LA Vs the B (Boston, Lowell: upper-class, neighborhoods, law school)

[Shinhiryuu]

I know the two are like night and day, and I have lived in both and when I try to compare them I end up in a stalemate, so maybe someone can help me decide by putting in their input from law school experiences?

Boston:
I went to Suffolk University, didnt graduate from there, I went into extreme culture shock and left and finished elsewhere.
I went to visit last week, during the bombings... and celebrated after, difference is now I have a wife and kids and loved the city feel and vibe.
I love the old style look, the walk-ability from the burbs such as Cambridge and other areas.
I am thinking of attending Suffolk again for law school
Great schools for my children.
I actually own a few business' so money isnt an issue as far as school cost or living goes, Im finishing school for self satisfaction.
Wife loves the Khmer population in Lowell.
My wife is an accountant, so jobs for her good there?

Los Angeles:
My city, native to South Central Los Angeles, so that explains the culture shock I had in Boston when I first left.
I love the beaches and weather.
Great parks for children, including museums, and other things.
Hate driving.
Planing on either USC, Pepperdine, or Loyola.
Have old friends there, but they didnt really do anything with their lives...
Schools are so so, unless I live in a better area, cause I dont want to drive an hour every morning just to take them to school.

Currently in Detroit, I dont want to go to Wayne or Mercy, and Ann Arbor is out of the question. I know I can make USC or Pepperdine and Suffolk is a tier four so yeah.
What do you guys think?
Please no LA haters as well... I hate the whole, fake people argument, I'm a native there, the only fake people there are from other cities that come to LA to "make it big" thus their not really LA people, thanks.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by Shinhiryuu

I know the two are like night and day, and I have lived in both and when I try to compare them I end up in a stalemate, so maybe someone can help me decide by putting in their input from law school experiences?

Boston:
I went to Suffolk University, didnt graduate from there, I went into extreme culture shock and left and finished elsewhere.
I went to visit last week, during the bombings... and celebrated after, difference is now I have a wife and kids and loved the city feel and vibe.
I love the old style look, the walk-ability from the burbs such as Cambridge and other areas.
I am thinking of attending Suffolk again for law school
Great schools for my children.
I actually own a few business' so money isnt an issue as far as school cost or living goes, Im finishing school for self satisfaction.
Wife loves the Khmer population in Lowell.
My wife is an accountant, so jobs for her good there?

Los Angeles:
My city, native to South Central Los Angeles, so that explains the culture shock I had in Boston when I first left.
I love the beaches and weather.
Great parks for children, including museums, and other things.
Hate driving.
Planing on either USC, Pepperdine, or Loyola.
Have old friends there, but they didnt really do anything with their lives...
Schools are so so, unless I live in a better area, cause I dont want to drive an hour every morning just to take them to school.

Currently in Detroit, I dont want to go to Wayne or Mercy, and Ann Arbor is out of the question. I know I can make USC or Pepperdine and Suffolk is a tier four so yeah.
What do you guys think?
Please no LA haters as well... I hate the whole, fake people argument, I'm a native there, the only fake people there are from other cities that come to LA to "make it big" thus their not really LA people, thanks.

Hey all you like about Boston you can have 10x that in NYC. If you got the money go there.

[sponger42]

Originally Posted by Shinhiryuu

I know the two are like night and day, and I have lived in both and when I try to compare them I end up in a stalemate, so maybe someone can help me decide by putting in their input from law school experiences?

Well, I don't have law school experience, but I am living in Boston and leaving for Los Angeles soon. We have lived in Asia, on the West Coast, in the Midwest, and in Boston I'll try to explain why in the context of your comments about each city:

I went to Suffolk University, didnt graduate from there, I went into extreme culture shock and left and finished elsewhere.

Yes, not fitting in with the culture is probably the main reason we are leaving. We really dislike the strict written and unwritten rules of New England. Everything is regulated and very expensive; for instance, I recently had a colleague telling me how I could get apply for a permit to bbq in a park "for just $40." On the plus side, all the regulations do keep the place looking nice, but it kind of feels like one giant gated community.
The prevailing attitude seems to be very traditional. People seem against innovative ways of thinking or doing things. The infrastructure seems to reflect this attitude with slow, heavy old transit systems and tangles of surface streets with very poor traffic flow and many dangerous intersections for cars, bikes, and pedestrians.
People seem to take personal offense at the idea that Boston could use some improvements or upgrades. Rather than solve problems, the focus seems to be on being offended that someone might think Boston is not perfect.

