Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the political capital and largest city of the state of Massachusetts in the USA. It is also the business and cultural center of the entire New England region. Founded in 1630, Boston is named after the Lincolnshire, UK town of the same name from where the Pilgrim Fathers originated. The city proper has approximately 600,000 residents. The Greater Boston metropolitan area, including nearby cities like Cambridge, Massachusetts, has approximately 3.5 million residents.

The city fancies itself an avatar of the 21st century. High tech, education, finance and medical research and health care are key industries and Boston has world-renowned cultural attractions (including the Museum of Fine Arts and the Boston Symphony Orchestra). And yet Boston suffers from a parochialism that one would never see in New York or Los Angeles. City and state officials are forever fretting about whether or not Boston is really a "world-class" city (usually when trying to convince a skeptical electorate to back some expensive project or another).

Transportation in Boston

City Government

Boston has a "strong mayor" system in which the mayor is the dominant force in city government. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by plurality voting. The City Council is elected every two years. There are nine ward, or neighborhood, seats, each elected by plurality voting by the residents of that ward. There are four at-large seats. Each voter casts up to four votes for at-large councillors, no more than one vote per candidate. The top four vote-getters are elected. The President of the City Council is elected by the Councillors from within themselves. The School Committee is appointed by the mayor, as are city department heads.

In addition to city government, numerous state authorities and commissions play a role in the life of Bostonians, including the Metropolitan Water Resources Authority (water and sewer) and the Metropolitan District Commission (parks).

Colleges

• [Babson College]? ([Wellesley, Massachusetts]?)
• [Bentley College]? ([Waltham, Massachusetts]?)
• [Berklee College of Music]?
• [Boston College]?
• [Boston Conservatory]?
• [Boston University]?
• [Brandeis University]? ([Waltham, Massachusetts]?)
• [Curry College]? ([Milton, Massachusetts]?)
• [Emerson College]?
• [Eastern Nazarene College]? ([Quincy, Massachusetts]?)
• [Emmanuel College]?
• [Endicott College]? ([Beverly, Massachusetts]?)
• [Framingham State College]? ([Framingham, Massachusetts]?)
• [Harvard Business School]?
• Harvard University (in Cambridge, Massachusetts)
• [Lasell College]? ([Newton, Massachusetts]?)
• [Lesley College]? (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
• [Massachusetts College of Art]?
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (in Cambridge, Massachusetts)
• [Mount Ida College]? ([Newton, Massachusetts]?)
• [Northeastern University]?
• [New England Conservatory of Music]?
• [Newbury College]? ([Brookline, Massachusetts]?)
• [Pine Manor College]? ([Newton, Massachusetts]?)
• [Radcliffe College]? (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
• [Regis College]? ([Weston, Massachusetts]?)
• [Salem State College]? ([Salem, Massachusetts]?)
• [School of the Museum of Fine Arts]?
• [Simmons College]?
• [Suffolk University]?
• [Tufts University]? (in [Medford, Massachusetts]?)
• [University of Massachusetts at Boston]?
• [Wellesley College]? ([Wellesley, Massachusetts]?)
• [Wentworth Institute of Technology]?
• [Wheaton College]? ([Norton, Massachusetts]?)
• [Wheelock College]?

Two-year colleges

• [Bay State College]?
• [Bunker Hill Community College]?
• [Dean College]? ([Franklin, Massachusetts]?)
• [Fisher College]?
• [Laboure College]?
• [Massachusetts Bay Community College]? ([Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts]?)
• [Massasoit Community College]? ([Brockton, Massachusetts]?)
• [Middlesex Community College]? ([Bedford, Massachusetts]?)
• [Mount Ida College]? ([Newton, Massachusetts]?)
• [North Shore Community College]? ([Danvers, Massachusetts]?)
• [Quincy College]? ([Quincy, Massachusetts]?)

Newspapers and Media

• The Boston Globe
• The Boston Herald

Professional Sports Franchises

• [Boston Bruins]? (Ice Hockey)
• [Boston Celtics]? (Basketball)
• Boston Red Sox (Baseball)
• New England Patriots (American football)
• [New England Revolution]? (Soccer)

Links

• City's official website, http://www.boston.gov/
• Commercial portal, http://www.boston.com/
• City guide, http://yourtown.boston.com/
• City guide, http://www.boston-online.com

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