What makes a Boston neighborhood a neighborhood?

NorthEndWaterfront.com ponders the news that residents of Harbor Towers and Rowes Wharf are trying to carve out a new identity as the Wharf District when they're already covered by the North End/Waterfront Neighborhood Council. In fact, the current president of that group is a Harbor Towers resident:

When is a neighborhood a neighborhood? Hard to say. In Boston, neighborhoods are often marked by resident parking signs, something the Wharf District is lacking. Many would say that you’re not a neighborhood until you can get a resident parking sticker. Then, there is political representation. The Wharf district is lumped into the huge Precinct 6 of Ward 3 that includes most of the Downtown area. As more residents and businesses establish themselves, some type of city precinct redistricting could more formally acknowledge the arrival of the neighborhood.

And what of the newer development closer to South Station? Would they hook up with Harbor Towers or align with Fort Point - where the guy who owns many of the old warehouse buildings once proposed renaming them as the Wharf District?