Bouncing Back After The Big Dig

"The North End, Boston's oldest residential neighborhood and one of its best known tourist destinations, endured for years the dust and noise of Big Dig construction to bury the Central Artery, a highway that sliced the neighborhood from the rest of the city. Now that the old elevated highway and the construction are gone, business leaders want to capitalize on an influx of art galleries, coffee shops, and high-end merchants that have transformed the neighborhood in recent years as wealthy urban dwellers moved in."

"'We want to make it tourist-happy,' said Frank DePasquale , president of the North End Chamber of Commerce, which is leading the push."

"Longer-term plans for the area include raising the street so that it is flush with the sidewalk as a way to promote more pedestrian traffic; providing an informational kiosk for tourists to get maps and advice on where to go; and providing areas for pushcart marketers."