South Shore Irish Riviera | |
|---|---|
 The South Shore region of Massachusetts | |
| Coordinates:42°00′N70°45′W / 42°N 70.75°W /42; -70.75 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| Cities and towns | Braintree,Cohasset,Duxbury,Hingham,Hull,Kingston,Marshfield,Plymouth,Quincy,Rockland,Scituate andWeymouth, sometimes adding inland towns |
| Area | |
• Total | 632.9 sq mi (1,639 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 541,364 |
| • Density | 855.4/sq mi (330.3/km2) |
| Largest city (population) | Quincy (101,636) |
| Largest city (land) | Plymouth (134 square miles) |
TheSouth Shore ofMassachusetts is a geographic region stretching south and east fromBoston towardCape Cod along theshores ofMassachusetts Bay andCape Cod Bay. It is subject to varying descriptions includingmunicipalities in easternNorfolk andPlymouth counties. The South Shore is an affluent area. The median income of the region as of 2020 is $104,691. The median home value of the region as of 2020 is $574,831.
Depending on its geographical definition, the South Shore is composed of a mix of suburban towns, mid-sized industrial cities and rural towns. Massachusetts' heaviest concentration ofIrish-American residents and descendants fromancestors from Ireland is on the South Shore,[1] and 6 of the United States' 10 most Irish towns are located on the South Shore, which is sometimes referred to locally as theIrish Riviera.[2][3]
By its most literal definition, the South Shore includes only cities and towns between Boston and Cape Cod that physically border theAtlantic Ocean, thereby limiting the South Shore to the following:
The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management limits its definition of the South Shore to the municipalities betweenBoston Harbor and Cape Cod, which includes Atlantic coastal and coastal watershed areas "from the three-mile (5 km) limit of the state territorial sea to 100 feet (30 m) beyond the first major land transportation route encountered (a road, highway, rail line, etc.)".[4] This definition eliminates Braintree, Quincy and Weymouth, which border Boston Harbor, but adds the towns of Hanover, Norwell and Pembroke.[5]
With respect to regional planning and cooperation among municipal governments, some of these coastal communities are either members of theBoston-centered Inner Core Committee of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)[6] or not part of the metropolitan area at all, while the South Shore Coalition of the MAPC comprises representatives from 13 coastal and inland communities[7] and includes the following cities and towns:
The South ShoreChamber of Commerce includes all of the above towns, as well as several more farther inland in Norfolk and Plymouth counties, in its definition of the region:[8]
Informal definitions of South Shore—defined by the service areas of other nonprofits or businesses with "South Shore" in their names, by real estate agents, or by individuals, for example—always include at least some of the shoreline communities but can stretch considerably to the west. Readers ofBoston magazine, in 2016, identified "Anything below the city, Cape included" as one potential definition of "South Shore". Suggested western boundaries included theRhode Island state line, orMassachusetts Route 24. Some individuals placedFoxborough andStoughton in the region. One definition included all of Cape Cod, as far asProvincetown; others said the South Shore ends at theSagamore Bridge, which would place part ofBourne in the region.[9]
Institutions of higher learning located in South Shore communities include:
