Boston Area - Cultural niche between blue and white collar? (Cambridge: real estate, house)

[FromEverywhereUSA]

Originally Posted by scratchie

I lived in Greater Boston for 25 years and never experienced this once.

Good to know. It's odd that it's popping up in so many blogs and forums I'm seeing, though. Maybe all the bloggers are grad students or something?

[scratchie]

Originally Posted by FromEverywhereUSA

Good to know. It's odd that it's popping up in so many blogs and forums I'm seeing, though. Maybe all the bloggers are grad students or something?

I'm talking about real people, not bloggers.

[FromEverywhereUSA]

I know exactly one real person currently in the Boston area, and he's not even a native. He likes it there, but doesn't offer much detail beyond that. That means that the only people I can turn to are all you fake people on the internet. It's good to get a range of impressions.

Regardless, Reasons 1 and 2 (the cost and proximity to family) are enough reasons for us to seriously consider the move. I hate never seeing our families because it costs $600 a flight to cross the country. And my husband can easily get transferred to his Boston office, while I can work remotely, meaning we can bring our SF salaries with us. What's not to like?

[scratchie]

Originally Posted by FromEverywhereUSA

HAHA, I know, I've heard that, too. It's hard to explain. The Silicon Valley attitude.... the entitlement just grates on me after a while. The kids here think they're better than everyone else. But then that might be kids everywhere. I do read a lot of accounts that suggest Boston > SF for raising children, though.

If anything, you're more likely to encounter reverse-snobbery and mild hostility (or the cold shoulder) from working-class people who resent the "yuppies" moving into their neighborhoods. Not from everyone, not by any means, but there's still some class-based resentment there.

[brightdoglover]

^^^
Depends on where the OP moves to. I doubt anything like that would happen in Natick or Newton, etc. OP says "Boston" but seems to mean "Boston Metropolitan Area," which is a whole different thing. In many cities, "Boston" would encompass surrounding towns, which would simply be neighborhoods. Remember how small Boston proper is!

[scratchie]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

^^^
Depends on where the OP moves to. I doubt anything like that would happen in Natick or Newton, etc. OP says "Boston" but seems to mean "Boston Metropolitan Area," which is a whole different thing. In many cities, "Boston" would encompass surrounding towns, which would simply be neighborhoods. Remember how small Boston proper is!

True. I wouldn't expect anything like that in Natick or Newton or Lexington or even Arlington any more.

[robr2]

I live in one of the towns you mentioned. I don't think anyone here ever asked where I went to school and I really don't bring it up in conversation.

Now as the parent of a recent high school grad, I will say I that I did work very hard to mention where my son is going this fall. Proud Parent Syndrome. Of course it was a big topic of conversation among the parents of seniors.

[FromEverywhereUSA]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

^^^
Depends on where the OP moves to. I doubt anything like that would happen in Natick or Newton, etc. OP says "Boston" but seems to mean "Boston Metropolitan Area," which is a whole different thing. In many cities, "Boston" would encompass surrounding towns, which would simply be neighborhoods. Remember how small Boston proper is!

True, I'm sorry. I'll try to remember to specify Boston Metro Area in the future. Just like it gets tiring to say "San Francisco Bay Area" all the time, so I shorten it to just San Francisco even though we don't live in the city. I'm already getting lazy with Boston, it seems.

[scratchie]

My bad, I wasn't reading your original post closely enough. You're unlikely to encounter that sort of attitude in any of the suburbs you're likely to be considering, and only a few neighborhoods in the actual City. I was more commenting on the fact that overall, that sort of reverse-snobbery is more of a Massachusetts "thing" than school-based snobbery, in my experience.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by FromEverywhereUSA

Good to know. It's odd that it's popping up in so many blogs and forums I'm seeing, though. Maybe all the bloggers are grad students or something?

Consider the source. I have stereotypes about the types of people who blog. Not all of them are negative, but making things seem like a bigger deal than they are is a great way to get eyeballs. No one would be interested in a blog entry about how my neighbors are nice and mostly keep to themselves.