A newly defined neighborhood of Boston between South Station and Chinatown. Rich in history and alive with anticipation, Boston’s historic Leather District is comprised of approximately 16 square blocks between the Financial District, 93 South, South Station/Ft. Point Channel and Chinatown. In recent years, the Leather District has become the home to swanky, industrial chic converted lofts, art galleries, restaurants, and bars. This neighborhood, and the inception of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, is making it hot to live downtown again. The Leather District Neighborhood Association defines the area as: A loose juxtaposition of anonymous souls, going about their own business, in a quirky two block radius in downtown Boston. Like Greenwich Village or SoHo, the neighborhood maintains a funky urban grittiness, combined with a growing cosmopolitan feel.

The Leather District (occasionally referred to as the "LD"), is so named due to the dominance of the leather industry in previous times. Later, this also used to be an old loft district. It was not zoned residential, so the artists who took to living in the area did so illegally. The lofts originally were leather manufacturing facilities and many of the residences maintain rough hewn wooden floors with hand hammered nails, pressed tin ceilings and large open spaces.