article

Greater Boston is the area of Massachusetts closely surrounding Boston, Massachusetts. The metropolitan area has a total population of about 5.8 million. In addition to Boston, other cities include Cambridge, Quincy, Newton, and the largest town (as opposed to city) in Massachusetts by population, Framingham. Greater Boston overlaps the North and South Shores, as well as the MetroWest region as far west as the city of Worcester. It also extends north to cover part of New Hampshire up to the city of Manchester.

Greater Boston is more urbanized than the other regions of Massachusetts, such as the more rural Western Massachusetts and the beach communities of Cape Cod. The area features a great number of universities. Despite this, some communities within Greater Boston remain somewhat working class, although increasingly less-so in the past two decades.

Greater Boston encompasses many significant locations in American history and culture. Examples include the Paul Revere House, the Old North Church, the Old Granary Burying Ground, the site of the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the USS Constitution, Lexington and Concord, Walden Pond, the site of the Salem witch trials, and the Christian Science Mother Church. Former President John Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, as was former President John Quincy Adams. Former President John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. Former President George H. W. Bush was born in Milton.

The United States National Archives has a regional center in nearby Waltham.

Components of Greater Boston

The urbanized area surrounding Boston serves as the core of the Greater Boston Area. The region containing the urbanized area, including the surrounding regions with close social and economic ties, is defined by U.S. Census Bureau as the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is further subdivided into four metropolitan divisions. A wider metropolitan area based on commuting patterns is also defined by the Census Bureau as the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH Combined Statistical Area. The total population (as of 2004) for the extended metropolitan area is 5,809,111. The components of the metropolitan area with their 2004 populations are listed below.

Major cities

Major companies

Dunkin Donuts started in Greater Boston. Likewise, Howard Johnson's restaurants and lodgings began there.

Sports

Club Sport League Stadium
Boston Bruins Ice Hockey NHL TD Banknorth Garden (Boston)
Boston Cannons Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse Nickerson Field (Boston)
Boston Celtics Basketball NBA TD Banknorth Garden (Boston)
Boston Red Sox Baseball Major League Baseball (AL) Fenway Park (Boston)
New England Patriots Football NFL (American Football Conference) Gillette Stadium (Foxboro)
New England Revolution Soccer Major League Soccer Gillette Stadium (Foxboro)

Annual sporting events include:

Higher education

Historical figures and celebrities

Transportation

See also: Boston transportation

Highways

Bridges and tunnels

Airports

Rail transportation

The first railway line in the United States was in Quincy. See Neponset River.

Ocean transportation

Geography

Boston, Massachusetts | Metropolitan areas of the United States

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Greater Boston".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world