Is This What 'Innovation' Looks Like?

Boston's Innovation District is so new that on Google Earth, this former working waterfront—set on one-and-a-half square miles of landfill—is still just a wasteland of surface parking. But those windswept lots are quickly disappearing as office towers and condos spring up to house the start-ups, tech companies, and hip young workers that the city has been trying to lure since before former Mayor Tom Menino christened the neighborhood with its optimistic name in 2010.

The district is already home to some 200 companies—established biotech operations, venture capital firms, and buzzy robotics start-ups—along with a gigantic convention center, hotels, trendy restaurants, Irish bars, and the city's Institute of Contemporary Art. While the neighborhood has had no problem drumming up business, manufacturing the sense of community one might find in a place that developed more organically is another matter.