West End

A neighborhood with a particularly checkered past, the West End was first a home to well-off residents avoiding the crowded areas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Architect Charles Bulfinch, whose name is on landmarks around town, was instrumental in much of this growth, overseeing the construction of Bulfinch Triangle, now on the National Register of Historic Places, and Mass. General Hospital, whose campus occupies nearly 20% of the neighborhood. The mid-1800s saw the wealthy populace move towards Back Bay and Beacon Hill, while the West End became among the city’s most diverse areas as a range of immigrants arrived.

By the mid-1900s, it had become a neighborhood for the working poor. In the 1950s, almost the entire neighborhood was razed, displacing 2,700 families (to great controversy), and new shopping and high-rises replaced them. The years around the millennium saw the construction of the arena now known as TD Garden above North Station (yes, North Station is in the West End), and the Big Dig, which included building the famous Zakim Bridge (pictured left) and moving the I-93 artery underground. The last decade has seen an explosion of growth around TD Garden, with multiple new high-rises, a food hall, supermarket, and a number of restaurants moving in. The area gets very busy during Celtics and Bruins games, so plan accordingly!