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View Poll Results: Boston vs LA
Boston 189 41.45%
Los Angeles 267 58.55%
Voters: 456. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-22-2014, 02:19 PM
 
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Last thing I'm gunna say on this thread I personally don't think people who haven't been to both cities should be able to vote so that would make LA the clear winner because the majority of New Englanders have never left the region in their entire lives and are oblivious to the rest of the country let alone the west coast. I honestly think if u took all those new Englanders and put them in LA for a day they'd even acknowledge it's better. My family isn't from New England I was actually born in San Jose and had to live in boston from elementary school through senior year of high school for my dad's job and I would say 1/10 people I interacted with has ever even been west of the Mississippi. Last thing I can easily rank LA San Diego, Phoenix San Jose, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver all ahead of Boston so it's not even close in my mind
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Old 06-22-2014, 09:54 PM
 
Location: Denver
6,625 posts, read 14,452,056 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DodgerNation99 View Post
Last thing I'm gunna say on this thread I personally don't think people who haven't been to both cities should be able to vote so that would make LA the clear winner because the majority of New Englanders have never left the region in their entire lives and are oblivious to the rest of the country let alone the west coast. I honestly think if u took all those new Englanders and put them in LA for a day they'd even acknowledge it's better. My family isn't from New England I was actually born in San Jose and had to live in boston from elementary school through senior year of high school for my dad's job and I would say 1/10 people I interacted with has ever even been west of the Mississippi. Last thing I can easily rank LA San Diego, Phoenix San Jose, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver all ahead of Boston so it's not even close in my mind
That's a pretty dubious claim. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, am currently living in Brasil, and I can't name one person I know who's never left New England. We all understand that you prefer LA and want it to win the poll, but you can't just randomly make stuff up.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:55 AM
 
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Los Angeles has better weather, more to do, and is a bit cheaper.
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:18 AM
 
233 posts, read 368,654 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DodgerNation99 View Post
Last thing I'm gunna say on this thread I personally don't think people who haven't been to both cities should be able to vote so that would make LA the clear winner because the majority of New Englanders have never left the region in their entire lives and are oblivious to the rest of the country let alone the west coast. I honestly think if u took all those new Englanders and put them in LA for a day they'd even acknowledge it's better. My family isn't from New England I was actually born in San Jose and had to live in boston from elementary school through senior year of high school for my dad's job and I would say 1/10 people I interacted with has ever even been west of the Mississippi. Last thing I can easily rank LA San Diego, Phoenix San Jose, San Francisco, Dallas, Denver all ahead of Boston so it's not even close in my mind
I don't put too much weight on the opinion of a high school student. Boston certainly has one of the best educated and sophisticated populations in the US. Easy access to Canada and Europe, a big immigrant population and lots of foreign students makes it easy to meet people from foreign lands. As a person who has traveled to LA many times to visit family and lives in Boston, I find LA to be a bit isolated. The smog and traffic congestion ruin it for me although it is a fun place to visit and I love the weather, when it not too smoggy. The water in the ocean is cold even in the summer and that is surprising to many people.

Boston can have rough winters but lots of clear crisp days in the winter too. Some winters are fairly mild as well. In Boston, there is little smog and while traffic is not great, it is not the constant headache it is in LA. It's easy to get to Mountains, rivers and beaches, and other big cities are an easy high speed train trip, bus ride or drive. Boston and especially the suburbs have low crime and that is a real plus.


Of the list of cities you prefer over Boston, all of which I have been to numerous times, for my money I just can't see why people live in Phoenix, San Jose, or Dallas. Of the CA cities, only SF comes close to Boston IMHO.
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Old 06-23-2014, 06:56 PM
 
