Government Center

This is a section of town Bostonians love to hate. Not only does Government Center house what they can't fight—City Hall—but it also contains some of the bleakest architecture since the advent of poured concrete. But though the stark, treeless plain surrounding City Hall has been roundly jeered for its user-unfriendly aura, the expanse is enlivened by feisty political rallies, free summer concerts, and the occasional festival. On the corner of Tremont and Court streets, the bleakness is partly mitigated by the local landmark Steaming Kettle, a gilded kettle cast in 1873 that once boiled around the clock. (It now marks a Starbucks.) More historic buildings are just a little farther on: 18th-century Faneuil Hall and the frenzied Quincy Market.

The curving six-story Center Plaza building, across from the Government Center T stop and the broad brick desert of City Hall Plaza, echoes the much older Sears Crescent, a curved commercial block next to the Government Center T stop. The Center Plaza building separates Tremont Street from the higher ground to the west: Pemberton Square and the old and "new" courthouses.

Although the $14 billion Central Artery/Tunnel project—the Big Dig—is essentially finished, the plan to turn old construction zones into parkland is still underway. The Rose Kennedy Greenway, as the stretch of parks is called, is slowly sprouting green, although they still lack the finishing touches. But after billions of dollars spent and a decade of traffic snarls, Bostonians are finally seeing the good side of the Big Dig. Traffic is flowing better and the roads aren't quite so confusing. The pedestrian ways in this area are also better marked, but don't feel shy about asking a local for help getting where you're going—you may still need it!