Book-Online-Hotel.com Information United States Boston

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 232.1 km² (89.6 mi²). 125.4 km² (48.4 mi²) of it is land and 106.7 km² (41.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 46.0% water. With an elevation of 19 feet (5.8 m) above sea level at Logan International Airport, Boston is bordered by the cities of Winthrop, Revere, Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge, Watertown, Newton, Brookline, Needham, Dedham, Canton, Milton, and Quincy—often known as, and considered a part of, Greater Boston.
Much of the Back Bay and South End are built on reclaimed land—two and a half of Boston's three original hills were used as a source of material for landfill. Only Beacon Hill, the smallest of the three original hills, remains partially intact. The downtown area and immediate surroundings consist mostly of low-rise brick or stone buildings, with many older buildings in the Federal style. Several of these buildings mix in with modern high-rises, notably in the Financial District, Government Center, Back Bay, and the South Boston waterfront. To this day, the South End Historical District remains the nation's largest surviving contiguous Victorian-era neighborhood. Smaller commercial areas are interspersed amongst single-family homes and wooden/brick multifamily row houses.
The Charles River separates Boston proper from Cambridge, Watertown, and the neighborhood of Charlestown. To the east lies Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands, many of which are part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service. The Neponset River forms the boundary between Boston's southern neighborhoods and the cities of Quincy and Milton. The Mystic River separates the neighborhoods of East Boston and Charlestown from Chelsea and Everett.

Climate

Looking at Boston's Back Bay from Cambridge in the winter

Looking at Boston's Back Bay from Cambridge in the winter Boston experiences a continental climate that is very common in New England. The weather in Boston, like much of New England, changes rapidly. It is not uncommon for the city to experience temperature swings of 30 °C (54 °F) or more over the course of a couple of days. Summers are typically warm and humid, while winters are cold, windy and snowy. It has been known to snow in October and get quite mild in February. The hottest month is July, with an average high of 28 °C (82 °F) and a low of 18 °C (64 °F). The coldest month is January, with an average high of 2.2 °C (36 °F) and a low of -5.6 °C (22 °F).[2] Brief periods exceeding 35 °C in summer and below -20 °C in winter are not uncommon, but rarely prolonged. The record high temperature is 39 °C (102 °F) recorded in 1926 and the record low temperature is -28 °C (-18 °F) recorded in 1934. The city averages 1080 mm (42 in) of rainfall a year. It also coincidentally averages 108 cm (42 in) of snowfall a year, though this increases dramatically as one goes inland away from the city. Massachusetts' geographic location's jutting out into the North Atlantic also make the city very prone to Noreaster weather systems that can dump more than 50 cm (20 in) of snow on the region in one storm event. Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year Avg high [°C](°F)
2 (36)
4 (39)
8 (46)
13 (56)
19 (67)
25 (77)
28 (82)
27 (80)
23 (73)
17 (62)
11 (52)
6 (42)
15 (59) Avg low temperature [°C](°F)
-6 (22)
-4 (24)
-1 (31)
5 (41)
10 (50)
15 (59)
18 (65)
18 (64)
14 (57)
8 (46)
3 (38)
-2 (28)
6 (44) Rainfall (millimeters)(inches)
99.6 (3.92)
83.8 (3.30)
97.8 (3.85)
91.4 (3.60)
82.3 (3.24)
81.8 (3.22)
77.7 (3.06)
85.6 (3.37)
88.1 (3.47)
96.3 (3.79)
101.1 (3.98)
94.7 (3.73)
1080.2 (42.53)

Law and government

Boston has a "strong mayor" system in which the mayor is vested with extensive executive powers. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by plurality voting. The city council is elected every two years. There are nine district seats, each elected by the residents of that district through plurality voting, and four at-large seats. Each voter casts up to four votes for at-large councilors, no more than one vote per candidate. The candidates with the four highest vote totals are elected. The president of the city council, currently Michael F. Flaherty, is elected by the councilors from within themselves. The school committee is appointed by the mayor, as are city department heads.

