Why the Best: Combines the best elements of urban and suburban living in a dynamic friendly totally habitable high energy town only minutes from Boston and Cambridge -- and from what feels like ½ the universities in all the northeast (e.g., Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Boston U, Northeastern, etc.).

Brookline has it all. Fantastic public schools, beautiful old Victorian homes along with modestly scaled apartment buildings. 

Brookline's got beautiful parks and rec-facilities. Theater, music and arts scenes matching most large cities. Restaurants of every ethnicity, great pubs and night spots, and movie theaters featuring the latest teen nightmares as well as the most sophisticated foreign films.

Brookline also has more cafes, great coffee -- not named Starbucks -- per capita than almost any place in America.

And, then there's Boston and Cambridge. Each borders Brookline and offers countless additional entertainment, cultural and intellectual options.

Brookline is comfortable for people of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It's home to Harvard intellectuals -- professors and students -- and hard driving Boston College Big East football players. It's racially and socio-economically diverse. And its population, though young and energetic, also includes significant middle-agers and seniors, all of whom mix naturally and enjoy the high intensity community spirit of the town.

Finally Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is an easy walk from downtown Brookline, Coolidge Corner. Brookline is a place that offers uniquely the best of suburban and city life. It's a definite Burbia Best Town. ...read about other towns