| Living near Fenway Park is a dream for some people. | | | | is dug up in places. The spot where an elevator will |
| To others, it merely means being near the center of | | | | carry people from the bus stop to the subway |
| Boston. No matter your preference for baseball, the | | | | station is still a hole (the elevator is due to arrive |
| Fenway, Kenmore area has a lot to offer, including | | | | next month). Frowsy old bus shelters squat beneath |
| access to public transportation, restaurants and bars, | | | | the flashy new one. Awkward signs, some of them |
| universities and colleges, museums, parks and more. | | | | handwritten, direct commuters to the B Line or beg |
| Speaking of the public transportation. There's a little | | | | their pardon for the inconvenience. |
| bit of construction going on. | | | | But if you can get past these distractions, the |
| The dramatic, giant-arched bus canopy at the center | | | | Fenway area of Boston is a great place to call home. |
| of the square is fully glassed-up. Commuters can now | | | | Anyway, the Fenway area is so named because it |
| get from there to the train station without risk of | | | | used to be covered with fens. A "fen" is "low land |
| impaling themselves on construction materials. In the | | | | covered wholly or partly with water unless artificially |
| station, handsome steel-and-glass enclosures surround | | | | drained". This area of Boston (like much of the rest |
| stairs to the platforms. Above ground, paved | | | | of Boston) used to be either marshes or under |
| walkways guide bus riders safely out of the terminal | | | | water entirely until it was either filled in or |
| and onto the streets. | | | | drained. Actually, on a side note, you might be |
| All of the traffic lanes heading into the square are | | | | interested to look at maps of Boston from the 1600s |
| open, and cars move smoothly, even on a busy | | | | and 1700s to see how much of Boston used to be |
| Monday afternoon. The sidewalks - and the | | | | underwater before they filled it all in- hence parts |
| intersection of Commonwealth, Beacon, and Brookline | | | | called "Fenway" and "Back Bay". So, the Fenway |
| - are paved in handsome brick. Trees and grassy | | | | part of Boston used to be fens (and parts of it still |
| islands have appeared. | | | | are). |
| Kenmore is still rough around the edges. The ground | | | | |