Greater Boston

• 1. Introduction

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  Greater Boston counted 4,941,632 residents in the 2020 United States census, which made it the tenth most populous metropolitan statistical area in the country. That number looks exact, but the region it describes has no single agreed edge. Agencies draw the boundary in different places, and each choice changes the headcount by millions. Why does one region carry so many maps? How did a stretch of New England shape American politics, science and sport? And who actually lives inside the lines? This documentary follows those questions from the harbor to the suburbs and out to the farthest commuter towns.

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• 2. Three Maps

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  The city of Boston covers 48.4 square miles and had 675,647 residents in 2020. That is only the center of a much larger picture.

  The tightest map belongs to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The Massachusetts legislature created this regional body to oversee transportation infrastructure and economic development. Its territory takes in 101 cities and towns, grouped into eight subregions, and most of the land inside the outer circumferential highway, I-495.

  In 2013 that district held 3.2 million people, which was 48% of the whole state. It spreads across 1422 square miles. Of that land, 39% is forested, and another 11% is water, wetland or other open space.

  The Census Bureau offers a looser map. Its county-based metro area includes Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties in Massachusetts, plus Rockingham and Strafford counties in New Hampshire. A town-based version, called a New England City and Town Area, keeps every planning-council community. It adds the Merrimack Valley, the Taunton area, and parts of southern New Hampshire reaching north to Milford and Hampton.

  The widest map follows commuting patterns. The Boston-Worcester-Providence combined statistical area stretches across eighteen counties in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. It reaches from Barnstable County on Cape Cod to Belknap County in New Hampshire and Washington County in Rhode Island. The Providence, Manchester, Cape Cod and Worcester areas all sit inside it. In 2020 it held 8,493,824 people, seventh among combined statistical areas.

  The climate across all of this is humid continental, classed as Dfa and Dfb under the Köppen system. Humidity and precipitation stay high year-round.

  Local geography has its own vocabulary too. The Lakes Region and the Seacoast name parts of New Hampshire, while the Blackstone Valley and East Bay name parts of Rhode Island. In Massachusetts, labels such as MetroWest, Cape Ann, the North Shore and the South Coast sort out the rest.

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• 3. Firsts and Famous Causes

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  Plymouth, in 1620, became the site of the first colony in New England. The Pilgrims who founded it had crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower.

  In 1692 the town of Salem and its surrounding area went through the Salem witch trials. They remain one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria.

  By the late 18th century, Boston had earned the nickname "Cradle of Liberty". The name came from the agitation in the city that led to the American Revolution.

  The region kept producing movements long after independence. Before the American Civil War it was a center for abolitionist, temperance and transcendentalist causes. It also hosted many people and sites important to American literature.

  Political dynasties grew here as well. The Adams and Kennedy families both hailed from the Boston region.

  The habit of setting precedents continued into the 21st century. A decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, sitting in Boston, made Massachusetts the first state to legally recognize same-sex marriage in 2004.

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• 4. The Campus Region

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  Harvard University, founded in Cambridge in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It also holds the largest financial endowment of any university.

  Its Law School has produced a contemporaneous majority of United States Supreme Court Justices. Across the Cambridge border in the same city, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology competes for the same reputation. Both schools rank among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world.

  The region's academic depth goes well beyond those two names. Community colleges and two-year schools sit alongside internationally prominent undergraduate and graduate institutions. Graduate programs cover law, medicine, business, technology, international relations, public health, education and religion.

  Greater Boston contains seven R1 research institutions under the Carnegie Classification. That is by far the highest number in any single metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

  Kendall Square in Cambridge shows what that concentration can produce. Since 2010 it has attracted so many entrepreneurial start-ups that it has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet".

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• 5. Employers and Industries

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  Moderna keeps its headquarters in Cambridge, only a short distance from the labs where much of the region's biotechnology work happens. Massachusetts and the Greater Boston region are global leaders in biotechnology, health care, engineering, higher education, finance and maritime trade.

  Cambridge also hosts offices for Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has its headquarters in the region, and Biogen Idec keeps its North American headquarters in Weston.

  Finance has deep roots here. Fidelity Investments, State Street Corporation and Liberty Mutual all list headquarters in the area. John Hancock Financial Services is now the United States division of Canada's Manulife Financial.

