Arlington or Lexington? (Boston, Cambridge: home, to buy, high school)

[MovingForward]

Originally Posted by lightblue

What if I weren't American?

People who aren't raised in the culture in which they live often misread cultural signifiers specific to that culture. Your reading of the towns of Massachusetts, in terms of desirability, is based entirely on where you do or do not see signs of wealth. That appears to be the only measuring stick you have for determining the quality of a given town's attributes. You are completely oblivious to other, more culturally subtle signs of desirability.

[MovingForward]

Originally Posted by lightblue

oh you're right: Arlington is the be all and end all...people from Winchester, Cambridge, Back Bay, Weston, Wellesley, Newton, Belmont, Hingham, Duxbury, Manchester, Sharon, Milton, everyone but me wishes they could subject their kids to the fantasy town of Arlington, Yes, that's it...people everywhere are literally clamoring to live there, (tell me ...you must be realtors...either that or 19 year olds with inferiority complexes because the kids on the towns on three sides of you seem to have it better)....So I guess you're right: Arlington is the best of the best, the creme de la creme, if you like run-down two families an arm's length apart, strewn trash, pot-reeking teenagers complaining about nothing to do whilst conducting spitting contests outside one of the ubiquitous below average pizza/sub dives, ...if you must have schools that work only to meet that mcas, if you must have a large percentage of transient neighbors, and a thoroughly uninviting downtown that could be confused at times in appearance with one of the depressed towns outskirting lovely Detroit, MI...I can't believe after 10 tears of living in Cambridge I had missed all that. Wow I think I'll raise my little girl there. ugh.

Wow...sorry for telling it like it is. I have nothing vested in the town or any other but I suspect given the wrath of responses some of you do.

anyone interested in the town I highly recommend you take a trip or two there and then do the same with any of the other area towns and then decide!

Hey, you're the one who came on this forum dumping on Arlington and insulting people. So back off. Nobody said everybody was "clamoring" to live in Arlington. As for the rest of your snotty little screed: the only thing your "telling like it is" is your pathetic inferiority complex that compels you to insult people so that you can feel better about yourself. I'm sure the folks in Lexington wouldn't want you any more than the folks in Arlington.

[lightblue]

I initially explained to the thread starter that lexington and Arlington are not considered in the same tier, for lack of a better term. If you take a poll in the metrowest about which is the more desirable town most by far will choose Lexington. To someone from South Carolina inquiring about the two towns it is disingenuous to talk about the two towns like they are considered equally desirable in an empirical sense. Simply untrue. I encouraged the man from South Carolina to investigate for himself.

WHEN PRESSED to explain myself I provided my OWN PERSONAL opinion and provided anecdotes to back up the reason for my opinion. I do not have an axe to grind with Arlington. I lived there for approximately 4 months about five years ago but went straight back to Cambridge and chalked my time up in Arlington as a lesson that I do not like it there. I recognized that there are some who will like a town with a lesser rep. than another but that generally speaking the price of a town in MA is for good reason.. i.e. I do have friends in Dorchester who will never live anywhere else but recognize that places like Lexington and Arlington enjoy a better overall reputation. They encounter many many people in MA who cannot fathom appreciating Ashmont Hill or Upham's corner Dorchester. BUT when someone from South Carolina inquires about the differences between the two it would not be fair to fail to mention that one place enjoys a much better reputation and the house/rent prices to match. I did suggest the initial thread starter rent in Arlington; if he likes it once there he'll stay. Enough said.

[lightblue]

Originally Posted by MovingForward

People who aren't raised in the culture in which they live often misread cultural signifiers specific to that culture. Your reading of the towns of Massachusetts, in terms of desirability, is based entirely on where you do or do not see signs of wealth. That appears to be the only measuring stick you have for determining the quality of a given town's attributes. You are completely oblivious to other, more culturally subtle signs of desirability.

I believe most people share my desire for schools w/ excellent teaching and strong, well-rounded curriculums, beautiful, safe and clean neighborhoods replete with well tended and awesome historical and new homes that do not look like the cookie cutter hamlets in other towns and states, a wonderful library system, town amenities like four well managed swimming pools, tennis courts, decent well kept parks and playgrounds, an inviting downtown with a variety of CLEAN restaurants, neighbors who are long-term, long-staying residents, an active civic-oriented population, an educated and diverse, caring population, an ultra-active LPPTA to help new moms and dads, opportunities for after school activities for teens, and I could go on and on...


wealth tends to bring those with it to a town but it's not the wealth or status of Lexington I need...it's the amenities that go with it.