I love the old style look, the walk-ability from the burbs such as Cambridge and other areas.
I am thinking of attending Suffolk again for law school
Great schools for my children.
I actually own a few business' so money isnt an issue as far as school cost or living goes, Im finishing school for self satisfaction.
Wife loves the Khmer population in Lowell.
My wife is an accountant, so jobs for her good there?

I don't disagree with any of your statements. If you can afford a place in Cambridge or Back Bay, those are very upper-class walkable neighborhoods. We live in the area and enjoy walking or biking through those areas during the three months when the weather is nice. The architecture is very pretty almost everywhere in the city and suburbs.

Most schools in the area are good, and we think that Boston is a good place to raise kids--except for the parts of the culture we dislike.

Los Angeles:
My city, native to South Central Los Angeles, so that explains the culture shock I had in Boston when I first left.
I love the beaches and weather.
Great parks for children, including museums, and other things.

We agree about the beaches, parks, and weather. It's not just the beaches, but the mountains, cities, dramatic coastlines (Big Sur), channel islands, deserts, lakes, etc. You could live your entire life in Southern California and never need to fly again to find spectacular getaways. Hawaii and Oceania are also fairly close.

Hate driving.
Planing on either USC, Pepperdine, or Loyola.
Have old friends there, but they didnt really do anything with their lives...
Schools are so so, unless I live in a better area, cause I dont want to drive an hour every morning just to take them to school.

I hate driving as well, but I've found that I had to drive more in Boston than in LA. Because the roads are so dangerous (narrow, blind corners, dangerous intersections, potholes, rain, snow&ice) I had to stop commuting by bicycle. There were just no reasonably safe routes to my work. The winding streets also make the area in which I live difficult to transit by bus or rail. It is always faster, and usually cheaper, to drive with a carpool of 2 or more.

Of course, one of the reasons I like LA is that it has great surf. Surprisingly, Boston has fair surf during NE'ers, though you need a pretty heavy wetsuit to catch it good because most of the storms are in the fall, winter, and spring. Sometimes there's hurricane swell in the summer. Boston's coastline is pretty varied, so there's a lot of interesting places to paddle out, and they're empty compared to overcroweded SoCal breaks. One of the things I like best about Boston is being able to go surfing some days during lunch at work. Happily, it looks like I'll be able to do the same after moving to LA.

If you hate driving, I'm not sure about your choices of University. I would avoid USC and Pepperdine. Pepperdine is impossible to get to unless you live in Malibu or want to deal with the huge backup on the canyon drive or on the PCH.

I would go for Loyola and live in Santa Monica or maybe El Segundo/Manhattan Beach. You could ride up the beach boardwalk to get to school. That would be pretty nice.

One final possibility--and what I would do if I were you--is what I will PM to you.

[millerm277]

Originally Posted by sponger42

Yes, not fitting in with the culture is probably the main reason we are leaving. We really dislike the strict written and unwritten rules of New England. Everything is regulated and very expensive; for instance, I recently had a colleague telling me how I could get apply for a permit to bbq in a park "for just $40." On the plus side, all the regulations do keep the place looking nice, but it kind of feels like one giant gated community.

The South and other areas tend to regulate that stuff through HOA's and that sort of thing. The Northeast usually does it on the town level. Personally, I find the town level to produce much better results and less absurdity.

The infrastructure seems to reflect this attitude with slow, heavy old transit systems

The Northeast has far better transit systems than LA or most "newer" regions of the country, this point seems rather ridiculous. I don't know of anyone that prefers a bus over rail.

and tangles of surface streets with very poor traffic flow and many dangerous intersections for cars, bikes, and pedestrians.

It's just that it's a city, parts were laid out 200+ years ago, and there's no way to change any of those things without eminent domain, demolishing buildings, etc. Boston is particularly averse to doing that because of it's wonderful experience with the Central Artery + Big Dig, as well as other awful "urban renewal" projects.

Additionally, many people like the "character" those elements provide (narrow, winding/tangled streets instead of a wide grid), as in Europe and various other parts of the world with similar sorts of features.