(Redirected from Boston metropolitan area)
'Greater Boston' is the area of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of
Boston, Massachusetts. 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. 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.
Frederick Douglass began his career as an
abolitionist in
Boston. Former President
John F. Kennedy was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts. Former President
George H. W. Bush was born in
Milton.
Malcolm X spent a significant part of his young adulthood in
Roxbury,
Boston and joined the Nation of Islam while in prison in
Charlestown. The
National Archives has a regional center in
Waltham.
Definitions
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
The most restrictive definition of the Greater Boston area is the region administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).
[ About MAPC ] The MAPC is a regional planning organization created by the
General Court of Massachusetts to oversee transportation infrastructure and economic development concerns in the Boston area. The MAPC includes 101 cities and towns that are grouped into eight subregions. These include most of the area within the region's outer circumferential highway,
I-495. The population of the MAPC is 3,066,394 (as of 2000) covering an area of 1,422 square miles,
[ of which 39% is forested and an additional 11% is water, wetland, or other open space.[1]]
The eight subregions and their principal towns are: Inner Core (Boston), Minuteman (Route 2 corridor), MetroWest (Framingham), North Shore (Peabody), North Suburban (Woburn), South Shore (Route 3 corridor), SouthWest (Franklin), and Three Rivers (Norwood).
Notably excluded from the MAPC and its partner transportation-planning body, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, are the Merrimack Valley cities of Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, much of Plymouth County, and all of Bristol County; these areas have their own regional planning bodies.
New England City and Town Area
The urbanized area surrounding Boston serves as the core of a definition used by the U.S. Census Bureau known as the New England City and Town Area. The set of towns containing the core urbanized area plus surrounding towns with strong social and economic ties to the core area is defined as the ''Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metropolitan NECTA''.[2] The Boston NECTA is further subdivided into several NECTA divisions, which are listed below. The Boston, Framingham, and Peabody NECTA divisions together correspond roughly to the MAPC area. The total population of the Boston NECTA was 4,540,941 (as of 2000).
★ Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA NECTA Division (97 towns)
★ Framingham, MA NECTA Division (13 towns)
★ Peabody, MA NECTA Division (7 towns)
★ Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Division (Old Colony region) (12 towns)
★ Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, MA-NH NECTA Division (Merrimack Valley region) (25 towns)
★ Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, MA-NH NECTA Division (part of Merrimack Valley region) (3 towns)
★ Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Division (Northern Middlesex region) (9 towns)
★ Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Division (21 towns)
★ Taunton-Norton-Raynham, MA NECTA Division (part of Southeastern region) (6 towns)
Metropolitan statistical area
An alternative definition used by the U.S. Census Bureau using counties as building blocks instead of towns is the ''Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH'' Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is further subdivided into four metropolitan divisions. The metropolitan statistical area has a total population of about 4.4 million and is the eleventh-largest in the United States. 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)
★
★
★ Norfolk County, Massachusetts
★
★
★ Plymouth County, Massachusetts
★
★
★ Suffolk County, Massachusetts
★
★ Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA Metropolitan Division (1,459,011)
★
★
★ Middlesex County, Massachusetts
★
★ Essex County, MA Metropolitan Division (738,301)
★
★
★ Essex County, Massachusetts
★
★ Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH Metropolitan Division (414,091)
★
★
★ Rockingham County, New Hampshire
★
★
★ Strafford County, New Hampshire
Combined statistical area
A wider functional 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 fifth largest in the country. This area consists of the metropolitan areas of Manchester, Worcester, and Providence, in addition to Greater Boston. The total population (as of 2005) for the extended region 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)
★
★ Merrimack County, New Hampshire
★ Laconia, NH Micropolitan Statistical Area (61,547)
★
★ Belknap County, New Hampshire
★ Manchester-Nashua, NH Metropolitan Statistical Area (401,291)
★
★ Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
★ Worcester, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (783,262)
★
★ Worcester County, Massachusetts
★ Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (1,622,520)
★
★ Bristol County, Massachusetts
★
★ Bristol County, Rhode Island
★
★ Kent County, Rhode Island
★
★ Newport County, Rhode Island
★
★ Providence County, Rhode Island
★
★ Washington County, Rhode Island
Principal cities/towns
Boston metropolitan area
''This list has been provided by the Census based on commuter populations, and is generally not what a resident of the area would consider the principal cities of the region.''
★ Boston
★ Cambridge
★ Framingham
★ Nashua
★ Newton
★ Peabody
★ Quincy
★ Waltham
''These, in decreasing order, are the ten largest cities in the Boston NECTA (2006) [1]''
★ Boston 590,763
★ Lowell 103,229
★ Cambridge 101,365
★ Brockton 94,191
★ Quincy 91,058
★ Lynn 87,991
★ Nashua, New Hampshire 87,157
★ Newton 82,819
★ Somerville 74,554
★ Lawrence 70,662
Satellite areas
''These larger cities fall within the CSA definition of Greater Boston only''
★ Fitchburg
★ Leominster
★ Fall River
★ New Bedford
★ Manchester
★ Providence
★ Warwick
★ Worcester
Major companies
CVS/pharmacy started in the Greater Boston Area, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Likewise, Dunkin Donuts and Howard Johnson's restaurants and lodgings started just outside Boston in Quincy.
