Seattle VS Boston

[grapico]

Anyways some of my fascinations include:

- Food Boston
- Museums (this is a must) Boston
- Natural Scenery (whatever the place has got) Seattle
- Bookstores (I love a city with a good collection of book stores) Boston
- Great Coffee shops (I'm being serious- I start my day everyday with Coffee) Seattle
- Some good sites to see too vague
- City architecture (I like to see skylines/buildings) Boston
- Parks (This is very important to me) Seattle
- Good art galleries (Besides food and coffee shops this is the next most important thing for me) Boston
- Any Jazz venues (If the city has any good ones) not sure
- Good bars boston
- Anything else that makes the city stand out that you can think of. getting around PT is easier in Boston...


I'd go to Boston and give it a second chance... I had the same experience with Boston initially and different the next time around. Try not to compare it to Chicago either, and take I said with grain of salt I much prefer Northeast/New England to Pac NW.

[jesting]

If I had to vacation to one, I would vacation to Boston because I live in Seattle

[Champ le monstre du lac]

I'm surprised you didn't hit me up on this one OS! I've lived in both Seattle and Boston. I'd say go to Seattle as it would be a different and eye opening experience for you. Both cities have a lot of character and march to their own drumbeat, but with that said I'd say if you are coming from Chicago you may have more fun in Seattle as Boston has some parallels to Chicago being that they are both old cities with a dense urban fabric. By all means get back here to Boston and experience it with a good local, the people and the city are great, glad you are giving it the benefit of the doubt. But as much as I love my hometown, I miss Seattle a lot and still pine for it. It's a city that tugs at my heart strings. Seattle has magic that Boston doesn't really have. Hard to put into words but it could be the spectacualar mountain and ocean setting and the character of the Northwest. I'm going to lean to Seattle for all your criteria below even though Boston may measure up to the competition.

- Food
Food in Seattle is awesome, definitely a foodie town with some well known culinary institutions. Like Boston, Seattle has a lot of cold water seafood, good clam chowder, crabs, salmon, halibut, oysters etc. Thai food is really big in Seattle and the city has a plethora of Thai restaurants found in every neighborhood. A lot of locally grown produce is used on the menus of the restaurants, and west coast produced is the best! Pike Place Market is definitely the best urban farmers market in the country and the surrounding area feels European with bakeries, coffee shops, street musicians. It's very vibrant.

- Museums (this is a must)
I'd hate to say it, but this is where Seattle comes up short. Not much of a museum city, the art museum had a recent expansion and you could kill a few hours there, but Boston trumps Seattle in this department by a mile.

- Natural Scenery (whatever the place has got)
In my opinion Seattle is the most beautiful city in the US. It's got steep hills, lots of beautiful evergreen trees, many neighborhoods feel like a city in a park. Waterfront is everywhere, salt water to the west (Puget Sound) and fresh water to the east (Lake Washington), with an urban lake in the middle of town (Lake Union). Beautiful mountain ranges on both sides of the city (Cascades to the east and spectacular sunsets over the Olympic mountain range to the west). Mount Rainier dominates the southern horizon and the sight of it is awe inspiring. Be sure to take a ferry ride across Puget Sound and take your camera!

- Bookstores
You will love Seattle then! Seattle is a very literate city, Elliot Bay bookstore in Pioneer Square was one of my favorites, and it has a great coffee shop downstairs. The U District and Capital Hill also has some great bookstores.

- Great Coffee shops (I'm being serious- I start my day everyday with Coffee)
This one is a no brainer! Duh! its Seattle! Seattle made good cofee trendy and it's not just Starbucks. There are locally owned coffee shops all around town and the coffee is excellent. My favorite was Uptown Espresso. Boston has swill coffee, and the locals love Dunkin Donuts, the reason why they love DD swill is beyond me, I guess they just don't know any better.

- Some good sites to see
In Seattle, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, the Space Needle, Broadway/Capital Hill, The Ballard Locks, The Fremont Troll, Queen Anne neighborhood, and a very vibrant downtown. Seattle is a neighborhood city with many different districts to explore.

- City architecture (I like to see skylines/buildings)
This is subjective. Do you like old architecture or modern? Boston trumps Seattle in terms of street level architecture with the historic brownstones and centuries of diverse architecture. With that said Seattle has more modern and edgier architecture and a much much prettier skyline. Both cities have very interesting architecture and infrastructure.

- Parks (This is very important to me)
Seattle has wonderful neighborhood parks where you can walk trails into a dense evergreen forest and feel like the city has disappeared. A lot of scenic waterfront parks as well. Some of the best are Seward Park, Golden Gardens Park, and Gas Works Park. Boston has an edge with the Common and Public Gardens being the downtown park, but if you are going in winter then theres not much to look at.

