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Its easy to hate on Boston. It may have been a working class city but that has obviously changed, and I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing because Boston is probably where most working class cities would like to be. Chicago has found some success, in some neighborhoods, which is the case for a lot of Midwestern cities; in some neighborhoods (while those cities overall are still gritty, dangerous cities with a lot of urban blight). Plus its still small enough to give a different feel than say, New York or LA. I would consider just not sure if there are a lot of Blacks up there or if I would just get priced out of the city or living an hour away in some suburb.
City is 645k ppl 25 percent are black about 20% are Latino and half of then are racially black or mixed. The metro is 4.5 mil people 8% of whom are black closer to 9-10% if you exclude new Hampshire. Not a lot of black people, but black ppeople. More than anywhere in the West or West Coast. My girlfriend has her cousin conm up often from Hampton Roads and she loves it (mostly for the guys and the brash attitude though..but also the density), their families, like mine are traditional Boston AAs who migrated up here from Alabama (her fam) and North Carolina (my fam) in the 50s-70s. Most of our family still lives in Roxbury-Dorchester with portions moving south to Milton Hyde Park and Brockton. Just to give you a ssensdynamic.e of the dynamic. High chance youd get priced out of the city but probablly not an hour away then again idk your income.
I think there is a lot to like about Boston, winter weather notwithstanding (and I like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing). And I think I have commented on some of these earlier in this thread.
I've lived in Boston, NY and Northern California. Judging female looks is in the eye of the beholder, but to the poster who commented on the large number of beautiful women, I'd argue that of the three, Boston has the fewest (obviously absolutely but as a percentage also). LA has a significant slug of the population who came to become actresses and now are waitresses etc. Moreover, it has generations of people, male and female, who come to be in movies and may or may not succeed but remain there, get married and have kids. So the gene pool has an unusually higher percentage of really attractive males and females. It does not hurt, as someone pointed out, that it is warm there and so people pay attention to bodies year-round. New York has actresses and models and their descendants. Same thing. Boston has college students. OK -- younger and higher socioeconomic status but not comparable to actresses and models. I'm not complaining. I was a professor at the beginning of my career and did have some rather attractive students in my classes. But as a percentage, I'd say LA wins for sure and NY too.
goofy328, I would defer to African-Americans about living here. My observation is that there is still a fair degree of segregation in living areas and lives here. Cambridge has been quite mixed for a long time. Housing costs are generally quite high (but lower than NY).
So because you struck out with speed dating that gives you the right to classify all the women in the U.S. as shallow. I was no ball of fire on the dating scene but that didn't make me classify all women as shallow! I think you need to grow up and get over yourself.
It isn't mentioned more because the city isn't great. Boston is a 2nd tier city trying to masquerade as a 1st tier city. The city is on par with Seattle, Pittsburgh, and DC. The problems with the city are structural which exacerbates the cultural problems stewing underneath.
The T needs its governing body tarred, feathered, and dragged behind a B line train from BC all the way to Park. What happened in terms of service this past winter was unacceptable. I spent almost a month home from work.
Snow removal: for a town with so many smart people, it is hilarious to see how inept the city is at removing snow. Common complaints are that there isn't any place to put it. Apparently they used to dump the snow into the Charles but stopped because of the rock salt hurting a freshwater river. So dump it into the salt water bay, problem solved.
The city and its residents seem to have a sort of weather amnesia. Every year since 2012 the snow has gotten progressively worse with each successive year adding a week of being unable to travel to work. In 2012/13 it was one week, 2013/14 it was two weeks, and finally the 2014/15 season it was well over a month of snowpocolypse. Maybe it's time to cut the police budget (because we need a cop at every utility stop standing around with his thumb in his mouth) and up the snow removal budget.
Intelligence in this town is supposedly very high, but people here tend to be "fact heavy, wisdom poor". This town's people lack common sense. I've been all around town and the only places you will find true wisdom are in the working class parts. Quincy and Dorchester. The real heart and soul of this city was pushed out by monied interests. I'm glad I moved to Quincy.
People are stunned to hear that I am not a student but someone who is gainfully employed. What a rare specimen indeed! Riding the T is a perfect example of Boston's demographics. The town is a hodgepodge mess of students, immigrants, and boomer retirees. The culture malaise reflects that.
I'm a classically trained musician and went to a few concerts here in town and had the pleasure of getting out to the Berkshires (not really Boston). The professional music scene here in town is over rated which is unfortunate. It's quite the site to see professional musicians mess up on stage playing some music I slayed over in high school and college. I've started attending concerts at the conservatories in town. The quality is immensely better than what you'll find at the BSO and Pops. These musicians have something to prove and the quality shows.
Tanglewood as a venue has terrible acoustics. If you need audio amplification on an outdoor venue then you're doing it wrong. Check out Blossom in Cleveland for how outdoor venues should be done.
Restaurants in the city are lack luster. I can count on both hands restaurants worth visiting. This is very apparent in the North End. As an italian, the cooking from the restaurants there is an insult to my heritage. My cooking is better than most of the expensive funk being served. It's hilarious how many restaurants and take out places survive in this town given that the quality is subpar. If you're looking for a good pizza joint Big Daddies is the best pizza in town. Don't bother with any other place.
