Greater Boston
Learn more about Greater Boston
|
Common name: Greater Boston | |
| Largest city Other cities | Boston - Cambridge - Quincy |
| Population | Ranked 11th in the U.S. |
| - Total | 4,411,835 (2005 est.) |
| - Density | 947 /sq. mi. 366 /km² |
| Area | 4,674 sq. mi. 12,105 km² |
| State(s) | - Massachusetts - New Hampshire |
| Elevation | |
| - Highest point | 334 feet (102 m) |
| - Lowest point | 0 feet (0 m) |
Greater Boston is the area of Massachusetts closely surrounding Boston. The metropolitan area has a total population of about 4.4 million and is the eleventh-largest in the United States. In addition to Boston, other cities include Cambridge, Quincy, Newton, and the largest town 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. Using a broader defintion of the area, it also extends north to cover part of New Hampshire up to the city of Manchester and south to encompass Rhode Island including the capital Providence.
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 many universities. There are a decreasing number of working class communities within Greater Boston.
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, 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 National Archives has a regional center in Waltham.
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[edit] 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. The components of the metropolitan area with their 2005 populations are listed below.
- Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area (4,411,835)
- Boston-Quincy, MA Metropolitan Division (1,800,432)
- Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA Metropolitan Division (1,459,011)
- Essex County, MA Metropolitan Division (738,301)
- Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division (414,091)
A wider metropolitan area based on commuting patterns is also defined by the Census Bureau as the Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH Combined Statistical Area. The total population (as of 2005) for the extended metropolitan area is 7,427,336. The following areas, along with the above MSA, are included in the Combined Statistical Area:
- Concord, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area (146,681)
- Laconia, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area (61,547)
- Manchester-Nashua, NH Metropolitan Statistical Area (401,291)
- Worcester, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (783,262)
- Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (1,622,520)
[edit] Major cities
- Boston
- Brockton
- Brookline
- Cambridge
- Framingham
- Haverhill
- Lawrence
- Lowell
- Lynn
- Malden
- Manchester
- Medford
- Nashua
- Newton
- Providence
- Quincy
- Somerville
- Waltham
- Warwick
- Weymouth
- Worcester
[edit] Major companies
Dunkin Donuts started in Greater Boston, as did CVS/pharmacy. Likewise, Howard Johnson's restaurants and lodgings began there.
- Companies outside Boston
- Akamai Technologies, in Cambridge (Headquarters)
- Analog Devices, in Norwood
- Avid Technology, Inc, in Tewksbury (Headquarters)
- Biogen Idec, in Cambridge
- BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., in Natick (Headquarters)
- Bose Corporation, in Framingham (Headquarters)
- Boston Scientific Corporation, in Natick (Headquarters)
- EMC Corporation, in Hopkinton (Headquarters)
- Genzyme Corporation, in Cambridge (Headquarters)
- Meditech, in Westwood (Headquarters)
- Millennium Pharmaceuticals, in Cambridge
- Novartis AG, Inc, in Cambridge (Research Headquarters)
- Novell, Inc., in Waltham
- Polaroid Corporation, in Waltham
- Raytheon, in Waltham (Headquarters)
- Staples, Inc., in Framingham (Headquarters)
- TJX Corporation, in Framingham (Headquarters)
- WB Mason, in Brockton (Headquarters)
- Major companies inside Boston
- Bain & Company (headquarters)
- The Boston Consulting Group (headquarters)
- Fidelity Investments (headquarters)
- The Gillette Company, now owned by Procter & Gamble (headquarters)
- Houghton Mifflin (headquarters)
- John Hancock Financial Services, Inc, now the United States division of Canada's Manulife Financial
- Liberty Mutual
- New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc (headquarters)
- State Street Corporation
- Teradyne
[edit] Sports
Annual sporting events include:
- The Boston Marathon follows a course from Hopkinton to Boston
- The Head of the Charles Regatta
[edit] Higher education
- Babson College in Wellesley
- Bentley College in Waltham
- Berklee College of Music in Boston
- Boston College in Chestnut Hill
- Boston Conservatory in Boston
- Boston University in Boston
- Brandeis University in Waltham
- Curry College in Milton
- Emerson College in Boston
- Emmanuel College in Boston
- Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham
