Boston's North End:

Neighborhood Information

Sandwiched between the waterfront, the financial zone and the TD Garden (Boston Garden arena) area, this small, densely packed neighborhood began a renaissance with the removal and placement underground of the I-93 Central Artery highway in 2004. With the North End no longer separated from the rest of Boston by an ugly and mammoth highway built in the 1950s--and replaced with beautiful lawns, small trees, shrubs and walking paths--suddenly the neighborhood was again integrated with the rest of the city. As one of the city's oldest and most historic residential neighborhoods, its streets are tiny and so are most of its numerous apartments and condominiums. The streets originally needed to accommodate only horses and pedestrians.
 

In the North End, it is almost impossible to walk down any commercial street without being surrounded by Italian restaurants and drinking establishments. Perhaps this partly explains why, along with its preponderance of Italian-American residents for the last some 100 years, occasionally it is referred to as Little Italy outside of Massachusetts, a sobriquet Bostonians virtually never use. A larger road called Hanover Street, which runs along the middle of the neighborhood, is often filled with folks from other neighborhoods, suburbanites and tourists, especially on weekend days and evenings. And summertime features numerous weekend festivals in commemoration of some Catholic saint, which longtime residents often resent, as they usually include blocked off streets and numerous visitors.  


Although there are many small grocery stores and bakeries often peddling Italian specialties, a large grocery store is lacking, as do many Boston neighborhoods close to downtown. Residents often travel to Charlestown or the foot of Beacon Hill for groceries. Within walking distance, bus and subway stops are located are on the edge of the neighborhood. Parking can be very difficult, even with a resident parking sticker. Street crime is minimal, which is unusual for many urban environments.