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Everyone else has written so much of what I love about living in Greater Boston. I would also add that the blend of old and new, of blue collar and tweed jacket and of old Yankee sensibilities with new immigrant customs and ways makes for a fascinating blend of people in a city that manages to be cosmopolitan and village-like all at once. I haven't been anywhere else that has a feel quite like it.
Public transit, walkable cities and suburbs, sidewalks. Even if it can be a pain in the suburbs, at least there is SOME form of transit available if you do not have a car. I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and the nearest bus was 8 miles away and ONLY operated during rush hour and ONLY went to the nearest MARTA station about 10-15 miles away. That made it impossible for me as a teenager to have a part time job since I did not have a car and the combination of no sidewalks + no bike commuting culture + busy streets made it too dangerous to walk or bike.
Cultural opportunities. I'm an ethnic food, street festival, and museum kind of girl. There's never a lack of things to do in Boston - and it always surprises me when people complain! The sheer amount of colleges in the area means that there are free/cheap events, concerts, plays, and lectures pretty much any time of day. Post-college, I've been to an intimate lecture with my favorite NYT columnist, participated (and now chair) in a fantastic yearly 3 day arts festival/concert series, gone to at least 15 plays ranging from free to $10, heard many international government officials speak, learned to salsa, seen more a cappella groups than you can imagine, and so much more. I'm a staff member at one of the local universities, so by the mere nature of my job I find out about a lot of these events - but many events are held at other colleges and I find out about them by word of mouth or keeping an eye on a few calendars. Not to mention all of the museums in the Boston area - from art and literature to science and history, we have a little something for everyone.
Healthcare. I was diagnosed with a fairly rare cancer at 23. Boston hospitals have been good to me and I know people with even rarer cancers who travel from even the West Coast to see specialists at Dana-Farber. Furthermore, Massachusetts as a whole seems more health-focused and mental health care is not looked down upon the way I perceived it was growing up in Georgia.
Education. I moved here for college and stayed to continue working in higher ed. Now, I'm earning a master's degree here. You can't beat Boston for higher education. I always chuckle a little bit when people ask about the schools here. Outside of some tough urban schools (Boston, Lawrence, New Bedford, Haverhill, etc.), even school districts that are considered bad here would be considered an excellent school in most parts of the country. We're well funded with an educated, engaged population.
Secular volunteerism. This is a huge factor for me. I've lived in another state and a few other countries and never found such an organic volunteerism spirit as I do here. People volunteer because they feel passionate about it or are looking for a way to be social with likeminded folks, not because of religion (although certainly religious groups do a lot of heavy lifting as well). As the beneficiary of volunteer assistance as well as an avid volunteer, this makes a huge difference in quality of life. If I have no plans on a weekend, I know I could call a friend or two to register for a shift at Cradles to Crayons (and those types of events are the quickest alumni association events to sell out!). Most of my coworkers are volunteer Girl Scout leaders, a Big Brother/Big Sister, an ESL tutor, or some other recurring volunteer gig. Those who have kids and are more strapped for time seem to spend every other weekend in a food bank or Cradles to Crayons with their kids, teaching them the value of philanthropy early.
People. Boston is a great place for introverts. I could not imagine anything more painful than spending time in a loud club - they exist here, but certainly do not play a big role in the culture or popular nightlife. People leave you alone, but are very friendly if you take the time to know them or ask a question. They might not look you in the eye as you walk down the street or on the T, but if you're lost and need help, I've found people will drop what they're doing to help you. No one has EVER asked my religion here (once when home from college, my mom mentioned my dad was home sick to the person making a sub for us in the grocery store and she came running out to hold our hands and pray to Jesus - we're Jewish). We're very liberal politically but conservative in how we conduct ourselves - and that works very well for me.
The thing that will drive me out of the state is the extremely high cost of living. I don't want to be 30 still living with roommates, but that's incredibly common here. Unless between now and finishing my master's degree, I meet a significant other with my income or higher and a similar mindset about finances, I will likely have to move somewhere cheaper. Now, that place could be as close as Haverhill or Worcester if I found a job in those areas, but will likely require a more substantial move.
Interesting post. From my perspective I have the opposite opinion in regards to Boston being a "great place for introverts" however. There must be a good amount of people that can go about their business in peace without being hassled by others. In my personal experience I have found an obnoxious and loud demeanor in many people. If you are quiet and reserved people may assume you are unhappy or unfriendly and that being superficially talkative means you are "normal". It seems to be more of a socially oriented atmosphere rather than a deep thinking person's or someone who actually likes to say what they really think. I believe many people would rather fit in than take a risk of being alienated for saying what they really think, therefore many people have a hard time actually thinking objectively.
I associate introversion more with independence and objective thinking and extroversion with social dependence and clan/mob thinking.
Last edited by Know Nonsense; 01-25-2014 at 07:41 PM..
Interesting post. From my perspective I have the opposite opinion in regards to Boston being a "great place for introverts" however. There must be a good amount of people that can go about their business in peace without being hassled by others. In my personal experience I have found an obnoxious and loud demeanor in many people. If you are quiet and reserved people may assume you are unhappy or unfriendly and that being superficially talkative means you are "normal". It seems to be more of a socially oriented atmosphere rather than a deep thinking person's or someone who actually likes to say what they really think. I believe many people would rather fit in than take a risk of being alienated for saying what they really think, therefore many people have a hard time actually thinking objectively.
