What are your favorite neighborhoods in/around Boston?

odurandina

odurandina

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Inside/outside the corporate limit, it's all good;

Tell us what you like about it/them....

What other neighborhood/s do you like?

Can you list them? Need to hear yours! :)

i love the South End. It's stunning in the sublime, and i can't find the correct words. It's just the classic American City/ urban neighborhood/ melting pot. The mix of people, outdoor festivities, vibe is amazing. Tremont St, the old buildings, churches. Old cladding w/ just the right amount of grittiness. Look forward to its continued rebirth and can even tolerate some Alucobond along the Harrison/Albany corridor. The streets are aliyve.

My list;
South End
Beacon Hill
North End
Back Bay
Theater District/Bay Village
Fenway (no where to go but up)
Brookline
Harvard Square & Cambridge (unsung/lesser known outside of the region)
Brighton (urbanize it)
Somerville (up and comer)
Mission Hill (underrated)
Chinatown/Leather District (up and rising neighborhood needs less Alucobond)
Fort Point Channel (get dense w/ better claddings)
 
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It's been 13 years but the Fenway was always my favorite. Much has changed but it's really concentrated. The area around the park is still pretty much the same.
 
Love the South End (where the alkies use to go to die) times have changed.
How about some Dorchester love...Savin Hill, Ashmont, Lower Mills.
 
Yeah, Dot, Rozzie, JP. Also always loved Bay Village, and of course Kenmore/Fenway (although completely different now), and Chinatown.
 
The Tiers of Boston Neighborhoods (as I know them, which, admittedly, isn't that well):

World Class These neighborhoods are instantly recognizable, historic, and teeming with life. They bow down to no other place anywhere in the world:

1. Beacon Hill: America's most picturesque neighborhood. A perfect residential respite in the heart of a global city.

2. The North End: The closest thing the US has to Europe.

3. The South End: Only slightly less picturesque than Beacon Hill, but more fun.

All-American
4. Back Bay: Unquestionably gorgeous, but still struggles against sterility.

5. Harvard Square: God damn, I wish I saw this place in the 70s.

6. Downtown/FiDi/Ladder District/Chinatown: Only two places in the world combine such an enticing street grid with skyscrapers: Lower Manhattan and Downtown Boston. Seriously, that's it.

Absolutely Wonderful, Still Getting Better:

7. Fenway/Kenmore: I swear to God, if they tear down that North Kenmore building. . .

8. Jamaica Plain: Beautiful architecture, beautiful greenery, tons of fun, and still a little bit of an edge.

9. Bay Village: Just too damn small to be be truly great.

I'd Love to Live Here:

10. Davis Square: I'm a sucker for those statues.

11. Union Square: The Bow Market is going to be a sneak attack game changer.

12. Coolidge Corner: Man, that fucking clock is great.

13. Central Square: It's got everything.

14. Roslindale: But only near the square.

15. Charlestown: Nice, but too many bank robberies.

I Don't Want to Live Here, But A Certain Type of Person Obviously Does:
16. The Seaport: No question it's going to be a success, but will it really ever match the livability of any of the above?

I Don't Know Where to Put These:
16. South Boston: Get some goddamn transit.

17. East Boston: That's too much transit.

18. Roxbury: It's next.

19. Mission Hill: Meh

20. Allston/Brighton: I kind of love that its a student ghetto and hope it always will be.

21. West Roxbury: You guys ever been to West on Centre? It's alright.

22. Dorchester: Seriously, fuck me for not spending more time in Dorchester and not knowing enough about it to treat it as more than a homogeneous blob on the map.

23. Hyde Park: I also don't know anything about Hyde Park, but for some reason I'm okay with that.

24. West End: I hate you please die.

Random Predictions:
-Dudley/Roxbury skyrockets up this list within the next 20 years.
-East Boston keeps improving but is held back by the lack of pedestrian connectivity.
-Mission Hill stalls (the Baptist Hospital, Mission Main, and Mission Park prevent true connectivity).
 
