Boston overview

Blame it on certain sitcom characters or its early Puritan history, but Boston has a somewhat stuffy reputation. It's also widely considered the most 'European' of American cities – and certainly its meandering streets, terraced houses and Wren-influenced churches reveal its British roots more than the grid plans and skyscrapers of New York and Chicago. Yet in another sense it is the most American of all.

History & regeneration

Boston's distinction as the birthplace of independence makes it a magnet for tourists from across the country, who come to see where the founding fathers stoked the flames of the Revolution and battled their oppressors, in true red, white and blue David and Goliath style.

Far from being a living museum of US history, however, Boston is in the midst of a massive, decades-long cycle of regeneration. At the centre is the Big Dig, which disrupted the city for more than a decade. Now that the hulking raised expressway that sliced through the centre for more than 50 years has been dismantled, there's a new sense of space that is reuniting long-estranged areas and opening up new frontiers.

The budding Seaport district, home to the new Institute of Contemporary Art, is poised for major development that should be a draw to locals and visitors alike. The completion of the Big Dig has sparked off a wave of projects – from the planned park that will replace the old highway to improvements to many historic buildings and museums – like a massive spring clean after the builders have been in.

Youth culture

While there is a tendency to hark back and remember the good old days, Boston is also a forward-looking place. The area draws around 250,000 young people to its colleges and universities each year, and has a formidable record of technological innovation. This influx of youth demands to be entertained, creating an energetic, ever-changing cultural scene.

As the second state in the US to elect a black governor and the first to legalise same-sex marriage, Massachusetts is one of the country's most progressive. Perhaps because of its focus on intellectual life, Boston has never been a style capital, but it's making tentative steps in that direction. The restaurant scene has been transformed by a new generation of talented chefs, and, far from the preppy preserves of old, its shops offer everything from cutting-edge labels to the hottest limited-edition trainers.

Civilised & stunning

Civilised is another word that's often used to describe Boston, and it's true – not in terms of the buttoned-up Brahmin cliché, but in the manageability of its compact, walkable centre, its human-sized architecture and its lovely, verdant-banked river. Stand at the centre point of the Harvard Bridge on a sunny day and you'll see an urban panorama that ranks among the most stunning spectacles in America. Stuffy? Hardly – it's a breath of fresh air.

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