation of NYNEX Corporation (pronounced Nine-x) was a Telephone company which served five New England states ( Maine, Massachusetts, "Verizon" redirects here this article is about the corporation see also Verizon Wireless, Verizon Online DSL and Verizon FiOS. The Bell System which was named for Alexander Graham Bell, the technologist popularly credited with the invention of the Telephone, was a Trademark and Phone service is also available from various national wireless companies. Cable television is available from Comcast and RCN, with Broadband Internet access provided by the same companies in certain areas. Comcast Corporation ( is the largest Cable television company the second largest Internet service provider and (according to the company the fourth largest telephone RCN Corporation, ( founded in 1993 and based in Herndon Virginia, is the first American facilities-based competitive ("overbuild" provider of bundled Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just Broadband, is high-speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a Modem A variety of DSL providers and resellers are able to provide broadband Internet over Verizon-owned phone lines. ^[94]

Transportation

Main article: Boston transportation

An MBTA sign at the Chinatown stop. The Boston transportation system includes roadway rail air and sea options for passenger and freight transit The only historically Chinese area in New England, Chinatown Boston is located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

Logan International Airport, located in the East Boston neighborhood, handles most of the scheduled passenger service for Boston. East Boston was annexed by the City of Boston in 1836 and is separated from the rest of the city by Boston Harbor and bordered by Winthrop, Revere An airline provides air transport services for Passengers or Freight, generally with a recognized operating certificate or license ^[95] Surrounding the city are three major general aviation relievers: Beverly Municipal Airport to the north, Hanscom Field in Bedford, to the west, and Norwood Memorial Airport to the south. General aviation (abbr GA) is one of two categories of Civil aviation. Beverly Municipal Airport is a public-use Airport located three miles (5 km northwest of the Central business district of Beverly, a city in For other uses see Bed (disambiguation. For the U S Air Force use of this facility see Hanscom Air Force Base Hanscom Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Norwood Memorial Airport is a public-use Airport located two miles (3 km east of the Central business district of Norwood, a town in Norfolk T. F. Green Airport serving Providence, Rhode Island, and Manchester-Boston Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, also provide scheduled passenger service to the Boston area. T F Green International Airport, also known as Theodore Francis Green State Airport, is a public Airport located in Warwick, six miles (10 Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, commonly referred to simply as " Manchester Airport," is a public Airport located three miles (5 km south of the Manchester is the largest city in the US state of New Hampshire and the largest city of northern New England, an area composed of Vermont,

Downtown Boston's streets are not organized on a grid, but grew in a meandering organic pattern beginning early in the seventeenth century. They were created as needed, and as wharves and landfill expanded the area of the small Boston peninsula. ^[96] Along with several rotaries, roads change names and lose and add lanes seemingly at random. A roundabout is a type of Road junction at which Traffic enters a one-way stream around a central island On the other hand, streets in the Back Bay, East Boston, the South End, and South Boston do follow a grid system. East Boston was annexed by the City of Boston in 1836 and is separated from the rest of the city by Boston Harbor and bordered by Winthrop, Revere The grid plan or gridiron plan is a type of City plan in which Streets run at right angles to each other forming a grid.

Many of Boston's roads were based upon horse and cart paths from the 17th century. A few horse carriages are still found in the city today.

Boston is the eastern terminus of I-90, which in Massachusetts runs along the Mass Pike. Interstate 90 (I-90 is the longest interstate highway in the United States at nearly 3100 miles (5000 kilometers The Massachusetts Turnpike (commonly shortened to the MassPike or The Pike) is the easternmost 138-mile (222 km stretch of Interstate 90. I-95, which surrounds the city, is locally referred to as Route 128, its historical state route numbering. Interstate 95 is a highway 92 miles in length in the state of Massachusetts. Route 128, also known as the Yankee Division Highway (for the 26th Infantry Division) and originally the Circumferential Highway, is a partial U.S. Route 1 and I-93 and Massachusetts Route 3 run north to south through the city forming the elevated Central Artery, which ran through downtown Boston and was constantly prone to heavy traffic, was replaced with an underground tunnel through the Big Dig. US Route 1 (US 1 is a major north-south US Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. Interstate 93 (abbreviated I-93) is an Interstate highway in the New England section of the United States. For the US Route that continues (State Route 3 north into New Hampshire, see U The Central Artery, officially the John F Fitzgerald Expressway, is a section of Freeway in downtown Boston Massachusetts, designated The Big Dig is the unofficial name of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project ( CA/T) a Megaproject that rerouted the