- Good art galleries (Besides food and coffee shops this is the next most important thing for me)
I don't remember either city have a strong art gallery scene. I know for Boston you gotta get out of the city to places like Cape Cod or Rockport to see a collection of good galleries. Not sure where it's at in Seattle, would have to ask someone else.

- Any Jazz venues (If the city has any good ones)
Not familiar.....

- Good bars
Both cities are pretty weak on nightlife and coming from Chicago which has awesome nightlife, Boston and Seattle may dissapoint as they are both early to bed and early to rise cities. With all the college kids in Boston and twenty somethings in Seattle I never quite understood that. With that said Seattle is a trendy city and has OK nightlife in places like Capital Hill, Pioneer Square, and First Ave in Belltown.

Both cities are a lot more fun in the summer. Boston is rediculously cold (like Chicago) in the winter, and Seattle rarely see's any sun from October to April. Seattle looks 10 times prettier on a clear day when all the glorious mountains are out, but if you must chose one or the other in the winter I could tollerate Seattle weather a little more as it is much more mild and temperate than Boston. I hope you have fun and hit me up with any questions you may have.

[DANNYY]

Thank you everyone for the response. Especially those that have taken the time and given me a list of options, I'll let it all sink into my head this week. I need to come up with a decision soon enough, and my friends were just as split about this as I was (half wanted one, other half the other choice).

I'm going to look up more things in both to see which one I end up going too.

And by the way, the weather doesn't bother me. I like colder weather, the colder it gets the better for me. And rain is my favorite setting- so that doesn't bother me either.

Caphillsea: I almost always like modern architecture, but in the Northeast, Boston has always appealed to me in the traditional architecture because of how polished and condensed the city may look. The harbor has a lot to do with it too, all in all, I'm really a die hard "must have tall skyline and massive skyling" type of person, but the only city I can actually forgive for having a short skyline but a lot of substance to appeal would be Boston. Seattle, enough said, the skyline in general looks glamorous with the mountain backdrop and coastal setting not too far off & of course the Space Needle. So I wouldn't mind either city in this regard.

Thank you everyone on your inputs. And definitely tmac9wr & Caphillsea77, I'll probably be bothering you guys in a few days with a few questions about Boston (tmac9wr) & Seattle (caphillsea77). And maybe you too grapico, seems like you've traveled both as well.

EDIT: You've got some really nice pictures pwright1. Thank you for sharing them.

[godhead]

Originally Posted by fashionguy

Seattle's skyline isn't particularly big or tall. It is nice and stand on a high ground and looks more impressive than it really is from certain angles, but in terms of size and height of the skyline, it is not as huge as people might think it is. It is on par with Boston, Philly, etc, and not as big or tall as Houston, LA etc and also smaller than Miami, SF, etc that are not particularly tall.

Seattle is in the middle on your list of cities (thanks wikipedia)

#1 L.A.- us bank tower 1,018 ft
#2 Houston- jp morgan/chase 1,002 ft
#3 Philly- comcast center 975 ft
#4 Seattle- columbia center 937 ft
#5 S.F.- trans-am pyramid 853 ft
#6 Boston- hancock place 790 ft
#7 Miami- 4 seasons 789 ft.

[BPerone201]

Boston for the history, location and weather.
Seattle probably comes after on my list of favorite cities, so good comparison

[415_s2k]

I was born in Seattle but spent my childhood and youth between Seattle and Boston. I've lived in both as an adult and prefer Boston overall, but I'll fill in your little questionaire to narrow it down a bit as to why...

- Food (Yeah this is important to the max) - Boston. First of all, Seattle is more expensive than Boston, LA, and SF when it comes to dining out, and second of all, I found the general quality of food to be less-than-average compared to Boston. Seattle has better Mexican, though Seattle's Mexican still sucks aside from one or two spots... Boston has one place (Picante in Cambridge's Central Square) that's worth anything, and it's not all that good either. Boston wins for Italian hands-down, and also has substantially better Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean options... the Indian in Seattle is okay, but it's very Americanized. The Middle Eastern is tough to come by and is so-so, and the Greek dining there is astronomically freakin' overpriced!

Seattle has a much larger Asian population. This is swell if you're Asian or have a preference for dating Asians, but it doesn't translate into good food: Seattle's Asian dining is the worst of any major city in the US I've been to. SF and LA win, but Boston is surprisingly good. Places like New Asia, Buddha's Delight (changed their name a couple years ago, don't know what it is now), China Pearl, and Kaya are epic.

Seafood is a toss up: both are great historical fishing towns, and I think you probably get a better general catch in Seattle, though Boston has lobster... I'm a vegetarian, so I can't chime in much here.

In both cities, you pay a fair amount for produce. Seattle has a substantially better farmer's market.

- Museums (this is a must) Boston winds with no credible dispute whatsoever. Boston is one of if not the foremost hubs of education in the US and that's reflected in the number and quality of museums in it.

