Our Guide to Boston Neighborhood Status Symbols

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.)