The reason, according to Sam Warner, a visiting professor of urban studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is historical. People were supposed to show off the front of their houses, and they weren't supposed to get obscured by trees. Other Boston neighborhoods such as Dorchester and Roxbury were built in later years, when trees were becoming popular. Other areas, like Beacon Hill, have had an active pro-tree population for a while. Charlestown's newer residents are pushing trees for many of the same reasons that Beacon Hill homeowners did.
Newcomers are much more tree-oriented.
Our Advice on the house.