Just to put things in perspective:
Boston is about one tenth the size of New York. It is a small, but somewhat dense city.
Cambridge+Somerville has the same population as Providence in half the area
Somerville is the 15th densest city in the country; Cambridge the 26th; Boston is 51st.
Burlington VT has half the population of Newton.
Wellesley is a town
City… Population…Area (sq miles)…Colleges
NYC …8.1M…300…Columbia, Barnard, Fordham
Boston…650K…48… NEU, BU
Cambridge…107K…6… MIT, Harvard
Somerville…76K…4…Tufts
Providence…179K…21… Brown
Worcester…185K…38… Holy Cross, WPI, Clark
New Haven…131K…20…Yale
Newton… 85K…18…BC
Waltham…61K…13…Brandeis
Burlington…42K…15… UVM
Wellesley…27.6 …10…Wellesly, Babson, Olin