South Boston

South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It was initially an Irish Catholic community, but in recent years, South Boston has become an increasingly desirable place among young professionals and families who are attracted to the strong sense of community and South Boston's quick access to downtown and public transportation. It was formerly known as Dorchester Neck and presently people refer to it as Southie.

South Boston was geographically an isthmus, which connected Dorchester mainland with Dorchester Heights. Due to landfill, the connection with the mainland had widened so largely that South Boston was separated form Dorchester. But the towns were annexed by Boston in pieces, from 1804 to 1870. During the 1970s South Boston came into the limelight for its opposition to court mandated school busing and in 1990s it became the focus for a Supreme Court case on the right for gay and lesbian groups to participate in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

South Boston is mainly an Irish-American populated area, though a very small portion of its residents are Polish and Lithuanian. South Boston has some of the oldest public housing projects in the United States. These housing facilities are controlled by the Boston Housing Authority. In the past 30 years, most of the residents in these housing complexes are of ethnically mixed cultures.

Today the breathtaking South Boston Waterfront is emerging as Boston's newest neighborhood. Already home to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, planned development for the Waterfront includes offices, residential, retail, and hotel use. The Institute for Contemporary Art, slated to open in September, stands as another iconic symbol of the unlimited potential of South Boston‘s Waterfront rapid development.

Some of the public attraction places of South Boston include:

• Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts & History
• South Boston Speedway
• L.E. Coleman African-American Museum
• South Boston town Hall
• The Historic Halifax County Courthouse
• Occoneechee State Park
• Staunton River State Park
• Green's Folly Golf Course
• Edmund's Park
• Clarkton Bridge

South Boston has a very posh locality and there are many shopping hubs in South Boston and Halifax. On September 11, 2006, South Boston adopted a resolution to enter into a Sister City with Leverano, Italy.