Boston Guide
The South End
Over the last decade, the South End, which extends below Back Bay from Huntington Avenue to where I-93 emerges above ground, has gone from being a predominantly residential neighborhood to one of Boston's most happening areas. Quaint and trendy in equal measure, the rise to prominence of a number of hip restaurants, art galleries, and theaters, coupled with a vibrant multicultural population has made it the place to live in the city.
The neighborhood's heart is bounded by Tremont Street, Dartmouth Street, and Columbus Avenue. This posh enclave boasts a spectacular concentration of Victorian architecture, unmatched anywhere in the US. In fact, the sheer number of such houses earned the South End a National Landmark District designation in 1983, making the 500-acre area the largest historical neighborhood of its kind in the country. In addition to its architecture, the South End is also known for its well-preserved ironwork – a French botanical motif known as Rinceau adorns many of the houses' stairways and windows. Unsurprisingly, details like these made the area quite popular with upwardly mobile Bostonians (among them a strong gay and lesbian contingent), who moved in and gentrified the neighborhood in the mid-1990s. The upshot has been some of the most happening streetlife in town, while the South End has become the breeding ground for chefs looking to push the boundaries of haute cuisine. The activity is most visible on Tremont Street and on pockets of Washington Street, a few blocks below the Back Bay T, the neighborhood's only subway stop.
A couple of yet to be gentrified areas do exist, namely in a small quadrant below Tremont Street, which is home to most of Boston's Puerto Rican community, and a patch along Dartmouth Street near Copley Place, where the low-income housing co-op of Tent City presides. As well, surrounding areas such as Roxbury are a little rough around the edges. Along the outer reaches of the neighborhood, appropriate caution should be taken, especially at night.