Boston Redevelopment Authority

Boston's Neighborhoods

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Chinatown/Leather District
		Built on a landfill created from tidal flats in the early 1800s to provide additional housing for Boston's expanding middle class population, Chinatown is home to Boston's largest Chinese community, in a unique mix of residences and family owned and operated businesses. As the area's original residents moved out of the area in the 1840s, an influx of immigrants moved in, including Chinese, Irish, Italian, Jewish and Syrian, who converted the area's single family homes to multiple unit tenements. Commercial uses, including textiles and leather works, began at the turn of the Century with the construction of South Station and the Washington Street Trolley line. To this day, Chinese restaurants and specialty shops fill the ground floor levels of residential buildings. The Leather District is a small but growing sub-neighborhood of Chinatown. Located between Dewey Square and Kneeland Street, the Leather District is a nine-block area noted for its 19th century brick warehouse structures. These historic buildings were constructed primarily during the 1880s, with a design focused on efficient and economic manufacturing. The leather industry and related wholesalers required space for display, offices and work areas, thus, huge, ground floor display windows don these buildings, set in sturdy cast iron columns - a unique signature of the Leather District. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Leather District has grown as a mixed-use area, filled by a variety of commercial and residential tenants.

1.	Central Artery Parcel 24
	In June 2003, the BRA, City agencies, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA) a...

2.	Mary Soo Hoo (Chinatown Gateway) Park Site Improvements
	Located in Boston�s Chinatown, Mary Soo Hoo (Chinatown Gateway) Park is a 0.082 ...

3.	South Bay Planning Study: Phase 1
	The South Bay/Gateway Planning Study Area is located south of Kneeland Street ...

1.	120 Kingston Street

2.	212 Stuart Street

3.	Hong Lok House (Chinatown)

4.	Kensington Place - Hinge Block

5.	Oxford Ping On Affordable Housing Project

6.

7.	Parcel P-7a

8.	Tufts Dental Addition

9.	Tufts Medical Center IMP

	Jobs and Community Services Programs:
	1. ASIAN TASK FORCE AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
	2. BOSTON ASIAN YOUTH ESSENTIAL SERVICE (Y.E.S.) -- Education for Asian Youth
	3. BOSTON ASIAN YOUTH ESSENTIAL SERVICE (Y.E.S.)
	4. BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER -- After-school Academic and Recreation
	5. BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER
	6. BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER
	7. GREATER BOSTON CHINESE GOLDEN AGE CENTER

	Maps: Go to: www.mapjunction.com/BRA for the Boston Atlas main web site.
	1. Downtown Crossing/Chinatown/Leather District

	Publications:
	1. Chinatown 2010 SF-1 NBRHD 2011 - PDF
	2. Chinatown Neighborhood 2010 Census Population 2011 - PDF
	3. Leather District Neighborhood 2010 Census Population 2011 - PDF
	4. 605 Chinatown Profile - Census 2000 (Population, Housing & Employment Data) 2006 - PDF
	5. 605A Chinatown Profile in Cantonese - Census 2000 (Population, Housing & Employment Data) 2006 - PDF
	6. 339 Chinatown Business Survey 1988 - PDF
	7. 311B Chinatown Survey Area Land Use Report Part 2 1988 - PDF
	8. 311A Chinatown Survey Area Land Use Report Part 1 1988 - PDF
	9. 330A Chinatown User Survey Part 1 1988 - PDF
	10. 330B Chinatown User Survey Part 2 1988 - PDF
	11. 313 Chinatown Housing Survey 1987 - PDF
	12. 300 Profile of Boston's Chinatown Neighborhood 1987
	13. 192 Profile of Boston's Chinatown Neighborhood 1986

	Links:
	1. Asian American Revolutionary Movement Ezine
	2. Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
	3. Chinatown Main Street