- Natural Scenery (whatever the place has got) - subjective. I like New England more, but the PNW is quite enchanting.

- Bookstores (I love a city with a good collection of book stores) See "Museums." Seattle has a couple good bookstores, Boston has dozens and dozens. Seattle probably has more blogs that come out of it, and probably has a higher-than-average ownership of the Kindle and Nook than Boston.

- Great Coffee shops (I'm being serious- I start my day everyday with Coffee) - Seattle.

- Some good sites to see - Boston. Seattle is pretty dull.

- City architecture (I like to see skylines/buildings) - Boston.

- Parks (This is very important to me) - Probably both. In Boston, not only do you have the Common, you have many smaller neighborhood parks, the entire banks of the Charles, etc. Seattle has the arboretum, Gasworks park, Golden Gardens, Alki, etc.

- Good art galleries (Besides food and coffee shops this is the next most important thing for me) - Boston

- Any Jazz venues (If the city has any good ones) - Boston is one of the best cities in the US for jazz. Berklee College of Music attracts some of the best jazz musicians around, so you have a great scene. Scullers is a good joint I know off the top of my head, and the front room at the Middle East in Cambridge has some great acts (the back room is mostly punk... interesting mix

- Good bars - Boston. Seattle does have some great microbrews, but the bar/pub scene is extremely dull and introverted compared to Boston's.

And on that note, let me cue you in to a little secret when it comes to how the city's social climes are, because they're basically a 180 from one another:

In Seattle, people are very friendly and polite from the gate, but end up being closed-off, introverted, and difficult to connect with.
In Boston, people are more standoffish from the gate, but end up being very open, friendly, warm, and have your back for life.

It really depends on what you're looking for in life and what you want out each city for the time you're there. I think Boston is a substantially better place to be in general, and especially for higher education. The culture of learning and intellectualism trumps Seattle.

[HtownLove]

Seattle any day.

[Boston14]

Originally Posted by tmac9wr

Boston is not exactly the best place to visit during the winter. It's Chicago-style cold. Seattle would probably be the better city to visit during the winter...Boston is still a fun winter city, but just like Chicago it's better to go when the weather will cooperate. Summer in Boston is awesome, and fall is amazing too. I guess it really just depends on which month of winter you're visiting.

I'm not going to compare Boston to Seattle because I haven't ever been to Seattle and I don't know enough about the city...so I'll just tell you about Boston...

- Food (Yeah this is important to the max) - Well if you like seafood, it's hard to say many bad things about Boston. Lobsters, steamers, mussels, chowder (no not Campbell's Chunky), scallops, lobster bisque/stew, flounder, cherry stones...ugh I love seafood! Not to mention you'll find some of the finest Italian food in the country nestled in the North End.
- Museums (this is a must) - The MFA, ICA, Museum of Science, Gardner Museum are all awesome...Boston city proper somehow is only outdone by New York City by the total number of museums in the city. Don't ask me how. Boston has some amazing theater/orchestra venues throughout the city.
- Natural Scenery (whatever the place has got) - You're not going to find the beautiful mountains of the West Coast...but Boston is a hilly city which has plenty of natural beauty. The harbor is great, and walking along the Charles River Reservation is beautiful.
- Bookstores (I love a city with a good collection of book stores)
- Great Coffee shops (I'm being serious- I start my day everyday with Coffee) - I have no clue where Boston stands in terms of bookstores, but I can't see it being much of a slouch considering it's the Mecca of higher education on the planet and it's also home to one of the best-educated populations in the country. In terms of coffee shops...I don't know about this either...there are tons of cafes on Newbury Street, Back Bay, North End, and Allston/Brighton which seem to be popular, but I don't know how they compare to other cities.
- Some good sites to see - Boston has arguably the richest history of any city in the country. There's plenty to see in terms of history, and the chaotic downtown streetscape and beautiful architecture makes Boston's downtown a treat to walk through.
- City architecture (I like to see skylines/buildings) - Outside of New York City and maybe Chicago, I can't think of a city that outdoes Boston.
- Parks (This is very important to me) - In terms of beautiful urban parks, quote my previous response.
- Good art galleries (Besides food and coffee shops this is the next most important thing for me) - Boston is a haven for artists and is home to one of the finest art schools in the country, MassArt.
- Any Jazz venues (If the city has any good ones) - I wish I knew...
- Good bars - Boston has amazing bars. Areas you may want to check out: Broadway in Southie, Quincy Market, Friend St/Canal St, Boylston, Newbury, Hanover St, Downtown Brighton, Landsdowne St, Downtown Brookline, Kendall Sqaure, Harvard Square (both of which are in Cambridge).
- Anything else that makes the city stand out that you can think of. - Fenway Park is a must when you're visiting Boston...it's another reason you should visit the city in the summer/fall.

Good luck in your choice! If you want/need anymore info, let me know.

Same here I totally agree