Massachusetts State House

Massachusetts State House In addition to city government, numerous state authorities and commissions play a role in the life of Bostonians, including the John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building and the Thomas P. O'Neil Federal Building. The city also serves as the home of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, as well as the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (the First District of the Federal Reserve). The city is in the Eighth and Ninth Congressional districts.
Boston's low crime rate in the last years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st has been credited to its police department's collaboration with neighborhood groups and church parishes to prevent youths from joining gangs, as well as heavy involvement from the District Attorney's office. The current DA for Suffolk County and Boston, Daniel F. Conley, spent nearly ten years working at reducing gang violence in the city. This helped lead in part to what has been touted as the "Boston Miracle." Murders in the city dropped from 152 in 1990 (for a murder rate of 26.5 per 100,000 people) to just 31—not one of them a juvenile—in 1999 (for a murder rate of 5.26 per 100,000).
In more recent years, however, the annual murder count has fluctuated by as much as 50% compared to the year before, with 60 murders in 2002, followed by just 39 in 2003, 64 in 2004, and 75 in 2005. Though the figures are nowhere near the high-water mark set in 1990, the aberrations in the murder rate have been unsettling for many Bostonians and have prompted discussion over whether the Boston Police Department should reevaluate its approach to fighting crime.[4][5][6]
Boston has eight Taiwan). The city has thrice been a recipient of the All-America City Award, the oldest and most respected civic award in the U.S.
County government: Suffolk County Clerk of Courts:
Michael Joseph Donovan County Treasurer:
District Attorney:
Daniel F. Conley Registrar of Deeds:
Francis Roache Registrar of Probate:
Richard Iannella Sheriff:
Andrea J. Cabral State government Representative(s) in General Court:
Anthony Petruccelli, Salvatore DiMasi, Brian Wallace, Marie St. Fleur, Shirley Owens-Hicks, Gloria Fox, Paul Demakis, Byron Rushing, Michael Rush, Elizabeth Malia, Linda Dorcena-Forry, Martin Walsh, Angelo Scaccia, Jeffrey Sanchez, Kevin Honan, Michael Moran Senator(s) in General Court:
Eugene L. O'Flaherty, Marian Walsh, Steven A. Tolman, John Hart, Jr., Dianne Wilkerson, Robert Travaglini Governor's Councilor(s):
Michael J. Callahan, Kelly A. Timilty, Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney Federal government Member(s) of the U.S. House of Representatives:
Michael Capuano (D-8th District),
Steven Lynch (D-9th District) U.S. Senators:
Edward Kennedy (D)
John Kerry (D) See also: List of Mayors of Boston, Massachusetts

Education

Colleges and universities

Boston's reputation as the Athens of America derives in large part from the teaching and research activities of over 100 colleges and universities located in its metropolitan area. Boston College was the first institution of higher education established in the city. It was originally located in the South End before moving to Chestnut Hill, on the city's western edge. Its campus, initially envisioned as an Oxford in America, subsequently expanded so that almost half of it is now within the city's political boundaries. Boston University, now the city's second largest employer and one of the largest private universities in the country, was originally established in Vermont before moving to Brookline and later to its present campus in the Back Bay in the 1950s. Harvard University, the nation's oldest institution of higher learning, is based across the Charles River in Cambridge; however, most of its current land holdings lie in Boston. These holdings include the Arnold Arboretum, and its business and medical schools. Harvard recently announced plans to expand its main campus across the Charles River into Boston's Allston neighborhood, which already hosts some of the university's dormitories and sports facilities. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) operates several major laboratories within the city. Emerson College, a highly regarded arts & communications school, maintains a campus near the Theatre District at the southwest corner of Boston Common. Northeastern University, a large private university with a distinctive work/study program, maintains a campus in the Fenway district. Suffolk University, a small private university known for its law school, maintains a campus on Beacon Hill. The city is also home to a number of conservatories and art schools, including the Massachusetts College of Art, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music.

