Mission Hill springs a fountain of youth By Rashawn Haynes :: Journalism Place Descriptive Essays

Mission Hill Springs a Fountain of Youth It’s 7 p.m. on a Friday night in Boston. Jake Hedstrom and his roommates are gearing up for another weekend on Mission Hill. Hedstrom attends Northeastern University where he is a music industry major currently in his third year. He lives in a four-bedroom apartment at 98 Hillside Street with three guys that he met during his freshmen year. The apartment cost them about $450 each a month and they have been living there since September of 2003. They have an occasional party at their apartment, but tonight they are going a few doors down to a friend’s party. The place where the party will take place is also home to a group of another four Northeastern Students. All over Mission Hill there are similar events taking place on this Friday night, Northeastern, Mass Art and Wentworth students all migrating to the hill for parties at various apartments. â€Å"From the time we were freshmen, we knew people who lived up on Mission Hill and we came up and partied sometimes, and it was always a good time. I love living on the hill now, it’s a lot cheaper than the dorms and everyone I know lives up here now also,† said Hedstrom. The picture is like a scene out of "Dawn of the Dead," where hoards of the undead take to the streets, groups of students fill down Hillside, Calumet, and St. Alphonsus Streets heading to their party destinations for a night of fun. Mission Hill is home to 19,196 people in an area that is only two and a half times the size of the Boston Commons yet it is home to a large variety of Boston’s population. Mission Hill was named after the Mission Church, which sits in the heart of the hill along Tremont Street. Mission Church, which was completed in 1869, serves as the neighborhoods defining landmark,and is one of only 43 minor basilicas in the United States. The Mission school which sits right behind the church was chartered in the 1920’s as an elementary for the residents of Mission Hill. Renamed Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the 1940’s by Pope Pius XII, the church has been home to thousands of followers in its 125-year history. The area, which was once home to many English and Irish settlers, is now one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the entire city.