5,816 posts, read 15,910,204 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus View Post
I get that just visiting Boston a few times during the winter is different than living there. Though I lived for four years in Edmonton, Alberta as a kid(where it gets -20 occasionally and you don't see the bare ground from December through April) and actually didn't mind it that much . . .
Well, then it's obvious that you can handle long winters. That statement of mine which you respond to here still might be good advice for some people, who haven't had your experience with winter. If you visit Boston (or Chicago, Cleveland, Twin Cities, Detroit, etc.) for a few days during the winter, don't be fooled by the fact that it may not be brutally cold while you're there (although in some of those Midwestern cities it can get colder than it usually does in Boston). It's the length of winter that drags people down after a while. However, in the case of Deezus, no warning necessary, because he/she already understands about long winters, and clearly is able to handle them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus View Post
The winter weather isn't that great in the Pacific Northwest where I live now and by February people are tired of the constantly grey skies--and it can be even worse when the gloomy skies last into the long days of June. I'm more bored with 50 degree weather and kind of a mild grayness than colder weather which I actually sort of like at this point. Pacific Northwest weather outside the crisper colder fall and winter weather and summer days is just more boring than anything else to me though.
If what bugs you in the NW is mainly boredom with gray, chilly weather for weeks on end, you'd probably be okay in Boston, which has the changeable, "If ya don't like the weathuh, just wait a while" character that you find in classic four-seasons climates. If you just don't like wet, gray, and chilly even in brief doses, then you might object somewhat to Boston's climate. That weather finds its way into the mix quite often from late winter through most of the spring.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deezus View Post
Honestly, though weather doesn't really bother me that much no matter where I live. I just adapt. I could live in Florida and deal with the humidity, I could deal with cold Midwest/Northeastern winters if I lived there. I'll be inside an office working for most of my life outside weekends anyhow--so it's not that big a deal as long as there's stuff to do and I'm not bored.
I'm pretty much the same way. I doubt that I'd fare well in places, like well up into the Arctic, where basically they never have anything but winter. That's an extreme case, though. I have my ideas about the ideal climate, but I don't have to have that to be happy. I can pretty well tolerate anything you're likely to encounter in the U.S. Lower 48.
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Old 06-23-2014, 08:45 PM
 
5,816 posts, read 15,910,204 times
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Default Some wildlife in Boston and Greater Boston

Quote:
Originally Posted by DistrictDirt View Post
We have a lot of nature within the city limits. Real nature. Like mountain lion, coyote, rattlesnake nature.
Mountain lions? Rattlesnakes? You view it as a plus to have dangerous wildlife in your city?

Okay, yeah, I added the wink sign because I do get it that you're talking about serious wildlife, not just squirrels and rabbits.

Boston gets its share of wildlife, even though it's not always the same wildlife, one obvious exception being coyotes. Those pests are every-f'in'-where!
Howl: Mating Season Brings Coyotes to Boston | Boston Magazine

Some other critters:

Moose. This article is about one that the writer states found its way actually into the outskirts of Boston's city limits, though the two locations mentioned are actually inner suburbs:

Moose on the Loose in Boston.

Moose are not a normal part of the wildlife in the Greater Boston area, at least not in the MSA, though I've read about a re-established population in the hills north of Worcester, which is part of Boston's CSA. That's a bit far to be considered the local Boston metro area, but once in a while a moose will turn up in the middle-distant suburbs, and will be relocated to wilder areas by state officials.

Bears.
Black bear spotted -- in Brookline - Metro Desk - Boston.com

Brookline is very much an inner suburb. Practically speaking, it might as well be part of Boston, as it's like a peninsula, surrounded by Boston on three sides. Like moose, bears have a established populations in the outer CSA though not the Boston MSA, but reports of their turning up in middle-distance 'burbs have gotten to be frequent enough that you might wonder whether some small population clusters could at some point become established in the more leafy 'burbs.

Deer.
Little deer in the big city | Universal Hub
This is in a section of Boston outside the central city, but not all the way out to Boston city limits' outer fringes. Whitetails are all over the metro area, anywhere with woodland. There are so many of them in many suburbs that some consider them a nuisance.

Seals (mostly in the harbor, but this one wandered up the river).
New England Aquarium News and Updates: Harbor seal returns to Boston Harbor

And where you find seals, you're likely to spot:

Great White Shark Near Boston Harbor - YouTube

https://www.google.com/search?q=shar...2F%3B640%3B480

Whales.
Humpback Whale Seen in Boston Harbor | NewEnglandBoating.com

Bald eagles.
Photos: Bald eagle perches atop tree next to pond in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood - Jamaica Plain - Your Town - Boston.com

Even mountain lions? Um, maybe.
Field & Stream
"Mountain Lion spotted in Winchester, a suburb of Boston. They are everywhere, States just don't like to admit it. They have been in the Adirondacks for years but N.Y. will not agree. A few years ago one was hit by a car on a Connecticut expressway and DNA traced it back to a Wyoming group of lions. It traveled 1300 miles to Connecticut. Has anybody else in the East seen one??"