I could choose to move just about anywhere in the state but Lexington matches my above desires pretty darn well.

[TheWereRabbit]

Originally Posted by lightblue

Are YOU kidding? Comparing Arlington to Lexington is like comparing Baltimore to Beverly Hills.

...

Two minutes after you drive over the border you see a dramatic difference.

Ya, 2 minutes after you cross the border you see Berman's and Busa because A-town doesn't have any packys.

lightblue, you need to get off the Lexington stick for 30 seconds and just be unbiased. You get paid on commison I take it?


Both towns are great. Different. Depends what you're looking for. I think other posts have made it clear what the differences are. Wealthier more suburban family town vs. more cosmopolitan and closer to the city mixed town

[MovingForward]

Originally Posted by lightblue

I believe most people share my desire for schools w/ excellent teaching and strong, well-rounded curriculums, beautiful, safe and clean neighborhoods replete with well tended and awesome historical and new homes that do not look like the cookie cutter hamlets in other towns and states, a wonderful library system, town amenities like four well managed swimming pools, tennis courts, decent well kept parks and playgrounds, an inviting downtown with a variety of CLEAN restaurants, neighbors who are long-term, long-staying residents, an active civic-oriented population, an educated and diverse, caring population, an ultra-active LPPTA to help new moms and dads, opportunities for after school activities for teens, and I could go on and on...


wealth tends to bring those with it to a town but it's not the wealth or status of Lexington I need...it's the amenities that go with it.

I could choose to move just about anywhere in the state but Lexington matches my above desires pretty darn well.

Many of the attributes you just listed also reflect the quality of life in Arlington. But how would you know? You stayed here 5 months and moved back to Cambridge. Funny, given the fact that Cambridge, as much as I love it:

1) has more crime than Arlington
2) is dirtier than Arlington
3) has poorer quality schools than Arlington

etc.

Please, just pack it in.

[TheWereRabbit]

Whoah, I just read through this whole thread and I am freaking amazed.

lightblue, you are going to be really interested when your kids are older and you find out what town in the area is considered the pot-smoking town. If you are going to bash these other people making legitimate points by accusing them of being 19, then I thought a 19-year-old needed to speak up.

Heaven forbid kids would "jump on and off" your daughter's tricycle. Is that really that terrifying for you? Thank god things of that horrible nature don't take place in the safety of Lexington. Stay in the cozy seclusion of a town where the only minorities are passive asians and metco students who wouldn't dare stir the pot.

Just do me one favor and don't mention Winchester again when you are preaching your elitist bull****.

P.S

Ya, kids in Lexington blaze a looooot.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by lightblue

oh you're right: Arlington is the be all and end all...people from Winchester, Cambridge, Back Bay, Weston, Wellesley, Newton, Belmont, Hingham, Duxbury, Manchester, Sharon, Milton, everyone but me wishes they could subject their kids to the fantasy town of Arlington, Yes, that's it...people everywhere are literally clamoring to live there, (tell me ...you must be realtors...either that or 19 year olds with inferiority complexes because the kids on the towns on three sides of you seem to have it better)....So I guess you're right: Arlington is the best of the best, the creme de la creme, if you like run-down two families an arm's length apart, strewn trash, pot-reeking teenagers complaining about nothing to do whilst conducting spitting contests outside one of the ubiquitous below average pizza/sub dives, ...if you must have schools that work only to meet that mcas, if you must have a large percentage of transient neighbors, and a thoroughly uninviting downtown that could be confused at times in appearance with one of the depressed towns outskirting lovely Detroit, MI...I can't believe after 10 tears of living in Cambridge I had missed all that. Wow I think I'll raise my little girl there. ugh.

Wow...sorry for telling it like it is. I have nothing vested in the town or any other but I suspect given the wrath of responses some of you do.

anyone interested in the town I highly recommend you take a trip or two there and then do the same with any of the other area towns and then decide!

Obnoxious. Thank God you want to go to Lexington. If you think Arlington looks anything like Baltimore or depressed towns outside Detroit, you don't know what you're talking about. In my entire neighborhood there wasn't a two-family to be had, which is something few parts of Cambridge can claim.

Read what you've written. From the outset your tone has been condescending and obnoxious. I'd be happy to take anyone interested on a tour of Arlington so they can evaluate how best to cope with the strewn trash nobody else seems to see.

[MovingForward]

Or perhaps she should move back to her home country.

[elijahwilliams]

ask a little question and see what happens, yikes.