[2] On the east, Fenway–Kenmore is separated from the Back Bay neighborhood by Charlesgate West, the Massachusetts Turnpike, Dalton Avenue and Belvidere Street.

[3] The South End is across Huntington Avenue near The First Church of Christ, Scientist headquarters, a major tourist attraction.

[3] To the south of the neighborhood is the Mission Hill area, which is sometimes considered to be part of Roxbury, which continues as the border extends along Ward, Parker, and Ruggles Streets, and the Southwest Corridor.

Throughout the neighborhood are brownstone townhouses, brick walk-ups, and five- to six-story apartment buildings, typically constructed between 1880 and 1930.

Over the last 20 years almost every residential building in Kenmore has been purchased by Boston University and turned into dorms, especially in the Audubon Circle area between Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue.

[2] When planned, it was thought that the buildings built upon the Fenway parkway would house high-wealth residents and that the whole area would be a high-class neighborhood.

[7] Recent developments include the renovation of the Landmark Center; the 2003 addition of Hotel Commonwealth on the site of the Rathskeller bar; and the 576-unit, 17-floor Trilogy apartment building on Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street.

[8][9] Other plans include the renovation of the Howard Johnson motel on Boylston Street, to be rehabbed as an upscale hotel.

West Fenway features streets named after Scottish cities and towns present in Robert Burns' literary works; Peterborough, Kilmarnock, Queensberry.

Where the Back Bay proper ends at Hereford Street, the Fenway was to continue Ipswich, Jersey, Kenyon (Kilmarnock), Lansdowne, Mornington, Nottingham, Onslow, Peterborough, Queensberry, Roseberry, Salisbury, Thurlow, Uxbridge, Vivian, Westmeath (Wellesley), (with X omitted), York, and Zetland.

The Kenmore Square area is mainly commercial with many residential units now owned by Boston University and used as on-campus housing for students.

According to the 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in ZIP Codes 02115 and 02215 are:[18][19] It is the home of Fenway Park, the famous Boston Citgo sign, Kenmore Square, The Art Institute of Boston, The Forsyth Institute, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Northeastern University, the New England Conservatory, portions of Boston University (including the Myles Standish Residence Hall), portions of the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard T.H.