Primary and secondary schools

Boston Public Schools, the oldest public school system in the U.S., enrolls 58,600 students from kindergarten to grade 12. The system operates 145 schools, which includes Boston Latin School (the oldest public school, established in 1635), English High (the oldest public high school, established 1821), and Mather (the oldest public elementary school, established in 1639).[7] The city also has private, parochial, and charter schools. 3000 students of racial minorities attend participating suburban schools through the Metropolitan Educational Opportunity Council, or METCO. See also: List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston

Infrastructure

Health and medicine

As the home to some of the world's most respected research Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital nearby. Boston also has VA medical centers in the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury neighborhoods.
Many of Boston's major medical facilities are associated with universities. The facilities in the Longwood Medical Area and MGH are world-renowned research medical centers affiliated with Harvard Medical School. New England Medical Center, located in the southern portions of the Chinatown neighborhood, is affiliated with Tufts University. Boston Medical Center, located in the South End neighborhood, is the primary teaching facility for the Boston University School of Medicine as well as the largest trauma center in the Boston area; it was formed by the merger of Boston University Hospital and Boston City Hospital.

Transportation

Longfellow Bridge across the Charles River, with two MBTA Red Line trains. The Beacon Hill neighborhood is in the background.

Longfellow Bridge across the Charles River, with two MBTA Red Line trains. The Beacon Hill neighborhood is in the background.
Main article: Boston transportation

Bedford. T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, and Manchester Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, are airports outside Massachusetts which serve as secondary facilities.
Boston's streets appear as though they were not planned, evolving from centuries-old foot and cow paths. Except for the reclaimed Back Bay and part of South Boston, the city has no street grid. Boston has been described as a "City of Squares", referring to the tradition of naming the intersections of major thoroughfares after prominent city residents. Roads change names and lose and add lanes seemingly at random. The city also has a number of rotaries, which have confused many drivers. In its March 2006 issue, Bicycling magazine named Boston as one of the three worst cities in U.S. for cycling, though the city does have a huge cult following of the activity, especially fixed gear.
Boston is the eastern terminus of I-90, also known as the Mass Pike. I-95, which surrounds the city, is locally referred to by its historical state route numbering, Route 128. US 1 and I-93 runs north to south through the city. The most infamous portion, the Central Artery, runs through downtown Boston and was constantly prone to heavy traffic. Through the Big Dig the elevated highway was replaced with an underground tunnel.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operated the nation's first underground subway system, which has since been expanded to an extensive rapid transit system reaching as far north as Malden, as far south as Braintree, and as far west as Newton. Collectively known as the "T", the MBTA also operates an extensive network of bus lines and water shuttles, and a commuter rail network extending north to the Merrimack River valley, west to Worcester, and south to Providence, Rhode Island.
Amtrak's Chicago lines originate at South Station and stop at Back Bay. Fast Northeast Corridor trains, which service York City">New York City, Washington, D.C., and points in between, also stop at Route 128 Station in the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Meanwhile, Amtrak's Downeaster service to Maine originates at North Station.

Utilities

Water supply and sewage-disposal services are provided by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. The Commission in turn purchases wholesale water and sewage disposal from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). Established as a public authority in 1984, the MWRA pipes water from reservoirs in Western and Central Massachusetts, notably the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs, for several communities within Greater Boston. The agency operates several facilities for sewage treatment, notably an effluent tunnel in Boston Harbor and the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant near the mouth of Boston Harbor.
United States mobile phone companies">national wireless companies. Cable television is available from Comcast and RCN. Broadband Internet access is provided by Comcast and RCN in certain areas. Satellite television is available from Dish Network and DirecTV. A variety of DSL providers and resellers are able to provide broadband Internet over Verizon-owned phone lines.

Notes

^ The History of Land Fill in Boston iBoston.org. Accessed January 9, 2006. Also see Boston: History of the Landfills
^ Records and Averages - Boston (2005). Yahoo! Weather. Accessed September 13, 2005.
^ Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990 (June 1998). U.S. Census Bureau.
^ Winship, Christopher (March 2002). End of a Miracle? Harvard University.
^ Boston Police Department's Monthly Crime Statistics (2005). CityOfBoston.gov.
^ Boston MA Crime Statistics (2004 - New Crime Data). areaConnect.com.
^ The Boston Public Schools at a Glance (2004). Boston Public School. Accessed October 5, 2005.
^ Arbitron - Market Ranks and Schedule, 1-50 (Fall 2005).
^ Nielsen Media - DMA Listing (September 24, 2005).
^ Boston Skyscrapers. Skyscrapers.com. Accessed May 15, 2005.
^ 1903 World Series - Major League Baseball: World Series History. MLB.com.

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Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston (GFDL)

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