★ Companies along, inside or outside I-495
★
★ 3Com, in Marlboro (Headquarters)
★
★ AMD, in Marlboro
★
★ Analog Devices, in Norwood
★
★ Avid Technology, Inc, in Tewksbury (Headquarters)
★
★ BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc., in Natick (Headquarters)
★
★ Bose Corporation, in Framingham (Headquarters)
★
★ Boston Scientific Corporation, in Natick (Headquarters)
★
★ Boston Scientific Corporation, in Marlboro
★
★ Diebold, in Marlboro (Regional Headquarters)
★
★ EMC Corporation, in Hopkinton (Headquarters)
★
★ Intel, in Hudson
★
★ TJX Corporation, in Framingham (Headquarters)
★
★ Monster.com, in Maynard, Massachusetts (Headquarters)
★
★ Staples, Inc., in Framingham (Headquarters)
★
★ TripAdvisor, LLC, in Needham (Headquarters)
★ Companies along or inside I-95 (Route 128)
★
★ Akamai Technologies, in Cambridge
★
★ BBN Technologies, in Cambridge (Headquarters)
★
★ Biogen Idec, in Cambridge
★
★ Dunkin Donuts, in Canton (Headquarters)
★
★ Genzyme Corporation, in Cambridge (Headquarters)
★
★ iRobot Corporation, in Burlington (Headquarters)
★
★ InterSystems Corporation, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Headquarters)
★
★ Meditech, in Westwood (Headquarters)
★
★ Millennium Pharmaceuticals, in Cambridge
★
★ National Amusements (Parent company of CBS), in Dedham (Headquarters)
★
★ Novartis AG, Inc, in Cambridge (Research Headquarters)
★
★ Novell, Inc., in Waltham
★
★ Raytheon, in Waltham (Headquarters)
★
★ Reebok, in Canton (U.S. Headquarters)
★
★ Sun Microsystems, in Burlington
★
★ Polaroid Corporation, in Waltham
★
★ WB Mason, in Brockton (Headquarters)
★
★ Teradyne, in North Reading (Headquarters)
★ Major companies inside Boston (Inside I-95 (Route 128))
★
★ 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 (headquarters)
★
★ New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc (headquarters)
★
★ Putnam Investments (headquarters)
★
★ State Street Corporation(headquarters)
Sports
Annual sporting events include:
★ The Boston Marathon follows a course from Hopkinton to Boston
★ The Head of the Charles Regatta
Higher education
A long time center of higher education, the area includes many community colleges, two-year schools, and internationally prominent undergraduate and graduate institutions. The graduate schools include highly regarded schools of law, medicine, business, technology, international relations, public health, education, and religion.
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
★ Eric Bogosian - actor
★ Charles Bulfinch - architect
★ Steven Carell - actor/comedian
★ John Cena- professional wrestler
★ Dane Cook - comedian
★ 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
★ Tom Glavine - MLB pitcher
★ Peter Gammons - MLB writer
★ John Hancock - statesman, 1st Governor of Massachusetts
★ Matt Hasselbeck - NFL quarterback
★ Nathaniel Hawthorne - writer
★ Nichole Hiltz - actress, ''The Riches'', ''Shallow Hal''
★ 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 United States 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
★ Samuel Wilson - Uncle Sam
★ James McNeill Whistler - painter
★ Ted Williams - Boston Red Sox player
★ Conan O'Brien - comedian
★ Howie Long - NFL Hall of Famer, Fox NFL sports commentator
★ Rev. Dr. Soliny Védrine - founder of Haitian Ministries International
Transportation
''See also: Boston transportation''
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.
Bridges and tunnels
★ Callahan Tunnel
★ Sumner Tunnel
★ Ted Williams Tunnel
★ Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge
★ Tobin Bridge
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
Rail transportation
The MBTA district, with Commuter Rail lines in purple
★ 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
★
★ Franklin 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.
Ocean transportation
★ Port of Boston (Massport)
★ Cape Cod Canal
Geography
★ Rivers
★
★ Charles River
★
★ Mystic River
★
★ Neponset River
★
★ Concord River
★
★ Merrimack River
★ Hills
★
★ Great Blue Hill
★
★ Bellevue Hill
References
1. Journey to 2030: Transportation Plan of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization Boston Region MPO
2. U.S. Census Bureau - Components of New England City and Town Areas
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