Boston com: Local breaking news, sports, weather, and things to do

However, it has lost some important regional institutions, including the loss to mergers and acquisitions of local financial institutions such as FleetBoston Financial, which was acquired by Charlotte-based Bank of America in 2004. Boston has also experienced gentrification in the latter half of the 20th century, with housing prices increasing sharply since the 1990s when the city’s rent control regime was struck down by statewide ballot proposition. By the 1970s, the city’s economy had begun to recover after 30 years of economic downturn. The Columbia Point complex itself was redeveloped and revitalized from 1984 to 1990 into a mixed-income residential development called Harbor Point Apartments.

Spend the second half of the day touring Fenway Park or watching a baseball game here. With one day in Boston, I recommend walking the Freedom Trail. Various IMAX movies are offered throughout the day and you can participate in one of the animal encounter activities. Townhouses line the streets and a tree-lined path runs through the center of Commonwealth Avenue. In Back Bay, spend some time walking through the neighborhoods on Newbury Street, Marlborough Street, and Commonwealth Avenue.

Why is college hockey so popular in Boston?

We visited the Holocaust Memorial during the afternoon of August 14. This can be a quick visit if you just wander through the library or you could spend hours here. Highlights include the Roman style courtyard and art murals by John Singer Sargent. It is heralded as one of the best public libraries in the US. We did not take the Duck Tour since we walked to most of the included sites on our own.

• With On Location Tours, I saw settings from Good Will Hunting, The Departed, Ted, Field of Dreams, Mystic River, and The Town, among many other movies.
• Both are Democrats; a Republican has not represented a significant portion of Boston in over a century.
• The city reacted largely negatively to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, contributing to President Franklin Pierce’s attempt to make an example of Boston after Anthony Burns’s attempt to escape to freedom.
• The area’s schools are major employers and attract industries to the city and surrounding region.

It is available for 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7 days. The Boston Go Card is an all-inclusive pass that gets you into most attractions in the city and in nearby towns, like Plymouth, Lexington, and Concord. We spent almost one full week touring Boston and the nearby towns and we were amazed by how much there is to do here. Satisfy your holiday shopping needs at the Holiday Market at Snowport, featuring 120+ makers, a tree market for all your evergreen… Uncover the real Boston through stories that capture a city in motion. From June 13 to July 9, 2026, Boston will host SEVEN MATCHES for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ — the biggest tournament in soccer history.

Wander through the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Her goal is to make your travel planning process easier and to inspire you to visit new places. Julie is the main author for Earth Trekkers. Delve into American history by visiting some of the country’s oldest settlements, where you can learn about the Revolutionary War … Explore the historic city of Boston, relax on the charming beaches of Cape Cod, or venture into the rolling hills of the Berkshires. In this guide, we share 18 of the best USA road trips…18 great ideas for your next big … Cruise along Route 66, road trip through the Florida Keys, explore the American Southwest, or even drive from coast to coast.

Other major highways include US 1, which carries traffic to the North Shore and areas south of Boston, US 3, which connects to the northwestern suburbs, MA 3, which connects to the South Shore and Cape Cod, and MA 2 which connects to the western suburbs. The Central Artery follows I-93 as the primary north–south artery that carries most of the through traffic in Downtown Boston. The Boston Globe also releases a teen publication to the city’s public high schools, called Teens in Print or T.i.P., which is written by the city’s teens and delivered quarterly within the school year. Along with the adjacent Boston Public Garden, it is part of the Emerald Necklace, a string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to run through the city.

Beacon Hill, the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, and the Boston Public Garden are all visible from the Common, and Downtown Crossing, the Theater District, Back Bay, and more are all just a short walk away. Some of the sites require a small entrance fee, but outside of that, the Freedom Trail is completely free, though you can book an affordable tour of the trail if you’d like more historical context behind the sights. Looking to plan a trip to one of the USA’s most historic and fascinating cities? We quickly set to work making an aspirational list of all the best things to do in Boston that we hoped to accomplish over our nearly 3 months in the city. When she isn’t exploring the world through unique, local culinary experiences, she enjoys cooking with her husband, planning her next trip, and reading or watching a good rom com.

Best Things to Do In & Around Provincetown, Massachusetts

The city reacted largely negatively to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, contributing to President Franklin Pierce’s attempt to make an example of Boston after Anthony Burns’s attempt to escape to freedom. It was admired for its rarefied literary life and generous artistic patronage. The small rivers bordering the city and connecting it to the surrounding region facilitated shipment of goods and led to a proliferation of mills and factories. Manufacturing became an important component of the city’s economy, and the city’s industrial manufacturing overtook international trade in economic importance by the mid-19th century. Foreign trade returned after these hostilities, but Boston’s merchants had found alternatives for their capital investments in the meantime.

