A recent 911 call in Boston had responders head to the right address, but in the wrong neighborhood of the city. [Corrected to reflect that the error did not result in a fatality, as I originally suggested. 3/18] Boston has neighborhoods - they are formal, with real known boundaries - but still such things happen. So, until the whole thing is straightened out, when a "serious emergency" (crime in progress or act of violence) call comes in, responders will be dispatched to every such address in every neighborhood.

The event that triggered the change:

The caller told a 911 operator Sunday morning that the homicide occurred at 689 Washington St. Instead of sending police to Dorchester, the operator gave them the same address in Downtown Crossing. Officers ended up at a Malaysian restaurant two blocks from Boston Common and about 7 miles from the scene of the homicide.

The article in the Boston Globe suggests that the phone company did not code the wired line phone to the neighborhood and perhaps should. It further notes that ZIP Codes and exchanges (the second three numbers in the full phone number) can identify neighborhoods.