- Harvard University in Cambridge
- Hebrew College in Newton
- Lasell College in Newton
- Lesley University in Cambridge
- Massachusetts Bay Community College
- Massachusetts College of Art in Boston
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge
- Mount Ida College in Newton
- New England Conservatory of Music in Boston
- New England School of Law in Boston
- Northeastern University in Boston
- Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in Boston
- Simmons College in Boston
- Suffolk University in Boston
- Tufts University in Medford
- University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus
- Wellesley College in Wellesley
- Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
- Wheelock College in Boston
[edit] Historical figures and celebrities
- John Adams - 2nd President of the United States
- John Quincy Adams - 6th President of the United States
- Samuel Adams - Brewer, Patriot
- Aerosmith - Rock Band
- Boston (band) - Rock Band
- Ben Affleck - Actor
- Louisa May Alcott - Writer
- Charles Bulfinch - Architect
- John Singleton Copley - Painter
- Matt Damon - Actor
- Dispatch - Rock Band
- James Dole - Founder of Dole Food Company
- Michael Dukakis - Former Massachusetts Governor, Democratic candidate in the 1988 election
- Mary Dyer - Religious Martyr
- Ralph Waldo Emerson - Transcendentalist
- Benjamin Franklin - Statesman, Scientist
- Buckminster Fuller - Inventor
- Matt Hasselbeck - NFL Quarterback
- Nathaniel Hawthorne - Writer
- Oliver Wendell Holmes - Writer
- Winslow Homer - Painter
- Edward M. Kennedy - United States Senator
- John F. Kennedy - 35th President of the United States
- John F. Kerry - United States Senator, Democratic candidate in the 2004 election
- Amos Lawrence - Philanthropist
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Poet
- Robert Lowell - Poet
- Cotton Mather - Preacher, Writer
- Leonard Nimoy - Actor
- Tip O'Neill - Longest serving Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Theodore Parker - Transcendentalist
- Pixies - Rock Band
- Sylvia Plath - Writer
- Edgar Allan Poe - Writer
- Paul Revere - Revolutionary
- Louis Sullivan - Architect
- Donna Summer - Singer
- Henry David Thoreau - Writer
- Uma Thurman - Actress
- Barbara Walters - Newscaster
- Mark Wahlberg - Actor
- Donnie Wahlberg - Actor
- Daniel Webster - Statesman
- James McNeill Whistler - Painter
- Ted Williams - Boston Red Sox player
- Conan O'Brien - Comedian
- Howie Long - NFL Hall of Famer, Fox NFL Sports Commentator
[edit] Transportation
See also: Boston transportation
[edit] Highways
- Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Interstate 93 within Boston)
- Interstate 95: North to New Hampshire and Maine; south to Providence, Rhode Island and beyond. Largely concurrent with MA-128
- U.S. Route 1
- Interstate 93: North to New Hampshire; south to Canton
- US Route 3
- Massachusetts Route 2: Northwest and west
- The Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90): West to Framingham, Massachusetts and beyond
- Massachusetts Route 9: Western suburbs
- Massachusetts Route 24: South toward Newport, Rhode Island
- Massachusetts Route 3: Southeast through South Shore to Cape Cod
- Massachusetts Route 128 (I-95/I-93): Circumferential Highway (close to Boston)
- Interstate 495: Circumferential (farther from Boston)
- Route 128 is sometimes regarded as the unofficial boundary of the Greater Boston region, especially to the north and south. When the name Greater Boston is used in a more inclusive sense, I-495 is sometimes regarded as the boundary.
[edit] Bridges and tunnels
[edit] Airports
- Logan International Airport in Boston
- Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire
- T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island
- Hanscom Field in Bedford
- Norwood Memorial Airport
- Worcester Regional Airport
[edit] Rail transportation
- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA, The T)
- Red Line: Boston–Cambridge and Braintree
- Orange Line: Boston (Jamaica Plain)–Malden
- Green Line: Brookline and Newton–Cambridge
- Blue Line: Boston–Revere
- MBTA Commuter Rail
- Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line serving Plymouth County
- Attleboro/Stoughton Line serving northern Bristol County, connecting to Providence, Rhode Island
- Frankline Line serving western Norfolk County
- Framingham/Worcester Line serving southwestern Middlesex County, connecting to Worcester
- Fitchburg Line serving northwestern Middlesex County, connecting to Fitchburg
- Lowell Line serving northern Middlesex County
- Haverhill/Reading Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line serving Essex County
- Amtrak
The first railway line in the United States was in Quincy. See Neponset River.