In the end, East Boston will be the most expensive of them all.

I miss the old Harvard & Kenmore squares back in the 80’s

Davis Square / Tufts area is the place I would love to live.

The North End is likely to become corporatized in the future—i.e. current Harvard Square
 
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All depends on your history, right? Grew up in Southie, so that's my favorite, although it's getting somewhat less recognizable by the day. Went to Latin, so Longwood always fascinates me. Copley and Back Bay always seem so full of life. And so many good memories of going to the Museum of Science and Cambridgeside Galleria, so that end of the Charles is something I always like going to.
 
I live in Davis and I love it. I don't know that it's the BEST, but it's my favorite. I've also lived in JP (Centre St.). I really liked JP, but I actually find myself walking down Elm or into the Square itself and saying to myself "I love this place." It's extremely pedestrian friendly, the bike path is as pleasant as they come, the mix of retail/dining/entertainment is on the brink of perfection (we need an actual fast casual burger place and a good, classic pizza place - Mike's and Davis Sq. Pizza just don't do it for me), the T is right there, and it's incredibly lively most of the time.

I fell in love the first time I got off the T relatively late at night and the area was still alive and buzzing. I'd kill for a home on one of those leafy side streets between Davis and Mass Ave. That's the perfect Boston area neighborhood in my opinion.

I also really like Union. I was I was a little older and able to jump on property there a few years back. It's great now, and it's only going to get a whole lot more active/expensive fast.

Harvard is one of my favorites from an aesthetic/urban standpoint, but I do feel like it's gentrified a little too much for my tastes at this point.
 
North End. Hands down.

Narrow streets, small alleys, buildings with small footprints, shops and restaurants with even smaller footprints. Buildings designed for pedestrians walking by, not cars driving by. Probably about as close as we get to perfect urban form in the US. And made even more special with the knowledge that we will never see anything like it built again.
 
statler said:
North End. Hands down.

Narrow streets, small alleys, buildings with small footprints, shops and restaurants with even smaller footprints. Buildings designed for pedestrians walking by, not cars driving by. Probably about as close as we get to perfect urban form in the US. And made even more special with the knowledge that we will never see anything like it built again.
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You'd like Europe.
 
If Statler were less polite I'd be expecting a "no shit" about now.
 
Going on my fuzzy memory, but I think more in terms of squares as well as neighborhoods:

Cambridge - Harvard Square - I did see it in the 70's and it was pretty gross.
Boston - South End
Brookline - Coolidge Corner
Brookline / Boston - Cleveland Circle

I am very excited for the Seaport area. When I lived in Boston, it was parking lots, so when I get up there every so often, I am more amazed each time by what has been accomplished, vs. blandness / "missed opportunities".
 
statler said:
North End. Hands down.

Narrow streets, small alleys, buildings with small footprints, shops and restaurants with even smaller footprints. Buildings designed for pedestrians walking by, not cars driving by. Probably about as close as we get to perfect urban form in the US. And made even more special with the knowledge that we will never see anything like it built again.
Click to expand...

I think the North End is the most overrated neighborhood. Walking down Hanover is a huge pain in the ass. The sidewalks are pathetically narrow. There is so much pedestrian activity with the Freedom Trail and all the restaurants yet drivers get 4 lanes while pedestrians have to fight each other and huge sandwich boards on sidewalks as wide as a boogie board. People call the North End "European" but European cities have big pedestrian only plazas. The North End doesn't have that. They let cars drive in North Square, the oldest square in the country. Why?! Get rid of the cars and now we have a great neighborhood even though half the restaurants serve garbage Sysco food.

The South End is my favorite. Great food and drinks, shops, parks, pedestrian friendly, lovely buildings, diversity. The South End section of the Southwest Corridor Park is amazing. I love the Tremont block with Picco, Beehive etc. I've lived in many Boston and Cambridge neighborhoods but unfortunately never there.
 
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