Our Guide to Boston Neighborhood Status Symbols
From where to vacation to driving the right car, here’s how to make your neighbors green with envy.
BEACON HILL
Home: An 18th-century brownstone with purple windowpanes
Transportation: Vintage Rolls-Royce
Humblebrag: “I had to stop adding to my wine cellar. At this point, I literally won’t get a chance to drink it all before I die.”
Favorite Belonging: A Hinckley picnic boat
Vacation Spot: Saint Barts
SEAPORT
Home: High-rise with harbor views; 15th floor or higher
Transportation: Uber
Humblebrag: “Your dentist doesn’t do Botox?”
Favorite Belonging: A Birkin bag
Vacation Spot: Nantucket
JAMAICA PLAIN
Home: A teardown, rebuilt to be sustainable and sensitive to the character of the neighborhood
Transportation: A customized recumbent bicycle
Humblebrag: “Our new au pair is fluent in both Mandarin and Spanish. We’re really trying to limit the amount of English spoken in the home.”
Favorite Belonging: A Catahoula rescued from Appalachia, pushed around in a Maclaren stroller
Vacation Spot: Glamping in the White Mountains
KENDALL SQUARE
Home: A smart loft where everything is activated by voice or touchscreen
Transportation: Tesla Model X
Humblebrag: “Technically I was still in high school when I sold my first company.”
Favorite Belonging: Jeff Bezos’s cellphone number
Vacation Spot: San Francisco
DORCHESTER
Home: A Queen Anne registered with the Historical Society
Transportation: Fully loaded Cadillac
Humblebrag: “Let’s just say that knowing Marty before he was Mayor Walsh isn’t a bad thing.”
Favorite Belonging: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
Vacation Spot: Palm Beach
HARVARD SQUARE
Home: A Colonial-era mansion on “Tory Row,” a.k.a. Brattle Street
Transportation: Vespa 946
Humblebrag: “Don’t even ask what it cost to install the compost heap out back.”
Favorite Belonging: A signed copy of Silent Spring
Vacation Spot: Anywhere along the Eat, Pray, Love route
Chloe Grinberg (Brownstone); iStock (Needle, Banana, White Mountains, San Francisco, Brattle Street);
Courtesy Photos (Birkin, Boat, Tesla, Cadillac, Rolex); flickr/sara nichols (J.P.)