The City of Newton is located seven miles west of downtown Boston. It is bordered by the West Roxbury section of Boston on the southeast, the Town of Needham on the southwest, the Towns of Wellesley and Weston on the west, the Cities of Watertown, Waltham and Town of Weston on the north; and the Town of Brookline and the Allston-Brighton sections of Boston on the east. The City has a population of 88,817 (2017) and occupies a land area of 18.33 square miles. The City is principally suburban-residential in character. Unlike many communities that are established around a single Main Street or downtown, Newton is comprised of thirteen distinctive villages – Auburndale; Chestnut Hill; Newton Centre; Newton Corner; Newton Highlands; Newton Lower Falls; Newton Upper Falls; Newtonville; Nonantum; Oak Hill; Thompsonville; Waban; and West Newton. We pride ourselves on being known as “The Garden City” and open space comprises 19.6% of the City’s total land area, of which 55% is publicly owned.

Newton is a desirable community in which to live and work. We have an excellent public school system; safe and attractive neighborhoods; an active community life; multiple transportation systems; proximity to Boston; and a well-managed City government. In September 2018, Newton was again ranked #1 in Massachusetts as the best place to live and #12 in the U.S.

The City of Newton provides a complete range of services including education, public safety, public works, curbside trash and recycling, recreation, library, cultural, and health and human services. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority provides public water supply and sewage treatment services and the City operates water, sewer and stormwater systems.

To provide this complete range of services, the City of Newton is served by approximately 3,000 employees: approximately 2,000 in the Newton Public Schools and close to 1,000 on the City side. Many of Newton’s employees have dedicated their lives to municipal service -- educating their neighbors’ children, plowing roadways in dangerous weather conditions, and literally putting their lives on the line while serving in Newton’s Police and Fire Departments.

The Newton Public Schools (NPS) are among the best in the Commonwealth. Great schools are a critical city service and serve as the cornerstone of Newton’s success. Our educators focus on achieving our dual goals of academic excellence and educational equity. Our educators work diligently to meet the needs – educational, social and emotional, extracurricular – of every student in our diverse community. NPS also focuses on challenging our students while providing a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment. Unlike many cities and towns in Massachusetts, during the past decade, the number of school age children attending the Newton Public Schools increased by approximately 1,250 students or 10%. In the last two years, though, enrollment has dipped. Total NPS enrollment was 12,750 in FY2018, 12,685 in FY2019, and though not yet finalized, is expected to approximate 12,625 in FY2020.

Newton is home to a variety of private secondary and post-secondary schools which contribute to the fabric of Newton. The major colleges/universities in Newton include Boston College, Lasell University, William James College, and the UMass Amherst – Mount Ida Campus. Their combined student enrollment is approximately 17,000 students.

Newton is a very safe city. The City has a fully accredited Newton Police Department and is one of the reasons we have been ranked one of the safest cities in America several times during the last decade. Newton’s Fire Department, one of only five “Class 1” Fire Departments in the Commonwealth as rated by the Insurance Service Office (ISO), has fully trained EMT’s on all apparatus, a highly specialized Technical Rescue Vehicle and Team, and is currently far along in the process of a comprehensive upgrade of all station houses.

The Department of Public Works maintains over 300 miles of public streets, sidewalks, water mains, sewer lines and storm water drains, collects and disposes of more than 17,500 tons of municipal solid waste and 10,000 tons of recyclable materials annually, and plows or treats the City’s roadways during an average of 22 snow and ice events each winter season.

Home to the outstanding Newton Free Library, often the busiest single library building in the Commonwealth, the City also provides many recreational opportunities for residents of all ages. Through our Parks and Recreation Department, Senior Services, Newton Public Schools and Community Education Program, we offer camps, sports clinics, after school programs, swim facilities, senior trips and activities, and one of the largest therapeutic recreation programs in the state. The City maintains approximately 1,200 acres of parkland, playgrounds, school grounds, and burial grounds, as well as extensive municipal grounds and recreation buildings. Newton also has a special City museum that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Newton sits on land of this country’s native people, particularly the Massachusetts tribe, who lived, worked and played here for over 12,000 years. Their culture was and is complex and stalwart against 400 years of disease, forced assimilation, and racism. In the 1600s, settlers and entrepreneurs fleeing crowded Europe came looking for resources and economic opportunities in the “new world.” The rapid expansion of English settlements, and quickly-increasing European population, led to conflict between Native people and the newly-arrived immigrants over access to land and resources.

In the area now known as Newton, English settlement goes back to the early 1600s. By the 1630s, Newton was known as “Cambridge Village.” It was part of "the newe towne" which was renamed Cambridge in 1638. In 1688, Cambridge Village officially became an independent township known by several names: Cambridge Village, New Cambridge, Newtown, and New Town. On December 15, 1691, Newton became the official name and the area became a city on January 5, 1874.

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