I need a method to map Boston metro area addresses to neighborhods,
either by a) phone exchange, b) zip code, c) latitude/longitude, or d)
street address. The area for which I need this information includes
Boston proper, Brookline, Cambridge, Netwon / Needham, Somerville, and
Watertown/Waltham. Neighborhood designations should be as granular as
possible (Beacon Hill, South End, Fresh Pond, Chestnut Hill, etc.).

I don't need a map of boston, nor a list of boston neighborhoods, nor
a zipcode map, nor any kind of area map.

What I need is a method to take an address ("124 Beacon Street,
Boston, MA. 99999") and/or a phone number ("617-555-1234") and/or a
latitude/longitude pair ("42.35650, -71.19850") and to determine what
neighborhood it's located in ("Back Bay").

The method will not be descriptive ("using this map, locate the
address and see what neighborhood region it falls under"), but must be
prescriptive and actionable ("here is a database that includes lookups
for zip codes (or exchanges, etc.) for specific neighborhoods", or
"here is a table of boundary latitude/longitude points for specific
neighborhoods").

The city of Boston has what are called "development neighborhoods" for
Boston proper only, but they a) don't match up perfectly with
well-known neighborhood names, and b) aren't described in terms of
their mapping to zip codes, exchanges, or lat/long references.

Thanks!

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 29 Feb 2004 14:29 PST

From my own experience in New York City and Washington DC, it seems to
me that neighborhoods are rarely precisely or formally defined, and
whatever definitions exist tend to shift with time.  It's often the
case that one group -- say, real estate agents -- may use use a term
like "Back Bay" quite differently than, say, someone writing a tourist
book of Boston.

If that's the situation in Boston -- as I suspect it is -- how would
you like your question to be answered?  Would ANY set of neighborhood
definitions do the trick, as long as they had some sort of built in
coordinates to mesh with zip codes, etc?

---

Clarification of Question by zyxt-ga on 02 Mar 2004 04:32 PST

The neighborhoods are pretty well-known in Boston. Here is a(n almost)
complete list:

Boston
 - Allston
 - Brighton
 - Back Bay
 - Beacon Hill
 - Charlestown
 - Chinatown/Leather Dist.
 - Dorchester/Hyde Park/Mattapan/Roslindale
 - Downtown/Financial District
 - East Boston
 - Faneuil Hall/Waterfront
 - Fenway/Kenmore
 - Jamaica Plain
 - North End
 - Prudential / Symphony
 - Roxbury
 - South Boston
 - South End
 - Theater District/Chinatown
 - West Roxbury
Brookline
 - Brookline Village
 - Chestnut Hill
Cambridge
 - Central Square
 - Inman Square
 - East Cambridge
 - Fresh Pond
 - Harvard Square 
 - Kendall Square
 - MIT
 - North Cambridge 
 - Porter Square
 - West Cambridge
Newton / Needham
Somerville
Watertown/Waltham

Dear Zyxt, 

Here is an example, why the "social" boundaries of a neighbourhood are
not always the official ones, and therefore it is quiet difficult to
answer this question as you phrased it:

"No one seems to know where boundaries of "Allston" really are.
Technically speaking, it's part of Brighton, which is part of Boston,
but the most consistent definition of Allston I've seen is by zip code
(02134 and, apparently, 02163).

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. I have two different maps that
show a big stretch of 02134 that goes a couple of miles down to
Cleveland Circle and the reservoir. But people I've known who've lived
in that part of Boston have actually had zip codes and phone exchanges
belonging to Brookline, which is not only a different town than
Boston, it's in a different county! I've even heard of people who live
here dialing 911 and getting the Brookline Police, who told them they
couldn't help them because they lived in Boston! "
(SOURCE: "Where is Allston?" <http://www.agitators.com/boston/allston.html>).