clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

How real estate search sites define the South End’s boundaries

New, 6 comments

And how that can affect how much you pay to live there

Two of the most popular sites for searching real estate listings, Redfin and Trulia, have vastly different definitions of Boston’s South End. The above overlapping map comes courtesy of real estate research site NeighborhoodX.

As you can see, Redfin and Trulia seem to agree on the South End’s western, northern, and eastern edges, including the development-swept northeastern corner. It’s the southern border where things get interesting. Redfin cuts the South End off at Mass. Ave., while Trulia goes deeper, to Melnea Cass Boulevard and Ruggles Street.

Hence, properties between Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass would show up as "the South End" on Trulia, but not on Redfin—there they would be in Roxbury, a traditionally less expensive neighborhood than the South End.

The different southern borders also mean much smaller "South Ends" depending on which site a user consults. Per Redfin, the South End is just under three-quarters of a square miler in area, while Trulia pegs it at more than a square mile.

What’d you think? Where’s the southern border of the South End (or, conversely, the northern border of Roxbury)?