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates what was the first underground rapid transit system in the United States and is now the fourth busiest rapid transit system in the country,^[8] having been expanded to 65. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ( MBTA) is "a body politic and corporate and a political subdivision" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway or metro(politan system is an electric passenger railway The following is a list of all heavy rail rapid transit systems in the United States, ranked by ridership 5 miles (105 km) of track,^[97] reaching as far north as Malden, as far south as Braintree, and as far west as Newton – collectively known as the "T". Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. For geographic and demographic information on the Census-designated place Braintree please see the article Braintree (CDP, Massachusetts. The City of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, is an important residential Suburb of Boston, which abuts it on the east The MBTA also operates the nation's sixth busiest bus network, as well as water shuttles, and a commuter rail network totaling over 200 miles (321 km),^[97] extending north to the Merrimack Valley, west to Worcester, and south to Providence. The following is a list of local bus agencies in the United States ranked by ridership The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operates a large number of Bus lines in the greater Boston area The MBTA Commuter Rail is the Regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States. The Merrimack Valley is the area surrounding the Merrimack River in northeastern Massachusetts. Worcester (ˈwʊstɚ is a City in the state of Massachusetts in the United States of America. Thirty-one and a half percent of Boston commuters use public transit. ^[98] Walking has a larger transit role in Boston than 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. The following is a list of United States cities of 100000+ inhabitants with the 50 highest rates of pedestrian commuting according to data from the 2000 Census. ^[99] In its March 2006 issue, Bicycling magazine named Boston as one of the worst cities in the U. S. for cycling;^[100] regardless, it has one of the highest rates of bicycle commuting. ^[101]

South Station is an intermodal station for Amtrak, commuter, and bus service. South Station, located at Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, in Boston Massachusetts, is the largest Train station and

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Chicago lines originate at South Station and stop at Back Bay. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Doing business as Amtrak, is a Government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 The Northeast Corridor ( NEC) is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. South Station, located at Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, in Boston Massachusetts, is the largest Train station and Back Bay Station, located at 145 Dartmouth Street between Stuart Street and Columbus Avenue is a train station in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Fast Northeast Corridor trains, which service New York City, Washington, D.C., and points in between, also stop at Route 128 Station in the southwestern suburbs of Boston. The City of New York Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Route 128 Station is a stop on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Attleboro/Providence MBTA Commuter Rail line with inbound service to Back Bay ^[102] Meanwhile, Amtrak's Downeaster service to Maine originates at North Station. The Downeaster is a 116-mile (187 km Passenger train route operated by Amtrak, connecting North Station in Boston Massachusetts The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean North Station, located at Causeway and Nashua Streets in Boston Massachusetts is a major transportation hub ^[103]

See also

• Sister cities of Boston, Massachusetts
• Notable Bostonians
• Boston nicknames
• List of television shows set in Boston
• List of films, operas, and plays set in Boston
• List of tallest buildings in Boston
• Boston in fiction
• Fictional people from Boston
• English place names in the United States
• Neighborhoods in Boston, Massachusetts

Notes

References

• Winsor, Justin (1881). Memorial History of Boston, Vol.1 Vol.2 Vol.3. Vol.4.. James R. Osgood Publisher. .  
• Snow, Caleb H. (1828). History of Boston. Abel Bowen.  
• Boston (1909). Records Relating to the Early History of Boston - Selectmen Minutes 1818-1822.. City of Boston.  
• Downst, Henry P. (1916). "Random Notes of Boston". Humphrey Publishing.  
• Gershkoff, Ira; Trachtman, Richard (2004). The Boston Driver's Handbook. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81326-2.  
• Harris, Patricia; Lyon, David (1999). Boston. Oakland, CA: Compass American Guides. ISBN 0-679-00284-7.  
• Jones, Howard Mumford; Jones, Bessie Zaban (1975). The Many Voices of Boston: A Historical Anthology 1630–1975. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-47282-4.  
• Rambow, John D. et. al (2003). Fodor's Boston. New York: Fodors Travel Publication. ISBN 1-4000-1028-4.  
• Seasholes, Nancy S. (2003). Gaining ground : a history of landmaking in Boston. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.  
• Vanderwarker, Peter (1982). Boston Then and Now. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24312-5.  

External links

• Boston travel guide from Wikitravel
• City of Boston official website
• Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Photos of Boston
• The Boston Indicators Project
• Open Space Plan 2002–2006, City of Boston, maps and analyses
• Historical Maps of Boston from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
• Boston Streets: Mapping Directory Data Project – Tufts University and The Bostonian Society. Wikitravel is a Web -based project "to create a free, complete up-to-date and reliable worldwide travel guide.
• Maps of Income, Landfill, Growth, Squares, and Public Transport, from www.radicalcartography.net.
• Historical maps of Boston in the Boston Public Library collection
• A photographic atlas of historic sites throughout Boston