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| Boston was founded on September 17, 1630, on a penninsula on eastern Massachussets, and its early residents were predominantly Puritan. The Puritans put great emphasis on moral uprightness, hard work and education and these values, along with Boston's annoying "Blue Laws" still persist in the city. America's famous Harvard College was founded here in 1636, beginning Boston's tradition as an academic center. Boston has been an important city in America's history. It was protesting Bostonians, upset with British taxes on the colonies, who threw imported Tea into Boston harbor, contributing to the start of the Revolutionary War. Some of the war's famous battles occurred in the area also, including the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. After the war Boston's flourishing trade economy and academic institutions contributed to the city becoming a home of the nation's social and cultural elite: the "Boston Brahmins." In the 1820s Irish and Italian imigrants came to Boston in great numbers and brought Roman Catholicism with them. These communities have had a great impact on the city's character and St. Patrick's Day in Boston is as enthusiastic a celebration as you're likely to find outside of Ireland. F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Kennedys are some of Boston's famous Irish. In the 20th century Boston began to slide into economic obsolescence as businesses moved out and its factories became outdated. Nevertheless the city was held together by the many academic institutions in the area that continue to attract students from all over the world, and by the cutting edge healthcare research being done in its many prestigious hospitals, including Massachussets General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. These days Boston faces some of the same gentrification problems and skyrocketing rents that are familiar to cities like New York and San Francisco. Also, the now-infamous Big Dig, a massive restructuring of the city's freeways, has proven a sinkhole for public funds. It remains to be seen whether its completion will really make Boston a traffic-free city. But Boston remains staid and confident. Its place in American history makes Boston feel indispensible and its streets are vibrant, diverse and filled with interesting people. |
| Boston experiences a contintental climate that is very common in New England. The weather in Boston can change pretty rapidly. In general the summers are warm and quite humid, and the winters are cold, sometimes bitterly so. The capricious weather makes the early spring months frustrating, when just as you think the winter is truly over temperatures drop into the 20s and it starts snowing. The hottest month is August, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. The coldest month is January, when the mercury can fall into the teens. |
Boston is made up of about 89.6 square miles and is 46.0% water. The greater Boston area includes the neighboring cities of Somerville, Newton, Brookline, Cambridge, Needham and Milton, among others. The neighborhoods of Back Bay and South Boston are built on reclaimed land, areas filled in by land from Boston's hills. The Charles River flows into the Atlantic Ocean and separates Boston from Cambridge. |
Boston's economy is shaped by the many colleges and universities around. Along with drawing thousands upon thousands of students to the area, they are also major employers. And with all this brainpower around, high-tech industries have flocked to Boston to capitalize on the smarts.
The city is also a great financial center. The mutual fund industry got its start here and Boston remains the home of Fidelity Investments and Bank of America.
Boston is also the home to Massachussets state government and to the area's federal agencies. These also end up being major employers. |
Boston has some conflicting political influences. Founded by Puritans, Boston has a conservative strain that survives to this day. Much to the chagrin of many of the city's students, you can't buy beer or other alcohol on Sundays, or on any other day after 11pm. This and many other "Blue Laws" remain on the books. But idealistic studens and academics tend to lean left and Boston's schools are filled with them. There were large anti-war protests at the colleges here during the Vietnam War and again during the recent invasion of Iraq.
Boston is New England's federal center. It houses a federal court of appeals as well as the headquarters for the 1st District of the Federal Reserve.
Michael F. Flaherty, a Democrat, is the current mayor of Boston. Boston has a "strong mayor" system whereby the mayor has extensive executive powers. Helping him with the business of running this large city is a 13 seat city council. Both the mayor and the city council seats are elected by plurality voting. |
Boston has a reputation for being a very cultured city but its art scene is definitely overshadowed by that of New York. That said, it does have some great art. The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has everything from ancient art to European masters to an extensive collection of contemporary heavyweights (including Warhol, Richter, Sherman and others). There are also galleries in Boston. The swanky Newbury Street has a few, as does the Inman Square area in Cambridge. Smaller museums are sometimes found on college campuses, such as Harvard's small but impressive Fogg Museum.
The city has a vibrant music scene. Famous bands to come out of Boston range from rather-forgets like New Kids on the Block to ska gods The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and indie founding fathers The Pixies. New local music can still be heard in venues like Skybar, T. T. The Bear's Place and The Middle East. |
Boston society is varied and diverse. Irish and Italian communities are a famously strong presence, but less publicised are Boston's Brazillian and Greek communities. All of this ethnic diversity contributes to the great cuisine in the area.
As in any large city there is great socio-economic diversity too. Many of the world's elite come here to be trained in Boston's schools and the city has long been home to the well-heeled, blue blooded "Boston Brahmins." Your average Bostonian, however, is simply hard-working, resilient, and interminably passionate about hometown sluggers, the Red Sox. |
Boston has strong religious roots. The Puritans who founded the city were, of course, Protestant, and there remains a large Protestant community in Boston. Irish immigrants brought with them Roman Catholicism, and Boston's Archdiocese is still one of the largest in America.
Along with these two strong traditions, however, many other faiths are freely practiced. Boston's international feel and diverse student community make for a society that is as varied in its spirituality as it is in ethnic origin. |
The official language is, of course, Enlgish. Local Bostonians sometimes speak with a particular Boston accent. You'll be able to identify it pretty easily on the streets. Imitating the Boston accent is pretty hard and tends not to be funny. You probably want to avoid asking your taxi driver if he "Pahks his cah in Hahvard Yahd."
Many other languages are spoken in Boston. Portuguese, Chinese and Italian can be heard in the city and near the its colleges you'll hear the various languages of visiting scholars, students, and tourists. |
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