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Old 12-09-2013, 07:40 PM
 
Location: Columbia SC
14,198 posts, read 14,559,798 times
Reputation: 21999

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Quote:
Originally Posted by elhelmete View Post
Not everyone who moves into a town has schemes to remake the place.

How does one gain perspective if they've never left where they started?

The worst townies are the ones who have NEVER left and think they speak from some innate wisdom about what their town is like...as if they have anything to compare it to other than maybe driving up to NH to buy tonic without paying a deposit.
I love the drive to NH and pay for tonic without the deposit...LOL

When I lived in Andover, the question always was what it is worth to drive to NH and save sales tax.

Remember when chiropractorswere illegal in MA and one had to drive to NH to be "treated"? They used to line the old Rte 1 and Rte 28 in NH.
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Old 12-09-2013, 07:43 PM
 
6,039 posts, read 6,017,791 times
Reputation: 16753
Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf View Post
I love the drive to NH and pay for tonic without the deposit...LOL
I used to as well, but didn't base my view on the "outside world" on a once-in-a-while 30 mile jaunt.
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Old 12-09-2013, 07:55 PM
 
Location: Columbia SC
14,198 posts, read 14,559,798 times
Reputation: 21999
I do not see "townie" as an education nor income issue. I do see it more as opposing change from what one was brought up with. Like what do you mean? Newton North and Newton South High School? What is wrong with just plain old Newton High School?
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Old 12-09-2013, 07:57 PM
 
Location: MA
675 posts, read 1,689,097 times
Reputation: 929
Quote:
Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan View Post
To me the term townie also has an attitude related component. The wealthier towns such as Wellesley, Higham and Marblehead place a greater community-wide emphasis on education and knowledge. The people who never leave those towns still have a greater appreciation for global and national matters than less educated people.
Uuuuummmm...you might have missed the whole brouhaha in Hingham over putting in the commuter rail for fear it would bring undesirables to the town. I wouldn't call that educated or with a "greater appreciation for global and national matters". And these were the rich folks.

"Townie" has a lot of negative attitudes and stereotypes (some deserved) but it's nothing more or less than being born and raised in a town and choosing to live there in adulthood. Yes, I include people who went away and came back, and no, I don't think it has to mean people who never leave ever ever and certainly it doesn't mean people who never travel or open a newspaper (there may be another word for that, but Townie isn't it). And while the Townie designation sometimes falls along class lines, often it doesn't.

I used to live in Arlington and there were always huge townie-vs-transplant arguments - one could see why, since Arlington has become a popular destination in the last 10+ years due to proximity, schools, etc. And while a lot of the Townies (proud to be called so!) were blue collar, there were some white collar or even blue blood types in there as well (often retirees) who had a lot of pride in their town and would lecture about The Way Things Used To Be. I know that WASP senior citizens boasting that they can trace their roots in the town back to before the revolution doesn't fit the classic Townie stereotype, but what else would you call it?
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Old 12-09-2013, 08:04 PM
 
Location: San Antonio
4,422 posts, read 6,215,848 times
Reputation: 5429
Quote:
Originally Posted by tribechamy View Post
Uuuuummmm...you might have missed the whole brouhaha in Hingham over putting in the commuter rail for fear it would bring undesirables to the town. I wouldn't call that educated or with a "greater appreciation for global and national matters". And these were the rich folks.

"Townie" has a lot of negative attitudes and stereotypes (some deserved) but it's nothing more or less than being born and raised in a town and choosing to live there in adulthood. Yes, I include people who went away and came back, and no, I don't think it has to mean people who never leave ever ever and certainly it doesn't mean people who never travel or open a newspaper (there may be another word for that, but Townie isn't it). And while the Townie designation sometimes falls along class lines, often it doesn't.

I used to live in Arlington and there were always huge townie-vs-transplant arguments - one could see why, since Arlington has become a popular destination in the last 10+ years due to proximity, schools, etc. And while a lot of the Townies (proud to be called so!) were blue collar, there were some white collar or even blue blood types in there as well (often retirees) who had a lot of pride in their town and would lecture about The Way Things Used To Be. I know that WASP senior citizens boasting that they can trace their roots in the town back to before the revolution doesn't fit the classic Townie stereotype, but what else would you call it?
Excellent post. Townie is just an adult who lives in the town where they were raised. It stretches across all socioeconomic levels. The term was looked at as a negative when it was applied in college towns, when the lesser educated townies were looked at as ignorant people who didn't care for fancy book learnin' types. Just a perception...
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Old 12-09-2013, 08:32 PM
 
7,912 posts, read 7,740,728 times
Reputation: 4146
I remember one time I met a women who claimed to have never left her city. She doesn't drink, doesn't smoke and doesn't obviously travel. Didn't go to college and probably takes a bus or train anywhere in the place. I guess you have all you want you can but I find it pointless.

