Boston is rather distinct from most other cities, even those in the northeast megalopolis, as a function of its age. Boston's been officially around for 380 ye

Boston is rather distinct from most other cities, even those in the northeast megalopolis, as a function of its age. Boston's been officially around for 380 years, and it shows. Boston's Back Bay is very distinctly French influenced, down to its Academic-style townhouses. Beacon Hill is an eclectic mix of multiple old American styles (Colonial Revival, Greek Revival and Federal). Charlestown is very distinctly Colonial. Downtown's largest influence was Art Deco of the early to mid-20th century, though there are still distinct remnants of Georgian architecture and Colonial architecture about the fringes, and the obvious example of Classical Revival that is South Station. You have places like Jamaica Plains with its fens and string of parks referred to as, "the Emerald Necklace." It has a seaport district, and neighborhoods which were distinctly built around fishing. The Leather District is Romanesque. Dorchester has its Italianate mansards, as does the South End with its additional Greek Revival and Late Victorian buildings. Mission Hill is both Colonial Revival and Late Victorian. ... and on, and on. Then throughout you have the triple-decker tenement, which is a staple of New England and the northeast in general. It's why Boston and the immediate surrounding area is as dense as it is, with cities like Cambridge at nearly 17,000 people per square mile, and Somerville at 19,300 people per square mile. Then you have things like the tree under which George Washington founded the U.S. Army (Brattle Park in Cambridge, just outside Harvard Square), with surrounding cemeteries with 400+ year old gravestones. Or windmills built in the early 18th century converted into powder houses prior to the Revolutionary War. Old 18th century mill buildings (including the one where the American flag was sewn). Random gravestones dotting sidewalks of busy and popular neighborhoods noting where people died, with gritty epitaphs like: X, a minuteman, was slain by the British. "I am too old to run." Boston's nickname is, "The Athens of America". Everyone who goes there agrees that it lives up to its nickname.