I'm sorry about what I said about Buffalo :( (New York, Boston: living, garden)

[Checkered24]

Even generalizing the south as a whole is hard, since there are many cities and regional differences.

A friend of mine moved to North Carolina about two years ago. Was a native WNY-er. Loves the state and the people, and would never move back.

[Canerican]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

The people in Montreal weren't super friendly to me when I opened my mouth and spoke english, but their culture, class and outlook in life canceled out any rudeness I encountered. I loved Quebec so much that if I had to move away from Syracuse and could live anywhere I'd probably move to Montreal.

I lived in Montreal for 12 years. Truly great place, but it is indeed busy. One thing that you would find is that there are very English and very French places, downtown you can get by with either language, the South Shore is almost all English, as is Rosemont. As for the French areas - everywhere else! There are some English places outside of Montreal though, pretty much just Greenfield Park, and a few cities around Ile Perrot.

Just try and speak French and most people will respect you. There are a few idiots out there who think that the English should all move away. Heck you spend enough time there you'll find people who will love speaking English, either it;s their first language, or else they want to practice speaking.

[Canerican]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

Even generalizing the south as a whole is hard, since there are many cities and regional differences.

A friend of mine moved to North Carolina about two years ago. Was a native WNY-er. Loves the state and the people, and would never move back.

I agree, there are some places where I wouldn't ever live, like Rome, Ga., Birmingham, Jackson, New Orleans, even Metarie or Memphis.

On the other hand I do like most of the South, and really dislike New England.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by Canerican

Now I will say that Boston was by far the rudest place. Even the waitresses didn't even try and be polite.

Tips. Waitresses and waiters here expect big tips. Which restaurants were you at by the way? Boston is a fast city, didn't I warn you? Who has the patience to be courteous up here? I hope you took my advice and not start conversations with any stranger.

I am sorry that you didn't have a good time in the Hub and sincerely apologize for all the fellow Bostonians and other New Englanders who were rude to you along the way. My own take on Boston is that it is a rather boring city with little to do for the visitor but other than being expensive, is actually quite nice to live in. Your old city of Montreal excites me much more as does Toronto and to me, Buffalo is worth a shot living in.

[Canerican]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

Tips. Waitresses and waiters here expect big tips. Which restaurants were you at by the way? Boston is a fast city, didn't I warn you? Who has the patience to be courteous up here? I hope you took my advice and not start conversations with any stranger.

No I didn't. But I even got rude comments after trying to be nice. I held the door for somebody and his wife and he says, "I can hold the door for myself," and then I was walking away I hear him say, "prick." His wife says to stop. Whatever, he was a nut... Is this normal?

Maybe it was because I was wearing my Longhorns cap?

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by Canerican

No I didn't. But I even got rude comments after trying to be nice. I held the door for somebody and his wife and he says, "I can hold the door for myself," and then I was walking away I hear him say, "prick." His wife says to stop. Whatever, he was a nut... Is this normal?

Maybe it was because I was wearing my Longhorns cap?

Okay that was not normal, even by Boston standards . The guy must have had a really bad day or a really bad argument with his wife. What establishment was it anyway, at what time, and in what neighborhood? I would be pretty pissed off myself if someone gave me that attitude. Still, these situations can happen at any city and I assure you that not everyone in Boston or New England for that matter are that rude. I was at a shopping mall just today, I held the door open for a group of young women, and they said 'thank you' to me. I just think that guy you encountered already had problems and it isn't because of you.

[Canerican]

It wasn't a restaurant, it was a little grocery store near Cambridge, but I'm not even sure where I was, all those cities just run into each other.

I could tell with the tips though, I went to a place called Grill 23 (which was insanely too expensive, but very good). I they included 22% on the bill, so I didn't leave any extra (and 22% on a $240 tab is nothing to scoff at, in my books) and my waiter my obviously upset. Whatever, this place wasn't for me. I was truly surprised at how much stuff costs up there.

Even Virginia Beach is fairly costly (although gas and clothes seem alot less expensive). Groceries are about 15% more, and I think that restaurants are at least 25% more, even in Hampton and Chesapeake.

Housing is definitely alot more money, our house in Getzville cost about $200,000, and the equivalent here would be about $320,000, although I believe that it would probably be a bit newer, and have more land.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Canerican

I lived in Montreal for 12 years. Truly great place, but it is indeed busy. One thing that you would find is that there are very English and very French places, downtown you can get by with either language, the South Shore is almost all English, as is Rosemont. As for the French areas - everywhere else! There are some English places outside of Montreal though, pretty much just Greenfield Park, and a few cities around Ile Perrot.

I think you are mixing things up here. The south shore and Rosemont are mostly French-speaking.

Areas of Montreal that are mostly English-speaking in the inner city would be Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (known as NDG), Westmount, Côte-St-Luc, Hampstead. The suburban area known as the West Island (on the island of Montreal, roughly west of Dorval airport) also has a large English-speaking population.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by Canerican

It wasn't a restaurant, it was a little grocery store near Cambridge, but I'm not even sure where I was, all those cities just run into each other.

I could tell with the tips though, I went to a place called Grill 23 (which was insanely too expensive, but very good). I they included 22% on the bill, so I didn't leave any extra (and 22% on a $240 tab is nothing to scoff at, in my books) and my waiter my obviously upset. Whatever, this place wasn't for me. I was truly surprised at how much stuff costs up there.

Even Virginia Beach is fairly costly (although gas and clothes seem alot less expensive). Groceries are about 15% more, and I think that restaurants are at least 25% more, even in Hampton and Chesapeake.

Housing is definitely alot more money, our house in Getzville cost about $200,000, and the equivalent here would be about $320,000, although I believe that it would probably be a bit newer, and have more land.

Yep, I tell you again that Boston is a very expensive place to live in. Housing is expensive (200k will get you only a hovel nowadays), petrol is expensive, dining out is expensive, heck even public transportation is getting very expensive. If you took public transit, I bet you had to pay a whopping 2 bucks to ride the subway. 10 years ago, it was only 85 cents.

How did this happen? Our state legislature changed the funding formula in 2000 and made sales tax revenue the bulk of funding. With 2 recent economic downturns, sales tax revenues went down from the glorious 1990s, the MBTA is struggling as a result, and riders are punished with continuous fare hikes. Not only that but service is just as bad as a decade ago and more bus route cancellations are coming.

Yet the legislature is balking at rechanging the formula due to strong opposition from Western MA (Springfield area) whose residents are envious of Boston and want it to suffer continous high cost of living. Besides, I sincerely doubt the top MBTA administrators actually ride the subway and buses. They don't really care about the system as long as they get their fat pension in the end. Sad isn't it?

[Canerican]

One thing that I noticed that was unlike Buffalo was that everyone was in a hurry. Why? It's not like there are only 23 hours in a day in Boston. It's worse than NYC.

PS - I drove through the Bronx Expressway, big mistake if any of you travel that way. It took me 1.25 hours to drive 4.8 miles because of an accident. This was in off-peak, weekend traffic.