Starting today at the Central Library of the Boston Public Library is the “Boston: A City of Neighborhoods” exhibit:

During the last decade, Boston as a whole has become younger, and more racially and ethnically diverse. However, the neighborhoods that make up Boston often tell their own unique stories of diversity and change.

This exhibition compares the neighborhoods of today’s “new” Boston with those of 100 years ago. The 45 photos, objects, and maps, many of which are based on recent census data, show us where newer immigrant groups have settled and how the streets and features of a neighborhood reflect who lives and works there.

Boston’s neighborhoods aren’t just geographic locations or clusters of ethnic groups, but they each have their own distinct identity, even when the underlying demographics aren’t that different. You can’t really understand the city without understanding the neighborhoods.