[greenyoda]

Housing prices also depend heavily on a neighborhood's crime rate, school rankings and other quality of life issues which vary significantly even among physically adjacent neighborhoods (at least there are lots of examples of that in NYC). So I doubt you'd find a simple relationship between time from the city center and real estate prices.

[anateus]

At least in Boston, distance to a T station seems to be the strongest factor correlating with apartment prices: http://www.wbur.org/2013/01/30/boston-apartments-heat-map

[greenyoda]

But there are many exceptions. For example, Cambridge (red), Somerville (yellow), Chelsea (green) and Roxbury (blue) are all within approximately the same distance of the center.

[mauvehaus]

Distance to a T station, not to downtown. Cambridge and Somerville are considerably more expensive than Roxbury generally. Within any of the neighborhoods you listed, you'll find that rent goes up as you get closer to a T station.