A l l s t o n / B r i g h t o n
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“Red Caboose” by Angelo Aversa
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For more than 150 years, Allston/Brighton was a prosperous farming community that was actually part of the City of Cambridge. But in 1807, when Cambridge failed to repair a bridge that connected this area to Harvard Square, the community seceded and became known as “Little Cambridge,” until it was annexed as part of Boston in 1873. Once home to stockyards and successful meat-packing industries, Allston–Brighton became a bedroom community for Boston’s middle-class residents when it was linked to the city by one of the first electric-powered streetcar lines.
Today, Allston/Brighton is second only to Dorchester in size among Boston’s neighborhoods, with more than 70,000 residents. The majority of its residents are white, at 73 percent. Asians are next at 10 percent, followed by Hispanics at 9 percent, and blacks or African-Americans at 6.6 percent. Another interesting demographic is the average age of Allston/Brighton’s residents. Some 21,000 are college students, primarily those attending Boston University or Boston College. This neighborhood is one of the most diverse in the city, with a large number of Korean, Vietnamese and Brazilian residents as well as a large community of Russian Jews. The median annual income is about $22,000.
Home to WGBH, eight public schools and numerous nonprofit organizations, Allston/Brighton is one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in Boston, despite a recent setback that is frustrating to Allston/Brighton residents and politicians. In February of 2009, Harvard University announced that it would delay its planned expansion into Allston due to the loss of a large percentage of its endowment. A massive $1 billion science complex was slated to open in 2011 and now is in limbo.
This neighborhood has a strong nonprofit infrastructure. Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation, one of the most prominent CDCs in Boston, began in 1983, and since then has engaged in community-led projects that protect and create affordable housing and foster a healthy local economy.
Allston/Brighton has some nine schools, including two pilot schools, the Baldwin Early Learning Center and Gardner Pilot Academy, a middle school. The neighborhood also has West End House Boys & Girls Club, a dynamic family center in a new facility and the Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center. One of Boston's most important medical centers is located in Allston/Brighton—St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, a Caritas Family Hospital.
In 2003, a new branch of the Boston Public Library—the Honan-Allston branch— opened in Allston.
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