Allston is a section of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, located in the western part of the city. It is, for the most part, administered collectively with the adjacent neighborhood of Brighton, leading the two often to be referred to together, as "Allston-Brighton." The population of Boston is approximately half students, mostly from Boston University, Boston College, and Harvard University. Many of the students hang out in the street, and thus set the tone of the neighborhood. In the summer, when many of the students leave, the other half of the population becomes more obvious: immigrants from many countries, and bohemians of all ages.
Housing stock varies but largely consists of brick apartment buildings, especially on Commonwealth Avenue and the streets directly off of it; while areas further down Brighton Avenue are largely dotted with wooden triple-deckers. Some of the housing stock is in poor condition. The largely student and immigrant population may account for the low standards for maintenance -- since the landlords are under little pressure to maintain their properties well -- and slumlords are still commonplace. Allston is generally viewed as a seedy (but fairly safe) lower-middle class neighborhood with a young population and a large number of bars and cheap eateries.
Allston, while primarily a neighborhood shared by students and bohemians of all ages, is also home to Boston natives, Asian, Russian, and numerous other immigrants. In the 1990s, census figures indicated that 52.6% of its population was aged 20-34 (as compared to 33% for the city of Boston as a whole), an indication of the strong student and "twentysomething" presence. That presence has created tension between some long-time residents and the student population, which constantly cycles in and out as students matriculate and graduate from Boston's many colleges and universities.
All of today's Allston was part of Brighton when that town seceded from Cambridge in 1807. In 1868, a new railroad depot and post office in Brighton's eastern portion were given the name "Allston" after Washington Allston, the noted painter who lived and worked in the area. The entire Town of Brighton was annexed by the City of Boston in 1874. Allston has never existed as a separate political entity in its own right.
Allston grew up largely around the large railroad and livestock operations in its midst. The Boston and Albany Railroad (now CSX) operated a major yard there. Stockyards and a large abbatoir operated nearby in the northern part of Brighton. Much of the railroad yard remains in use today as the CSX Beacon Park Yard, but all livestock activity ended by the mid-twentieth century.
Allston lies almost equidistant from three major universities. A substantial part of the campus of Harvard University is in southern Allston, including Harvard Business School and Harvard Stadium. Harvard also owns large portions of other land in lower Allston, much of which it hopes to develop as an academic campus. Boston University lies along Commonwealth Avenue to the east. Boston College, which straddles the Newton-Brighton line between Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street, is at the end of the "B Branch" of the Boston MBTA subway Green Line, which follows Commonwealth Avenue.
During the 1990s, Harvard quietly bought large parcels of land in eastern Allston and is currently planning a major expansion into the neighborhood.
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