I associate introversion more with independence and objective thinking and extroversion with social dependence and clan/mob thinking.
I grew up in a rural area of the South, so Boston has a TINY percentage of people with what I would consider a loud and obnoxious demeanor compared to my baseline. There's a LOT of pressure on people, especially women, to be extraverted in Southern culture. Growing up, every time I opened a book or talked about *gasp* having a career, I got a "Bless your heart." In Boston, I can just avoid sports bars and I'm good to go.
It also might depend on your activities. I've lived here for 6 years and never encountered any of what you describe.
the good: well educated citizens for the most part (although the Boston accent can detract from this), close to lots of entertainment and things to do, variety of sports and culture, awesome profesional sports and colleges, nice grocery store options, no one cares what religion you are, or if you are non religious, no one cares if you are gay or not, diverse mix of people and cultures, strong economy, access to beaches and mountains and historical places
the bad: very poor infrastructure and designed road system- especially for cyclists, high traffic and unjust toll system, very aggresive and rude drivers, fairly high tax rates (although not terrible), a poor judical system, heavy police and government corruption, a lot of elitist yuppies who stay in your business which often leads to a lot of regulations on property owners and infringes on citizens rights- basically a nanny state when it comes to telling people what they can or can't do (fireworks are illegal, sparklers are illegal, fires are illegal on most beaches now that used to allow them with permits, very strict gun laws, you can't even carry pepper spray with you without a permit, you can only buy alchohol at certain stores, bars aren't allowed to have "happy hours" because it might encourage people to drink too much, the governor makes snow bans in effect on roads rather than letting people decide if it's safe, I got kicked off public property twice last winter while playing pond hockey because the police said they didn't want me to get hurt/they didn't know if it was safe, which has never happened to me in other New England states)
Interesting post. From my perspective I have the opposite opinion in regards to Boston being a "great place for introverts" however. There must be a good amount of people that can go about their business in peace without being hassled by others. In my personal experience I have found an obnoxious and loud demeanor in many people. If you are quiet and reserved people may assume you are unhappy or unfriendly and that being superficially talkative means you are "normal". It seems to be more of a socially oriented atmosphere rather than a deep thinking person's or someone who actually likes to say what they really think. I believe many people would rather fit in than take a risk of being alienated for saying what they really think, therefore many people have a hard time actually thinking objectively.
I associate introversion more with independence and objective thinking and extroversion with social dependence and clan/mob thinking.
Kinda sorta. That's one thing I tend to like in the area is generally the place is pretty tolerant. Political issues aren't some in your face thing like it can be out west. You don't see instant protests even though there is a high student population. So if people disagree they agree to disagree and leave it at that.
"no one cares what religion you are, or if you are non religious, no one cares if you are gay or not,"
I agree. Although I could argue that if it wasn't for the sexual abuse that occurred maybe the place would have been more religious. I could also say that if more good works were performed by them it would change a bit of the atmosphere. Before government religions were a large provider of social services which runs into some odd hypocrisy down south. Faith based initiatives are controversial to say the least.
A lot has already been mentioned, so I'll stick with my own small point. I love the physical diversity and history of the region. The region is old enough and developed during different points in history which has a fairly profound effect on the way the region developed. I like that Boston's suburbs often times are centered around historic villages and town centers. While our metro area is no stranger to cookie cutter development and sprawl, the historic (and pre-automobile) roots of the surrounding towns give our suburban area a distinctly different (and in many ways, more authentic) look than many other cities (particularly those down South and out West).
Beyond that, I like the old industrial cities that dot the landscape around Boston. Economically, many of them are in terrible condition, but they add to the diversity (both cultural and physical) and provide interesting urban pockets in the suburbs.
Combined with what others have mentioned, I really love the Boston area. Now, if we could get rid of the arctic chill, I'd be very happy.
Oh, the weather and the traffic, definitely!
So many people have given such great answers and said everything I want to say. When I moved away for a few years, what I missed most were:
- The close proximity to the ocean, forests, and mountains and to both city and country - everything is just a short (albeit sometimes traffic-y) drive away
- The excellent health care. Growing up here I think I took it for granted, but we have some amazing medical resources here.
- The excellent schools. Ditto about taking for granted, I think we sometimes forget that even the schools here that have less favorable reputations here are still pretty good compared to much of the U.S.
- The layout - the whole greater Boston area might be just one big city in some parts of the U.S. instead of the 20+ cities and towns we have. While that might make it confusing it does bring a greater sense of identity and ensures there are so many more community resources to go around.
- The diversity
- The insurance. Wait, what? Yes, even though people complain about high insurance costs etc, thanks to minimum coverage standards, the basic coverage covers a lot and does protect the consumer. I had to move out of state to really understand that one.
- In a similar vein, the consumer protections, safety standards, etc. We have great laws and when those fail, we have Hank Phillippi Ryan!
- The weather, seriously. Even when I hate the cold I remind myself that it kills off a lot of the scary bugs and things found in more tropical areas of the country. (I still hate the traffic!)
- The museums and cultural resources, community activities - there is so much to do here, almost to a fault, as it sometimes makes it hard to stay home and do household-y things on weekends. (When I moved away I was bored but my house was soooo organized!)
- The accents. No, seriously, it may be hometown pride but I love them!
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