5 Great Neighborhoods in Boston
Learn about some of the best places to call home in Boston
By Kimberly Blanton, The Boston Globe | Published: 11/18/2008
South Boston offers row houses and condominiums at more reasonable prices than in the nearby financial district and Back Bay.
Boston is a small city. Its suburbs -- Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline -- are seamlessly part of city life. Residents constantly cross city lines on subways or the bridges that link Boston with Cambridge and Somerville, which lie across the Charles River from downtown. Condo prices in some of Boston's core neighborhoods of South Boston, Back Bay and South End have become out of reach for most, reaching into the millions of dollars.
Flagship Neighborhood: South Boston
Young professionals suddenly discovered South Boston early in the decade. They flocked into this waterfront neighborhood, moving next door to second- or third-generation Irish and Polish residents. They drove up property values, but prices still remain more reasonable than prices in the nearby financial district and Back Bay. The housing stock is chock full of dressed-up working-class row houses and condominiums. But South Boston's prettiest amenity is its waterfront, a one-mile-plus stretch of waterfront beach ending at Fort Independence, a triangle of land jutting into Boston Harbor. Bostonians call it Castle Island, and they go there to walk their dogs, eat a hot dog or watch planes land across the bay at Logan Airport.
Also Consider: Charlestown
South Boston and Charlestown are filled with young professionals and appeal to those who can't afford Back Bay or Beacon Hill, yet want to be near downtown.