" -Office workers and residents around this part of Boston are drawn to the public gardens not just to smell the flowers, but maybe to take a ride on one of the swan boats. The famous pair of canoes with park benches that are pedalled around by, often, a college student. Water plays a very important part of the development in history of Boston. Many of the early fortunes were made in the China trade. Here on Boston's water front are the 19th century wars where China trade ships unloaded and stored their riches. Today, these buildings have been converted into condominiums, restaurants and offices. Boston's Customs House Tower now overlooks the new water front development and the recently completed Christopher Columbus Park. Some of America's pre- revolutionary war landmarks, like the old state house, are now dwarfed by the glass and steel giants of Boston's financial district. Faneuil Hall, the vaunted cradle of liberty, survives today as the center piece of Faneuil hall marketplace, one of Boston's most popular tourist attractions. One if by land, two if by sea and behind this equestrian statue of Paul Revere is the actual steeple of the old North church. Here in Boston's North end, the home of the revolutionary patriot and silver smiths still stands surrounded by 19th century multi family dwellings. One of my favorite houses on the North end is on Hall Street. It's the narrowest house in the city only 9 feet wide. Across town on Southern slopes of Beacon Hill, the homes of Boston's elite were built only slightly wider s here on Acorn Street. Over here on Mt. Vernon Street, Bullfinch designed this larger home for a prominent Boston merchant."

" -By the mid 19th century, most of Beacon Hill and the North side of Boston had been built up and that's when they started building grander houses in the flats and eventually into Back Bay. We're at the corner of Beacon Street and Brimmer Street and behind me, one of the most famous spots in America, the Cheers Bar. In the years following the civil war, this area of Boston known as the Back Bay which had always been swampy and unhealthy, which slowly filled in with granite and crushed stone from Quincy, Massachusetts. By the 1870's and 80's, much of this area had been developed and built up with luxurious town homes. Legend has it all the Boston Brahmans, needing new houses who were from the old families with old wealth, built their homes here on Beacon Street. While the old families with less money built their homes here, along Marlboro Street, a narrower [unk] thoroughfare. And, the newly rich captains of industry in 19th century Boston built their fine palaces here along Commonwealth Avenue. Among the Back Bay's 20th century buildings, I.M. Paye's Hancock Tower and in its reflection, H.H. Richardson's 19th century Trinity Church. By the end of 19th century, all of Back Bay was built up. Today, many of those buildings serves commercial purposes on the corner here, a recent remodel by Frank Gehry, a well known architect. The important thing that happens though is the development of the street car and the street car suburb. Lots of Bostonians who were looking for places to build new houses, all of a sudden could contemplate living in a town like Newton. Newton, the garden city is a perfect example of a street car suburb. Newton Center's trolley station made it possible for Bostonians to take up residence in the once sleepy country village of Newton. This 18th century farm house was remodeled and enlarged for the new suburban nights. In 19th century Newton, large rambling family houses were built. In contrast to the city the open spaces of the suburbs offered generous house slots and wider setbacks for churches and other public buildings."

" -By the mid 1960's, the completion of the Massachusetts turnpike sparked a whole new wave of development in suburbs that are even farther out West. So that a commuter could still work downtown and in half an hour be in a town such as Wayland. As in most other American cities, automobiles have taken over as today's predominant means of transportation. Driving west from Boston on the mass pike , the 14 mile trip to Wayland is a manageable commute."

" -This classic New England church, right in the heart of Wayland is the home of the First Parish Congregation first gathered in 1640. The building is not that old but think of it 20 years after the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock they had already come this far west. Now during most of the 1700s this was a very quite spot. There weren't any major revolutionary war battle spot here but Lexington is really just a couple miles down the road. In the 1900s, the town of Wayland became a center for the manufacture of shoes. There were quite a number of important factories here, the last one closed in 1912 and during the 20th century, it's really become a suburb of Boston but up until that mass pike was, built it was a long haul to get downtown. Right now, the town is a thriving suburb that still maintains some of its rural charm."

" -A working beef cattle farm like this one this close to a major city is a pretty unusual thing to find and, of course, developers traditionally look for properties like that were they can buy the farm and flatten the land and put in roads and houses. And what we have here across the, across the road from that little farm is an interesting, relatively new development where a number of houses have been clustered close to each other so that all can benefit from the preservation of this open space, this beautiful field. That's a pretty unusual thing to fined. Most developments will have houses very close by one another. Now let's take a look at an older development going back about 30 years, where you trade off some things like this for other assets."

" -Most of the houses along this quiet residential street have been built at different points in time. This first one looks like it may have been built in the late 40's. In fact, they remind me of the cover picture on the box of building blocks that I had when I was a kid. This second house has the look and feel of a Frank Lloyd Wright design. In fact it's probably a contemporary from the late 50's or 60ss and I'm told that the right hand side was just added on last year."

" -This house probably dates to the 60's and it's about its typical as suburban houses you'll find anywhere. And this house which looks rather like a center entry Colonial, actually arrived here four years ago on a flatbed truck. It's a manufactured house. Now along this quiet stretch, formerly, a pig farm known as McGuire's. We find also a variety of houses. The one behind me dates from the year late 50's, I understand, and this one was just put in on an in-fill lot"