Is Boston politically correct? Are people virtue signaling? (Belmont: house, college)

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Ok, so "blue collar" is "working class" then.

I wasn't sure what was meant by it. Working class seems to be as amorphous as "middle class".


There is probably a higher percentage, by a bit, of white collar work, sure. It think that is true for most of the large urban areas in the country though.

Nobody said it was unique to Boston, but those trends HAVE resulted in a greater tendency to bounce around and relocate from city to city (especially in the more advanced economies like Boston). It HAS changed the personality and atmosphere, and is relevant to the post made about "New Englanders minding their own business" in regards to the OP's original question. Actual Bostonians yes, but with so many people in the city (I'd argue most) aren't even from there to begin with...


And no I don't have data on it, maybe if I have time at some point I will look for it. I'm going by personal experience and the experience of many others, like comparing surrounding neighbors now vs. then.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by massnative71

And no I don't have data on it, maybe if I have time at some point I will look for it. I'm going by personal experience and the experience of many others, like comparing surrounding neighbors now vs. then.

Sure, I get that, and I see that, but I try to be self aware that age changes vision, and nostalgia is a dangerous thing. Our memories, especially as children/young adults, are very tainted for the most part.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Sure, I get that, and I see that, but I try to be self aware that age changes vision, and nostalgia is a dangerous thing. Our memories, especially as children/young adults, are very tainted for the most part.

Again that's beside the point. When one can pinpoint that in 1988 their family's home was surrounded by the Joneses, Flynns and Conroys (all born and raised in Dorchester); while in 2018 the same houses are occupied by the Patels (from India), Cohens (from Connecticut) and Sullivans (from California)...that is not nostalgia or some tainted vision. It is a fact (while I'm making that particular example up to protect privacy, but similar accounts can be echoed endless times over talking to long term residents) that can be backed up by city records no matter how cloudy and selective one's memory is. That is just answering to the transience thing.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Again that's beside the point. When one can pinpoint that in 1988 their family's home was surrounded by the Joneses, Flynns and Conroys (all born and raised in Dorchester); while in 2018 the same houses are occupied by the Patels (from India), Cohens (from Connecticut) and Sullivans (from California)...that is not nostalgia or some tainted vision. It is a fact (while I'm making that particular example up to protect privacy, but similar accounts can be echoed endless times over talking to long term residents) that can be backed up by city records no matter how cloudy and selective one's memory is. That is just answering to the transience thing.

You might not believe it, but people tend to blend in a little bit to the culture of the place they've moved to. My uncle from Pennsylvania moved to Texas and has mostly adopted the Texas culture. His kids even speak with a twang.

There are a lot of transplants in the Boston metro area; probably more as you go up in price. Since the overall culture is for people to mind their own business, the transplants tend to do the same. Are they identical? Absolutely not. Some of it sticks around, though.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Again that's beside the point. When one can pinpoint that in 1988 their family's home was surrounded by the Joneses, Flynns and Conroys (all born and raised in Dorchester); while in 2018 the same houses are occupied by the Patels (from India), Cohens (from Connecticut) and Sullivans (from California)...that is not nostalgia or some tainted vision. It is a fact (while I'm making that particular example up to protect privacy, but similar accounts can be echoed endless times over talking to long term residents) that can be backed up by city records no matter how cloudy and selective one's memory is. That is just answering to the transience thing.

Actually, that is a tainted vision, I believe, and an extrapolation of a snapshot in time. Because 30 years earlier those homes were probably contained by other families. Those things don't remain static.


My mother has been in her house since 69. Every house nearby has turned over at least once if not multiple times. The prior 50 years to 1969, that happened as well (as well as houses being built). Things are always constantly changing. In the 70s and 80s my neighbor (and their son who was my 1x1 basketball partner) was from India, they couple next door from Sweden, my father from another state, my mother from Chelsea, other people from other places. It's constantly changing. Sure, some neighborhoods might change faster than others, and which neighborhoods change at different speeds will change over time (a neighborhood that has high turn over for a few decades might run into a period of low turnover), but that's just natural.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Again that's beside the point. When one can pinpoint that in 1988 their family's home was surrounded by the Joneses, Flynns and Conroys (all born and raised in Dorchester); while in 2018 the same houses are occupied by the Patels (from India), Cohens (from Connecticut) and Sullivans (from California)...that is not nostalgia or some tainted vision. It is a fact (while I'm making that particular example up to protect privacy, but similar accounts can be echoed endless times over talking to long term residents) that can be backed up by city records no matter how cloudy and selective one's memory is. That is just answering to the transience thing.

I can't tell you who my neighbors are. They change every year.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I can't tell you who my neighbors are. They change every year.

I think you live on the Oak Square side? You see, that certainly wouldn't have been the case there 30 years ago. Kind of proves my point.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by massnative71

i think you live on the oak square side? You see, that certainly wouldn't have been the case there 30 years ago. Kind of proves my point.

lol

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

You might not believe it, but people tend to blend in a little bit to the culture of the place they've moved to. My uncle from Pennsylvania moved to Texas and has mostly adopted the Texas culture. His kids even speak with a twang.

There are a lot of transplants in the Boston metro area; probably more as you go up in price. Since the overall culture is for people to mind their own business, the transplants tend to do the same. Are they identical? Absolutely not. Some of it sticks around, though.

Yes, but I think it was more true before than it is now. At least in Boston proper, I think it might have become so saturated now that there is really not much local culture left to even "blend in" to. It's like Disneyland. It's also a generational thing, the younger crowd is more apt to mimic the the extreme self-absorbed/heads buried in their iPhones airhead way of life than whatever local culture may still exist.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

You might not believe it, but people tend to blend in a little bit to the culture of the place they've moved to. My uncle from Pennsylvania moved to Texas and has mostly adopted the Texas culture. His kids even speak with a twang.

There are a lot of transplants in the Boston metro area; probably more as you go up in price. Since the overall culture is for people to mind their own business, the transplants tend to do the same. Are they identical? Absolutely not. Some of it sticks around, though.

I can't wait to hear all the private school kids that just moved to Southie saying "Fahhhhkin dude" at the Bahhh