NABB was founded in 1955 by Back Bay residents to preserve, and protect from steady erosion, the 19th-century charm and quality of life in their neighborhood. There were many threats—impending high-rises that would put homes in shadows all winter long; garish neon-lit bars creeping along Newbury Street; dying noble elms, and vandalized, graffiti- covered monuments along Commonwealth Avenue; trash-strewn, rat-infested alleys; crime-ridden streets; declining property values; and sinking groundwater undermining all old-building foundations. Thanks to philanthropy and NABB’s dedicated, skillful work over 50 years, with public agencies, none of that happened. They have only one staff, but nearly 1,000 volunteers, organized into twenty Committees—e.g., on City Services, Architecture, Groundwater, Zoning, Licensing, the Mall, the Playground, Friends and Neighbors, etc. NABB created the city’s Groundwater Overlay District and Groundwater Trust, and the Clarendon Street Playground as a diligently maintained, safe refuge for local schools and families. Their many social events raise funds for neighborhood philanthropic organizations such as the Women’s Lunch Place (Cat’99) for homeless women, and Hale-Barnard House (Cat’02) for the elderly. Because of NABB, Boston’s Back Bay is now recognized as the nation’s largest intact example of 19th century urban residential architecture; but beyond that, it is a thriving community, where neighbors know each other and volunteer together for common goals.