Sometimes townies might act like this

Withnail & I (In the tearoom) - YouTube
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Old 12-09-2013, 08:35 PM
 
1,768 posts, read 3,219,290 times
Reputation: 1592
Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf View Post
I do not see "townie" as an education nor income issue. I do see it more as opposing change from what one was brought up with. Like what do you mean? Newton North and Newton South High School? What is wrong with just plain old Newton High School?

Lots. State mandates all sorts of new building codes and regulations that most older building can not meet.

One of the most important is allowing disabled people to move around as freely as possible. Look up Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

When you have an old and unmaintained building with overgrown school population, you would spend more money on trying to renovate it and bring it up to code than knocking it down and starting all over.
Trust me, contrary to popular beliefs, school departments and building people are not running amok with tax money, and they are not out to get you. This is high cost area of living with extremely strict building regulations and codes, and nothing is cheap. People need to make living. You can perhaps blame the state of MA for trying to regulate public buildings.

Also, there are accreditation regulations which dictate what kind a teaching/learning space schools need to provide (to meet the minimum).
Purpose | Public High Schools (CPSS) / Committee on Public Secondary Schools

Newton was smart to get as much space and the best facility they can get, as their school population is ballooning with no end in sight. You do not build new town high school every day so it is important to do it right the first time. They could have gone smaller and cheaper, and to make sure students do not fit into school within five years of completion, but imagine the public outrage at that.
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Old 12-09-2013, 09:35 PM
 
13,945 posts, read 14,835,246 times
Reputation: 10383
Quote:
Originally Posted by elhelmete View Post
Not everyone who moves into a town has schemes to remake the place.

How does one gain perspective if they've never left where they started?

The worst townies are the ones who have NEVER left and think they speak from some innate wisdom about what their town is like...as if they have anything to compare it to other than maybe driving up to NH to buy tonic without paying a deposit.
Well, if you spend 40 years in one town you know a whole lot more about it than some Farmers daughter from Kansas who moved there 3 months ago.
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Old 12-10-2013, 04:51 AM
 
1,127 posts, read 1,246,767 times
Reputation: 1632
JohnGolf -- you must have gone to NHS! So did I (the original one)! I miss it. What year did you graduate?
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Old 12-10-2013, 08:29 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,525 posts, read 13,906,155 times
Reputation: 7908
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingeorge View Post
Lots. State mandates all sorts of new building codes and regulations that most older building can not meet.

One of the most important is allowing disabled people to move around as freely as possible. Look up Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

When you have an old and unmaintained building with overgrown school population, you would spend more money on trying to renovate it and bring it up to code than knocking it down and starting all over.
Trust me, contrary to popular beliefs, school departments and building people are not running amok with tax money, and they are not out to get you. This is high cost area of living with extremely strict building regulations and codes, and nothing is cheap. People need to make living. You can perhaps blame the state of MA for trying to regulate public buildings.

Also, there are accreditation regulations which dictate what kind a teaching/learning space schools need to provide (to meet the minimum).
Purpose | Public High Schools (CPSS) / Committee on Public Secondary Schools

Newton was smart to get as much space and the best facility they can get, as their school population is ballooning with no end in sight. You do not build new town high school every day so it is important to do it right the first time. They could have gone smaller and cheaper, and to make sure students do not fit into school within five years of completion, but imagine the public outrage at that.
The new Newton North High has nothing to do with what he's referring to. John is talking about when Newton went from having one high school to two. Based on my father's age (he was in one of the first Newton South graduating classes) this must have happened close to 50 years ago.

I'm sure there was plenty of resistance to the new Newton North though. That was likely more a financial argument than a resistance to change. It is, in the end, one of the most over-built high schools in the country.

Last edited by MikePRU; 12-10-2013 at 09:05 AM..
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