Boston's Core City Districts

Downtown

Boston's Downtown is a mixed use district located due east of the Boston Common and west of the Financial District. It prominently features many retail stores, restaurants and more recently, a variety of luxury and loft residential developments. During the day and well into the evening downtown and Downtown Crossing bustle with activity.

Midtown

Boston's Midtown is a thirty block, 140-acre section in the heart of the city that links several downtown districts: Beacon Hill, the Financial District, Government Center, the courts, Boston Common, the Theater District and Chinatown.

Midtown as we know it today, is the product of many orchestrated urban renewal projects and features some of Boston's newest luxury full service residential condo buildings in addition to Suffolk University and Emerson College.

Financial District

Boston's Financial District is located in the downtown area near Government Center and Chinatown. Like most areas within Boston, the Financial District has no official definition. It is roughly bounded by Atlantic Avenue, State Street and Devonshire Street.

While the district's core remains a place of commerce, home to several mutual fund companies and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, it is increasing home to center-city loving residents.

The Financial District is well situated to enjoy the splendor of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, a 30-acre park that follows the same route used by Interstate 93 before it was relocated underground as part of the much-publicized Big Dig.

Leather District

The Leather District is a sub-neighborhood of Boston's Chinatown. Located between Dewey Square and Kneeland Street, the Leather District is a nine-block area noted for its 19th century low-slung Romanesque Revival buildings. The historic buildings of this neighborhood were constructed primarily during the 1880s with the leather industry's unique design requirements in mind. Therefore because the area's industry required space for display, offices and work areas; vast ground floor windows grace these buildings. Additionally the cast iron columns that these windows are set into create a unique architectural signature Boston's Leather District.

Since the 1980s the Leather District has grown as a mixed-use area, filled by a variety of commercial and residential tenants. In recent years the Leather District has emerged as a distinct Boston neighborhood for its European-style character, and its cosmopolitan savvy. Locals do not have to travel far to sample some great restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and numerous retail and commercial destinations. The Leather District, like the Financial District, is well situated to enjoy the splendor of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Chinatown

Boston's Chinatown is the third largest Chinese neighborhood in the country and is located between the city's Financial District and Theater District. Despite the fact that Chinatown is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Boston, the district is currently experiencing significant gentrification. Large luxury residential towers are being built in and this area that was largely marked by small three-to-five-story apartment buildings intermixed with retail and light-industrial spaces.

---

More Boston Neighborhoods

Profiles of Select Boston Neighborhoods + Districts