Tremont St, South End

Tremont Street, on which I live, is a long street that runs for several miles from downtown Boston out to Roxbury and beyond. This review is focused on a short section between Arlington Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Boston. This area is a great place to live. This part of Tremont Street runs through the area that is known as Boston's South End, Not to be confused with South Boston. There are some things that make this area the most desireable place to live in Boston and some things that distract from the location. First the good things.

Location Location Location. This stretch of Tremont St is a perfect location to sample the best resturants in Boston and the northeast! Hammersleys is just one of dozens of upscale resturants in this area. Julia Childs once said that she found Hammersleys to be her favorite. There are all sorts of services and stores along this street from upscale Clothing stores, florists, hair salons, barbers, markets, Sidewalk cafe's, bakeries and photography studios, theatre, art galleries, and much much more. Public transportation, parking and walking are all available here. Walking is the mode of transortation that would be the best for taking in the sights and sounds of Tremont Street. Most resturants offer valet and there are garages in the area. You will not need a car if you live here. The street is lined with Beautiful Victorian Brownstones, dotted with church steeples, with wide sidewalks with beautiful tree lined side streets which in the past 3-5 years have been carefully rehabed and the entire area has been gentrified. It is a very very culturally diverse neighborhood that houses low income housing as well as million dollar condos. Young couples as well as older bostonians will love the neighborhood feel here. The South end has also been known as the center for Bostons gay community. There are several art studios that are in the area as well. It is not uncommon for the lights to be lighting up the night sky from in front of the Boston Center for the Arts on opening night with the theater goers dressed up and walking the area before and after the shows.

Some of the issues along this street is street noise such as traffic and maybe a few loud people. As in any dense urban setting the noise is constant. Tremont is a thoroughfare through this area of the city. Traffic is 24-7 but once inside your house, a resturant or onto a side street it is un-noticable. Trash is another issue but occational phone calls to the city to ask for a hand sweep can help alliveiate this problem. The businesses along the area are quick to sweep any unsightly trash but it often blows into the yards of the brownstones. There is some street crime but mostly limited to some car breaks that happen in the dark alleys, minor vandalisim and graffiti. Like in any urban environment you need to know your surroundings. This area is safe to walk any time day or night. Just keep your wits about you.

Don't park near a church on Sunday, The church patrons will double park you in and it is allowed. Although if you go to the church they will move the vehicles for you if your cars are blocked in. A lot of neighbors feel this is a travesty but I feel it adds to the charm of the neighborhood.

I highly recommend a visit to Tremont street in this area to sample the resturants and the culture. The neighborhood offers all sots of walking tours from Garden tours to gallery tours during the year. Come for a visit and see for yourself. Maybe you will decide to live here too.