The most populous cities in area code 617 are: Boston, Cambridge, Newtonville, Brookline, and Quincy.
Other cities in the 617 area code include: Brighton, Dorchester, Somerville, Charlestown, Jamaica Plain, East Boston, Hyde Park, South Boston, Everett, Waltham, Woburn, Watertown, Milton, Roxbury, Chelsea, Belmont, Saugus, Needham Heights, Winthrop, Malden, Dedham, Chestnut Hill, Auburndale, Newton Upper Falls, East Weymouth, Braintree, Melrose, and Kingston.
Nickname(s): See Boston nicknamesMotto: Sicut patribus sit Deus nobis (Latin) "As God was with our fathers, so may He be with us"Boston (pronounced Listen i / ˈ b ɒ s t ən / BOSS -tən) is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Boston is also the seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km 2) with an estimated population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England and the 23rd most populous city in the United States. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.7 million people in 2014 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. Alternately, as a Combined Statistical Area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.1 million people, making it the sixth-largest as such in the United States. One of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U.S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education and culture. Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the original peninsula. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing over 20 million visitors per year. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), first subway system, the Tremont Street Subway (1897), and first public park, Boston Common (1634).The area's many colleges and universities make Boston an international center of higher education, including law, medicine, engineering, and business, and the city is considered to be a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurship with nearly 2,000 startups. Boston's economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, and government activities. Households in the city claim the highest average rate of philanthropy in the United States; businesses and institutions rank among the top in the country for environmental sustainability and investment. The city has one of the highest costs of living in the United States as it has undergone gentrification, though it remains high on world livability rankings.
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is a part of the Boston metropolitan area.Situated directly north of the city of Boston, across the Charles River, it was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. :18 Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two of the world's most prestigious universities, are located in Cambridge, as was Radcliffe College, one of the leading colleges for women in the United States until it merged with Harvard.According to the 2010 Census, the city's population was 105,162. As of July 2014 , it was the fifth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Lowell. Cambridge was one of the two seats of Middlesex County prior to the abolition of county government in 1997; Lowell was the other.Kendall Square in Cambridge has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", in reference to the high concentration of entrepreneurial start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010.
Newtonville is a village of Newton, Massachusetts.Newtonville is a predominantly residential neighborhood. It is divided into two parts by the Massachusetts Turnpike and MBTA commuter rail, which runs through it below grade, so that there are several bridges over the turnpike. The Star Market on Austin Street (formerly Shaw's) was one of the first projects in the country to buy air rights for construction; the supermarket is built over the Massachusetts Turnpike.Newtonville was once served by the now defunct Newton Nexus bus, a free service provided by the city of Newton. Walnut Street is the main street of the village. The urban section of the road is home to restaurants, bakeries, and cafes, several banks, a specialty camera store, multiple fitness centers, and dry cleaners. Branching off of Walnut is the Austin Street commercial area, which sports a Starbucks, and a Goodwill dropoff.On the north side of the turnpike, on Washington Street (which runs parallel to the Massachusetts Turnpike) there are many more restaurants, hair salons, barber shops, nail salons, liquor stores, Newton's largest Post Office, and a Whole Foods supermarket.Located in Newtonville is Newton North High School, one of the city's two high schools. Also located in Newtonville is the MBTA Commuter Rail train station, which is serviced by the buses 59, 553, 554, and 556.
The 617 area code lies within the Eastern Daylight Time Zone (or EDT). The current time in Eastern Daylight Time is 4:02 AM on Dec 20, 2022.