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Smackdown - North End vs. Federal Hill

Boston’s North End and Providence’s Federal Hill have been the Little Italies of their respective cities for well over a century, yet the two neighborhoods could not look more different. The North End was already a 250-year-old warren of twisting, narrow streets when Italians began arriving in the 1880s. Federal Hill, by contrast, began as a circa-1800 planned grid of broad streets opposite the old Colonial city. Despite population shifts and creeping gentrification, the aromas of garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes still drift from many doorways, and each neighborhood retains its own twist on Italian character. Here’s how they stack up on some essentials. By Patricia Harris and David Lyon
Globe Photo

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Boston’s North End and Providence’s Federal Hill have been the Little Italies of their respective cities for well over a century, yet the two neighborhoods could not look more different. The North End was already a 250-year-old warren of twisting, narrow streets when Italians began arriving in the 1880s. Federal Hill, by contrast, began as a circa-1800 planned grid of broad streets opposite the old Colonial city. Despite population shifts and creeping gentrification, the aromas of garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes still drift from many doorways, and each neighborhood retains its own twist on Italian character. Here’s how they stack up on some essentials.

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon