Despite the lack of the water views of north Back Bay, Prudential/St. Botolph still exudes a luxurious and upscale feeling when you visit there. The neighborhood is full of some of the highest buildings in Boston, great shopping and features some stunning apartment and condo buildings. However, if older architecture is more your style, never fear, there is plenty of that to be seen in this neighborhood as well. The neighborhood features a lot of architectural diversity for such a small neighborhood, which is a definite benefit for those who live here.
The demographics of this neighborhood are not as diverse as some of the various neighborhoods in Boston. The most common age group in this neighborhood is 25-34 years old, which makes it a very common place for young professionals to reside in. Also, 75% of the neighborhood is Caucasian and speaks English. Also, most of the neighborhood rents their properties instead of owning (likely because owning in this neighborhood is quite costly).
However, the household income numbers in this neighborhood are quite interesting. In fact, over 30% of those living here earn less than $25,000 a year, which is the most common income range in the neighborhood. However, the second most common income range of the residents is over $150,000 (27% of residents).
The land where this neighborhood sits used to be inhabited by the Native Americans thousands of years ago, which is common among the neighborhoods in Boston as it was one of the first inhabited lands in this country. Like the rest of the Back Bay neighborhood, Prudential/St. Botolph used to be a milling zone before it was designed to become an upscale neighborhood and residential area for the wealthy to live. This reputation as a desirable neighborhood has continued to this day.
While you don’t need to be extremely wealthy to live in this neighborhood, it definitely helps things. This is because the rent in Prudential/St. Botolph is quite high and well over half the people living in this neighborhood pay over $1500 a month in rent. Remember, that doesn’t mean the average rent is $1500, it means most people pay over that amount. Of course, cheap rent can be found here, but it is likely to leave a lot to be desired.
Being that this neighborhood is right near the heart of Boston, using public transportation is the most popular mode of transportation, as 36% of people use it for their commute. This is definitely helped by the fact that there are numerous subway and bus routes that travel near this neighborhood, so you can easily get to anywhere fast.
Driving a car is surprisingly the second most common way of getting around in this neighborhood, closely followed by walking. However, once you account that over a quarter of the neighborhood makes over $150,000 a year, it makes sense that many of them would elect to drive as opposed to walking, taking a taxi or any other modes of transportation. However, the neighborhood is very friendly for walkers as well, and it is something everyone should do at least once to check out all the very cool architecture you might miss if you drive or take the subway.
- Northeastern University
- Berklee College of Music
- Boston University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Copley Place is one of the largest complexes in all of Boston. In addition to hosting an upscale shopping mall, there are office buildings and even two hotels. This place is also home to a fair amount of outdoor walking space, which is fairly rare in this neighborhood with very few public parks.
- However, there is one large park that borders the neighborhood. Titus Sparrow Park features a number of different sports courts, beautiful gardens and ample green space to go for walks, have a picnic and more.
- The Prudential Center is among the tallest buildings in the neighborhood. At the top of the building, 52 floors above the ground is where you’ll find the Top of the Hub. The Top of the Hub is one of the premiere locations in Boston to dine and take in some jazz music. Oh, and the views aren’t too bad either.
- As you could expect with the large amount of wealthy residents, there are a number of cool and upscale bars and restaurants to visit in this neighborhood. There are also bars and restaurants for other tastes and price ranges too.
- The John B. Hynes Memorial Convention Center is among the premier convention centers in the country and holds a variety of events and has a ton of meeting rooms as well. The sheer size of this near 200,000 square foot space is truly a special sight.
