Interior House Painter
Fenway-Kenmore MA

Fenway–Kenmore
Neighborhood in Boston
Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is located in the Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood.
Coordinates: 42°20′31.39″N 71°06′00.91″W / 42.3420528°N 71.1002528°W / 42.3420528; -71.1002528Coordinates: 42°20′31.39″N 71°06′00.91″W / 42.3420528°N 71.1002528°W / 42.3420528; -71.1002528
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Suffolk
City	Boston
Area
• Total	1.24 sq mi (3.2 km2)
Population  (2010)	40,898
• Density	32,982.3/sq mi (12,734.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
ZIP code(s)	02115, 02215
Area code(s)	617, 857

Fenway–Kenmore is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. While it is considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes, it is composed of numerous distinct sections (East Fenway, West Fenway, Audubon Circle, Kenmore Square) that, in casual conversation, are almost always referred to as “Fenway”, “the Fenway”, “Kenmore Square”, or “Kenmore”. Furthermore, the Fenway neighborhood is divided into two sub-neighborhoods commonly referred to as East Fenway/Symphony and West Fenway.

Fenway is named after the Fenway, the main thoroughfare, laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted. As of the 2010 Boston Redevelopment Authority Census, Fenway–Kenmore’s population was 40,898, while its land area was defined to be 1.24 square miles (3.2 km²).

History

The Fenway–Kenmore area was formed by land annexed from neighboring Brookline in the 1870s as part of the Brookline-Boston annexation debate of 1873^{[failed verification]} as well as from land filled in conjunction with the creation of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted parks in the 1890s.
When planned, it was thought that the buildings built upon the Fenway parkway would house high-wealth residents and that the whole area would be a high-class neighborhood. As property values rose, however, it was educational institutions that sprung up along the Fenway’s route. By 1907, there were twenty-two educationally focused organizations, including nine college and universities which had made their homes on the Fenway. Residential buildings that were built needed their frontages to be approved by the Park Board so that a “poor looking building [did not] depreciate the value of the whole neighborhood”. Additionally, the Board had discretion on whether it felt a proposed building was suitable for frontage along the park and parkway. The hope of these building restrictions was that there would be an improvement in the look of the Fenway compared to neighboring streets.

In the last few years, development in Fenway has picked up, particularly from developer Samuels and Associates. Recent developments include the renovation of the Landmark Center; the 2003 addition of Hotel Commonwealth on the site of the Rathskeller bar; and the 576-unit, 17-floor Trilogy apartment building on Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street. 1330 Boylston, a second high-rise apartment building, was completed in 2008 and contains 210 apartments, 85,000 square feet (7,900 m²) of office space contained within 10 floors and the new home of Fenway Health.

Planned developments include a 24-story mixed use development at the confluence of Boylston Street and Brookline Avenue, likely including retail, dining, and luxury hotel/apartments. Other plans include the renovation of the Howard Johnson motel on Boylston Street, to be rehabbed as an upscale hotel. Additionally, developer John Rosenthal is planning to build a complex named One Kenmore over the Mass Pike alongside the Beacon Street Bridge, comprising 525 units in one 17 floor tower and one 20 floor tower. Concerning infrastructure, in 2007 the MBTA renovated the Fenway Green Line stop and in 2014 renovated the nearby Yawkey commuter rail station. Finally, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston recently completed a $425 million expansion, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum completed construction of a second building.

Street names

West Fenway features streets named after Scottish cities and towns present in Robert Burns’ literary works; Peterborough, Kilmarnock, Queensberry. This was a result of influence by the (Robert) Burns Memorial Association of Boston influencing the city of Boston when a decision was made to simplify the original neighborhood plan by Frederick Law Olmsted’s office. As originally planned in 1894, the street naming system was to continue the system originating in the Back Bay of naming streets in alphabetical order. Where the Back Bay proper ends at Hereford Street, the Fenway was to continue Ipswich, Jersey, Kenyon (Kilmarnock), Lansdowne, Mornington, Nottingham, Onslow, Peterborough, Queensberry, Roseberry, Salisbury, Thurlow, Uxbridge, Vivian, Westmeath (Wellesley), (with X omitted), York, and Zetland.

The parkways surrounding the Back Bay Fens, Fenway and Park Drive, are named after various parks which are part of the Emerald Necklace park system. Other streets in Fenway are named after institutions or civic minded patrons within the neighborhood: Palace Road (formerly Worthington Street), Forsyth Way (formerly Rogers Avenue), Evans Way, Forsyth Street, Hemenway Street (formerly Parker Avenue), Agassiz Road (named after Ida Agassiz), Higginson Circle (named after the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Evans Way (named after the donor of the Evans Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts), Tetlow Street (named after the headmaster of Girls Latin School at its former location), Symphony Road (formerly Batavia Road), St. Stephens Street (St. Stephen’s Church became St. Ann’s, which is now known as Northeastern University’s Fenway Center), Opera Place (the Boston Opera House was demolished in 1958), and Speare Place (formerly a continuation of St. Stephens Street which itself was formerly Falmouth Street).

Transportation

The neighborhood is ringed by the MBTA Orange Line Ruggles subway station and the following MBTA Green Line trolley stops:

• Kenmore – B, C, D
• Fenway – D
• St. Mary’s Street – C
• Symphony – E
• Northeastern – E
• Museum of Fine Arts – E