Editors' Note:

This week we present you a special issue that illuminates a city we all often take for granted. We complain that we never see Boston or take advantage of all that it has to offer, when all it takes is 60 cents to transport ourselves to a universe beyond the petty confines of academia. Our bold reporters ventured forth into the parts of Boston that you have always wondered about and some that you may never want to see. They returned with the thrill-packed accounts you are about to read.

We salute our crack reporting team of Mike Bonin, Seth Gitell, Susan Glasser, Melissa Hart and John Thompson for conceiving, reporting and writing the bulk of this week's What. You've done your city proud. Now if only the Red Sox would do the same...