On the same day, with the early start time allowing fans to watch runners finish the race nearby after the conclusion of the ballgame. Boston is home to the headquarters of several major athletic and footwear companies including Converse, New Balance, and Reebok. Boston is a printing and publishing center—Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is headquartered within the city, along with Bedford-St. In 2000, non-Hispanic Whites were 49.5% of Boston’s population, making the city majority minority for the first time. Nevertheless, the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s. At the time Boston was chartered as a city, the population was about 46,226, while the area of the city was only 4.8 sq mi (12 km2).

Cape Cod estate near Kennedy compound hits market for $21.5M

The health center is still in operation and was rededicated in 1990 as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center. It mostly served the massive Columbia Point public housing complex adjoining it, which was built in 1953. The BRA continued implementing eminent domain projects, including the clearance of the vibrant Scollay Square area for construction of the modernist style Government Center. Extensive demolition was met with strong public opposition, and thousands of families were displaced.

Between 1631 and 1890, the city tripled its area through land reclamation by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves along the waterfront. In 1822, the citizens of Boston voted to change the official name from the “Town of Boston” to the boston sober living “City of Boston”, and on March 19, 1822, the people of Boston accepted the charter incorporating the city. Boston households provide the highest average rate of philanthropy in the nation as of 2013, and the city’s businesses and institutions rank among the top in the nation for environmental sustainability and new investment. With nearly 5,000 startup companies, the city is considered a global pioneer in innovation, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence. Boston’s many firsts include the nation’s first public park (Boston Common, 1634), the first public school (Boston Latin School, 1635), and the first subway system (Tremont Street subway, 1897).

Massachusetts Travel Guide

• In the 2018 Global Financial Centres Index, Boston was ranked as having the 13th-most competitive financial services center in the world and the second-most competitive in the United States.
• Most Wednesday nights (weather permitting), the Coit Observatory at Boston University opens to the public to let people learn about astronomy and observe the night sky using telescopes and binoculars available on location.
• I really liked it here and I will be back the next time I get to Boston.
• Extensive demolition was met with strong public opposition, and thousands of families were displaced.
• They are clean, bright and offer spacious sleeping quarters.

In the 2018 Global Financial Centres Index, Boston was ranked as having the 13th-most competitive financial services center in the world and the second-most competitive in the United States. Boston is a major seaport along the East Coast of the United States and the oldest continuously operated industrial and fishing port in the Western Hemisphere. Boston is considered highly innovative for a variety of reasons, including the presence of academia, access to venture capital, and the presence of many high-tech companies. The city is home to a number of technology companies and is a hub for biotechnology, with the Milken Institute rating Boston as the top life sciences cluster in the country. Boston attracts more than 350,000 college students from around the world, who contribute more than US$4.8 billion annually to the city’s economy. A global city, Boston is ranked among the top 30 most economically powerful cities in the world.

#30 The Boston Public Market

Valid for 60 days from your first visit, the Boston Go City Explorer Pass is more flexible than Boston CityPASS®. The museum has one of the largest collections in the United States with more than 450,000 works of art. Beer lovers in Boston will be pleased to find a thriving craft beer scene with brewery tours, guided tastings, and fun beer halls to visit.

Reclamation projects in the middle of the century created significant parts of the South End, the West End, the Financial District, and Chinatown. Currently, Catholics make up Boston’s largest religious community, and the Irish have played a major role in Boston politics since the early 20th century; prominent figures include the Kennedys, Tip O’Neill, and John F. Fitzgerald. In the latter half of the 19th century, the city saw increasing numbers of Irish, Germans, Lebanese, Syrians, French Canadians, and Russian and Polish Jews settling there. In the 1820s, Boston’s population grew rapidly, and the city’s ethnic composition changed dramatically with the first wave of European immigrants.

The Massachusetts capital had been on my travel wishlist for years, and I finally visited in March 2015 for the Women in Travel Summit (WITS). That is exactly what I tried to figure out during my first trip to Boston. Located in New England, a region in the northeastern United States, Boston has an almost European-like charm and significant historical sites from the American Revolution. I may earn a commission when you click on one of these partner links and make a purchase, booking, or hotel reservation. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

Isabella Stewart Gardner was a unique woman, a woman ahead of her time. We walked on the Greenway almost every day we were in Boston, since it connects Seaport Boulevard with the harbor, Faneuil Hall, and the North End. Located in Beacon Hill, a walk on Acorn Street can be combined with visits to nearby Boston Public Garden and the Cheers bar.

The Verb Hotel

In 1990, more than $500 million worth of artwork was stolen from the museum, making it the biggest art heist in history. But the artifacts Isabella collected are astounding, including paintings by famous artists and ancient artifacts from around the world. I will admit, art museums are not what we seek out when we travel. She collected art and artifacts from around the world and then built a home/museum to display this artwork.

Not unlike his playing days, Year 2 Tom Brady is putting it together in the broadcast booth

While that is logically not possible during a long weekend trip, you can certainly make a dent in your list of things to do in Boston and get a real feel for the city within a few days. And, with picturesque neighborhoods, beautiful public parks, a variety of museums, and delicious local foods, there are plenty of things to do in Boston. On your second day in Boston, visit the Back Bay area, starting at the Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fine Arts Museums.