Cost of living is a joke. The cost of living and rent should be somewhere between Pittsburgh and Seattle. Boston shouldn't be almost as expensive as New York City considering the quality of life is nowhere near it.
I love it when I ask someone where they are from and they respond with some 'burb that is 10-15 minutes outside of the city like they came from a trek half way across the state. You're from Boston sweetheart.
If Boston was a woman, she would be a 4,5/10 in the winter hitting maybe a mid to high 6 in the summer. It's a shame because in the 19th and early 20th century, Boston used to be the cultural capital of the United States (in the same way people look at LA today). You can see it in the architecture and parks.
The redeeming quality to this town are the parks which thankfully are beautiful for 4-5 months out of the year. The city has potential, but I don't want to dedicate my life to running for political office. I'll try my luck in a different place.
No semi rant is complete without suggestions to better the problem. Here are two suggestions if there are any city planners reading this thread:
The drivers in Boston would be better if the city did more to properly mark roadways. Most road markings are completely worn down and missing. Storrow needs longer merge lanes at the Allston and BU ramps. The on-ramp at Fenway that lets drivers go towards Newton needs a longer on ramp and maybe those, "One car per green" lights that are commonly used in western states on freeways. Photo enforce this. Police need to hyper enforce the no grid lock rule with a $500 fine. I can list several intersections that the city would make bank on if they enforced their traffic rules. Same goes for double parking.
Traffic in Brighton, Allston, and Watertown would be lessened if the city would remove the Allston/Brighton i90 toll. They can keep tolling the tunneled sections to the airport. More cheapskates would be inclined to use the highway which their gas taxes pay for instead of clogging the side streets. Use hyper enforcement of the traffic rules for gridlocking and double parking to make up for the loss of revenue.
Demolish that oppressive and drab block known as government center. Buildings designed during that architectural dark age known as the 60s need to disappear. It looks like a prison in the middle of winter.
Edit: There will undoubtedly be some Boston ra ra ra trolls so here's some bait for you to nibble on. Belichick is a cheat and the Patriots should have been barred from competing this year for all of their tomfoolery.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 36,995,252 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by okyoureabeast
Edit: There will undoubtedly be some Boston ra ra ra trolls so here's some bait for you to nibble on. Belichick is a cheat and the Patriots should have been barred from competing this year for all of their tomfoolery.
They should be barred for what? Just wondering. The only black mark they have is for taping from the wrong location for one half of one game (first game of the season) many many years ago. That's it. Absolutely nothing else.
You have some good points (esp re the music), but totally ruined it with this garbage.
And putting Pittsburgh on the level of DC and Seattle is ridiculous. It's a nice turning around city with great value, but because it is cheap and run down and on the rebound is what makes it attractive.
Oh, and snow can't be dumped in the harbor w/o Fed Approval, which was gained on an ER basis for a portion of last year.
It isn't mentioned more because the city isn't great. Boston is a 2nd tier city trying to masquerade as a 1st tier city. The city is on par with Seattle, Pittsburgh, and DC. The problems with the city are structural which exacerbates the cultural problems stewing underneath.
Agree. I mentioned in post #2 Boston is 2nd tier. Although I wouldn't agree Pittsburgh is 2nd tier...
Quote:
Originally Posted by okyoureabeast
Edit: There will undoubtedly be some Boston ra ra ra trolls so here's some bait for you to nibble on. Belichick is a cheat and the Patriots should have been barred from competing this year for all of their tomfoolery.
What do the Patriots/Belichick have to do with Boston? And what cheating are we refering to exactly?
Like timerline mentioned, the body of your post pointless drivel.
It isn't mentioned more because the city isn't great. Boston is a 2nd tier city trying to masquerade as a 1st tier city. The city is on par with Seattle, Pittsburgh, and DC. The problems with the city are structural which exacerbates the cultural problems stewing underneath.
Edit: There will undoubtedly be some Boston ra ra ra trolls so here's some bait for you to nibble on. Belichick is a cheat and the Patriots should have been barred from competing this year for all of their tomfoolery.
Pittsburgh has no business being mentioned alongside Seattle, let alone Boston or DC.
Patriots are also better than your favorite team.
I agree with most of your post though. "Fact Heavy, Wisdom Poor" defines a large portion of the Metro population.
Agree. I mentioned in post #2 Boston is 2nd tier. Although I wouldn't agree Pittsburgh is 2nd tier...
What do the Patriots/Belichick have to do with Boston? And what cheating are we refering to exactly?
Like timerline mentioned, the body of your post pointless drivel.
Who cares what happened the line was put in their to feed the trolls something so they wouldn't be burned by the truth.
Boston sports = bread and circuses. God forbid anyone talk blasphemy about Pope Belichek and The Holy Patriot Church.
Good to know they got permission to dump snow into the bay. That should be SOP, not "please EPA let us get rid of a wee bit of our snow so certain things can run." Snow removal should be higher on the list of priorities.
Beyond sports though, I wish Boston was better. At least we have access to good mountains in the winter(NH is so solid for snow boarding) it's time to try my luck elsewhere. My days here are numbered.
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You're from Boston sweetheart. 
