Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Different Voice
Mytown
multicultural youth walking tours (
&
617/536-8696,
ext. 11; www.
mytowninc.org) offers tours led by a local high school student. The Youth
Guide program trains participants in historical research and encourages them
to put a personal spin on their narration. The result is a uniquely fascinating
take on the city. Tours ($15) operate from late April to October; check ahead
for tour details, meeting times, and reservations.
Tips
the buildings here are younger than those higher up, but many are just as eye-catch-
ing. MTV fans might recognize the converted firehouse at Mount Vernon and River
streets as a former
Real World
location (it's also a one-time
Spenser: For Hire
set).
T: Red Line to Charles/MGH, Green Line to Park Street, or Blue Line to Bowdoin
(weekdays only).
THE SOUTH END
One of Boston's most diverse neighborhoods is also one of its largest, but fans of Vic-
torian architecture won't mind the sore feet they'll have after trekking around the
South End.
The neighborhood was laid out in the mid-19th century, before the Back Bay.
While the newer area's grid echoes the boulevards of Paris, the South End tips its hat
to London. The main streets are broad, and pocket parks dot the side streets. Late-
20th-century gentrification saw many South End brownstones reclaimed from squalor
and converted into luxury condominiums, driving out many longtime residents and
making construction materials as widespread as falling leaves. Even on the few remain-
ing run-down buildings, you'll see wonderful details.
With Back Bay Station to your left, walk down
Dartmouth Street,
crossing
Columbus Avenue. Proceed on Dartmouth and explore some of the streets that extend
to the left, including
Chandler, Lawrence, and Appleton streets.
This area is known
as
Clarendon Park.
Turn left on any of these streets and walk to
Clarendon Street.
Its intersection with Tremont Street is the part of the South End you're most likely to
see if you're not out exploring. This is the area where businesses and restaurants sur-
round the
Boston Center for the Arts
(p. 221). The BCA's
Cyclorama
building (the
interior is dome-shaped), at 539 Tremont St., is listed on the National Register of His-
toric Places. Here you can see a show, have a meal, or continue your expedition, per-
haps to do a little shopping on Tremont Street, Shawmut Avenue, or Washington
Street. You can wander and explore all the way to Mass. Ave. From there, take the no.
1 bus to the Back Bay or into Cambridge, or the Orange Line downtown.
T: Orange Line to Back Bay or Green Line to Copley.
JAMAICA PLAIN
You can combine a visit to the Arnold Arboretum (p. 163) with a stroll around
Jamaica Pond or along Centre Street. Culturally diverse Jamaica Plain abounds with
interesting architecture and open space. The pond is especially pleasant in good
weather, when people walk, run, skate, fish, picnic, and sunbathe. Many of the 19th-
century mansions overlooking the pond date to the days when families fled the
oppressive heat downtown and moved to the “country” for the summer.