Officials can't decide whether there's a mountain lion in Winchester - The Source - Latest news and updates from Boston.com
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Old 06-24-2014, 12:22 PM
 
Location: The city of champions
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Easily LA and it's not even remotely close.
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Old 06-27-2014, 11:26 AM
 
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To the genius who called me a high school student I graduated high school 10 years ago graduated college and moved to LA in 2008. Clearly you're impressed with yourself and think your an intellectual but not intellectual enough to read properly. I didn't bother reading your post because it's irrelevant but let me ask you this if u could afford to live on three acres in the Palisades or three acres in Newton your telling me you would actually pick Newton? Honestly I think it shows different people like different things I like to golf,surf go to sports games hit the bars and clubs all year round and you seem like the type who bird watches and to the guy who now lives in Brazil I'm sure your dieing to leave Brazil and come back to Boston in the dead of January right ????
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Old 06-27-2014, 11:29 AM
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Location: Western Massachusetts
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Los Angeles cause it has Hollywood Freaks:


Beck - Hollywood Freaks - YouTube

Hollywood freaks on the Hollywood scene
Party people know I'm that type of freak
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Old 06-27-2014, 01:32 PM
 
Location: Denver
6,625 posts, read 14,452,056 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DodgerNation99 View Post
To the genius who called me a high school student I graduated high school 10 years ago graduated college and moved to LA in 2008. Clearly you're impressed with yourself and think your an intellectual but not intellectual enough to read properly. I didn't bother reading your post because it's irrelevant but let me ask you this if u could afford to live on three acres in the Palisades or three acres in Newton your telling me you would actually pick Newton? Honestly I think it shows different people like different things I like to golf,surf go to sports games hit the bars and clubs all year round and you seem like the type who bird watches and to the guy who now lives in Brazil I'm sure your dieing to leave Brazil and come back to Boston in the dead of January right ????
Calm down there bud, you're getting a little too worked up.

In January I'd probably choose the beach in Brasil over Boston even though I do miss the cold weather. However, give me Boston's weather over Brasil's from September-December. I prefer the cool falls and early winter in New England. It's my favorite time of the year.

You're still kind of pushing things a little too far to try to get your way though. I think the poll shows that more people prefer Los Angeles, which is what I expect...but for some reason you feel everyone needs to prefer Los Angeles.

Most people would probably take the 3 acres on the Pacific Palisades, but others may prefer to take the 3 acres in Newton due to many factors. This can range from anything involving local cultures, city size & accessibility, professional opportunities, weather, etc.

Los Angeles is a massive city which seemingly sprawls on forever--especially when compared to Boston. Boston has a very bustling & dense urban core but quickly drops off into sleepy suburbs. Let's use your Pacific Palisades vs Newton example. Driving from Downtown LA to the Pacific Palisades is about 18 miles and takes roughly 40 minutes. Using mass transit, it's 2 hours and is only accessible by bus (with multiple transfers). Conversely, driving from Downtown Boston to Newton is 10 miles and takes about 25 minutes. Mass transit options include bus, commuter rail, and green line and travel times range from 30-40 minutes.

Even though Newton is closer and has greater access to the central part of the city, it's still outside of the city a good bit and provides a quiet atmosphere. Conversely, the Palisades are still in the urban core of the city. Someone who wants to be close to a major city, yet live in a quiet, peaceful area will have more options in the Boston area. If someone wants to live in a dense urban neighborhood with beautiful old architecture, you're going to likely find better options in Boston than you will in Los Angeles. You'll find plenty of dense neighborhoods in Los Angeles, but they aren't built in the traditional urban sense you'll find in Boston. Many people like this sort of living (like me). This is what a dense tract looks like in LA (87,000 people per square mile). This is how it looks in Boston (85,000 people per square mile), here (110,000 ppsm), here (80,000 ppsm). Boston has some of the best urban neighborhoods in the entire country.

Perhaps someone is looking for a well-educated, intellectual culture. This is something Boston specializes in. LA...not so much. This isn't to say LA doesn't have many educated, cultured people due to its sheer size, but it doesn't appear to give off the same vibe that Boston does since Boston has such a high number of universities & colleges in the central core on top of its very highly educated population.

Somewhat related to this, those who work in very high skill industries would probably find more opportunities in Boston. It's home to the finest hospitals & medical research insitutions on the planet. Major pharmaceutical & biotech companies have been announcing expansions into the area consistently. It's a major tech hub as well and the second largest financial services center in the United States. Professionally, Boston is among the most competitive and prestigious cities in the country.

For these reasons and many more, people may prefer Boston to Los Angeles. It doesn't need to be 100% on one side and 0% on the other. This is not a zero sum game.
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