Which metro area is less pretentious/white collar or more down to earth/blue collar- Boston or NYC? (Cambridge: apartments, renting)

[MassNative2891]

Originally Posted by Dm84

The boroughs outside Manhattan are very blue collar in spots and no one thinks much of it. In Boston people are much more negative about it. The NYC suburbs on the other hand tend to be a very different story and being blue collar is associated with being poor (even though a plumber there makes more than most of their customers lol).

For what it's worth I grew up on Staten Island and everyone from the garbage man to my doctor had "the accent."

Staten Island is very similar to Roslindale, Westie, and Hyde Park, IMO. Down to the very underrated Italian-American presence in the neighborhoods.

[SIJ95]

When I was in Florida people told me I sounded like Tony Soprano lol, I don't really have an accent though. I'm originally from Bensonhurst/Dyker Heights we moved when it was time for junior high.

So what you're saying is since Boston is smaller, the whole city is like Manhattan (rich or poor) and the suburbs around have more blue collar/normal people

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by StatenIslandJake1995

When I was in Florida people told me I sounded like Tony Soprano lol, I don't really have an accent though. I'm originally from Bensonhurst/Dyker Heights we moved when it was time for junior high.

You have the accent, you're just in denial about it.

So what you're saying is since Boston is smaller, the whole city is like Manhattan (rich or poor) and the suburbs around have more blue collar/normal people

Yes, with some caveats. The wealthier suburbs are mostly white collar with pockets of long time blue collar residents.

[SIJ95]

Originally Posted by Dm84

You have the accent, you're just in denial about it.

Yes, with some caveats. The wealthier suburbs are mostly white collar with pockets of long time blue collar residents.

Which neighborhoods/close in suburbs are the most working class/blue collar/Boston accent

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by StatenIslandJake1995

Which neighborhoods/close in suburbs are the most working class/blue collar/Boston accent

Quincy and Braintree are two that come to mind as the closest to the city itself.

[Whatsnext75]

Quincy, weymouth, abington, randolph, everett, Winthrop.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by StatenIslandJake1995

Which neighborhoods/close in suburbs are the most working class/blue collar/Boston accent

Throw in Watertown as my vote for most expensive town bordering Boston that's still mostly blue collar.

[495neighbor]

New York is both most blue collar and most white collar. There is more respect in cities like New York and Chicago for the self-made. Boston is more pretentious about whether someone went to private or public school. If someone hasn't gone to an elite private school or has an obvious regional dialect it is very difficult for them to rise beyond a certain rank. The only exception the Boston banking industry is filled with executives with roots in Southie, Dorchester and the gateway cities.

[sfosyd]

I think both Boston and New York have a strong blue collar element which I love. Cities like Washington DC, and San Francisco seem very lacking to me in that they really do not have that blue collar element....

But of course New York is just so much bigger...so there is more of everything...blue collar...the 1%...everything in between, it is almost an apples to oranges comparison.

[UKWildcat1981]

I went to college at BU, I always thought of Boston as a very educated white collar city. I knew kids that went to college for free their parents paid 40-50 a k for them to go and gave them BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Porsches at 18. Boston does have a blue collar element but the cost of living is so expensive now people tend to view it as a white class upper crust city, lot of Ivy League educated families that live in the Boston metro like Weston, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and even in the city proper Boston in Back Bay. Boston is a very educated city it has lot of competition for high paying jobs which is way its mostly seen as a white collar city.