Boston's diverse neighborhoods serve as a political and cultural organizing mechanism. The City of Boston's Office of Neighborhood Services has designated 23 Neighborhoods in the city: Allston Back Bay Bay Village Beacon Hill Brighton Charlestown Chinatown–Leather District Dorchester (divided for planning purposes into Mid-Dorchester and Dorchester) Downtown East Boston Fenway-Kenmore (includes Longwood) Hyde Park Jamaica Plain Mattapan Mission Hill North End Roslindale Roxbury South Boston South End West End West Roxbury Wharf District The islands in Boston Harbor are administered as part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The Boston Redevelopment Authority, the City Parking Clerk, and the City's Department of Neighborhood Development have also designated their own neighborhoods. Unofficially, Boston has many overlapping neighborhoods of various sizes. Neighborhood associations have formed around smaller communities or commercial districts (often with "Square" in the name) that have a well-defined center but poorly identified extremities. History of Boston's neighborhoods As the city of Boston has grown and evolved, its neighborhoods have changed as well. The names of the West End, North End and South End refer to their positions on the Shawmut Peninsula, the original extent of Boston. Due to the annexation of surrounding communities, those neighborhoods are no longer at those geographic extremities. The Back Bay and Bay Village neighborhoods were formerly part of an actual bay, becoming the neighborhoods they are today after landfill projects expanded the size of the city. Brighton (including Allston), Charlestown, Dorchester (including South Boston, Mid Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park), Roxbury (including West Roxbury, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain), have all at some point been municipalities independent from downtown Boston, providing a source of well-defined boundaries for the largest areas. Geographic overview Downtown Boston includes Downtown Crossing, the Financial District and Government Center. Surrounding downtown are the neighborhoods of Chinatown/Leather District, South End, North End, West End, Bay Village, Beacon Hill and Back Bay. Chinatown/Leather District is the historical garment district and today has thriving Chinese and other Asian populations. The South End is the center of the city's LGBT population and also populated by artists and young professionals as well as a vibrant African American community. The North End retains an Italian flavor with its many Italian restaurants, though many of its Italian families have moved out, while young professionals have moved in. The Back Bay is west of the Public Garden, and Beacon Hill is the site of the Massachusetts State House.