  Consumer brands cluster around the city too. Bose has its headquarters in Framingham, as do TJX Corporation and Staples. Dunkin' Brands is based in Canton, and Wayfair is headquartered in the region. Footwear companies include New Balance, Converse and the US headquarters of Reebok. The Gillette Company, now owned by Procter & Gamble, is also on the list.

  Technology and industry fill out the roster. iRobot and Keurig operate from Burlington, and Raytheon and Thermo Fisher Scientific are headquartered in Waltham.

  The David Clark Company in Worcester manufactures space suits.

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• 6. Who Lives Here

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  Between 210,000 and 261,000 people in Greater Boston belong to the Jewish community, which is 5-6% of the metro population. The national figure is about 2%. Against national trends, the local Jewish population is growing. One reason is that 60% of children in Jewish mixed-faith families are raised Jewish here, compared with roughly one in three nationally.

  The 2020 PRRI Atlas found that 35% of the Boston metro area identified as Protestant. Another 26% identified as Catholic.

  The city of Boston has one of the largest LGBT populations per capita in the country. With 12.3% of residents identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual, it ranks fifth among major cities. San Francisco sits ahead of it, and Seattle, Atlanta and Minneapolis are only slightly ahead.

  Census tracts show where ancestries cluster. One tract in South Boston is 68% Irish, and tracts in Milton, Charlestown and Dorchester reach 63%. A tract in Johnston, Rhode Island, is 63% Italian. In New Bedford, one tract is 72% Portuguese. A tract in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is 66% French or French Canadian by first ancestry.

  Other tracts tell different stories. In Lawrence, a tract is 94% Hispanic or Latino, and tracts in Chelsea reach 83%. A Mattapan tract is 84% Black. In the South End, one tract is 70% Asian American, Chinatown has a tract at 58%, and tracts in Lowell reach 55%.

  The list of the most diverse tracts names Pawtucket, Mission Hill, Providence and Worcester. Dorchester takes first place, and Brockton and Dorchester both appear again and again further down.

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• 7. Getting Around

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  Logan International Airport sits 3 miles northeast of downtown Boston and is described as New England's largest transportation center. Other airports serve the wider area. They include Manchester-Boston Regional in New Hampshire, T. F. Green in Warwick, Rhode Island, Hanscom Field in Bedford, and Norwood Memorial. Worcester Regional, Beverly Regional and Lawrence Municipal complete the list.

  The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, or MBTA, is the primary transit operator. It runs the subway and the bus network in Boston and its inner suburbs, along with the Commuter Rail and a ferry network. Amtrak, Logan Express service to the airport, and private intercity bus and ferry lines add more options.

  Nine regional transit authorities run local buses beyond the MBTA's reach. They include the Brockton Area, Cape Ann, Lowell, Worcester and Rhode Island Public Transit authorities.

  The Longfellow Bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3 and the MBTA Red Line at once. Beneath the harbor, the Ted Williams Tunnel carries I-90. The Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel carries I-93 along with Routes 1 and 3. The Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge carries those same three routes, and the Tobin Bridge carries Route 1. Route 99 crosses the William Felton "Bill" Russell Bridge.

  The Port of Boston, run by Massport, handles ocean transportation. The Cape Cod Canal also belongs on the maritime map.

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• 8. Teams and Races

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  The Boston Bruins joined the National Hockey League in 1924 and have won 6 Stanley Cups at TD Garden's home ice. The Boston Celtics, established in 1946, share that arena and have won 18 NBA championships.

  Fenway Park has been the home of the Boston Red Sox since the club's establishment in 1901. The team has won 9 World Series championships and 14 American League pennants.

  The New England Patriots, founded in 1960, play at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. They have won 6 Super Bowl championships and 11 AFC championships. The New England Revolution, established in 1996, share that stadium. They have claimed 1 US Open Cup and 1 Supporters' Shield.

  Rugby arrived more recently. The New England Free Jacks, established in 2018, play at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy and have won 2 Major League Rugby championships.

  The Boston Marathon follows a course from Hopkinton to Boston. The Head of the Charles Regatta is another annual fixture. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval hosts the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, the Sylvania 300 and the New Hampshire Indy 225.

  At the youngest level, the Greater Boston League is a high school athletic conference in Massachusetts.

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