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If you were going to pull me out of the city and into the 'burbs, it would be a place like Marblehead that would do it. We just bought here, but we've looked at some places in Marblehead that are on the cusp of our price range. One downside is the relative lack of transit connectivity compared to nearby spots (Salem to North Station is 20-25 minutes by train - M'Head is around an hour and requires a bus to train transfer). Ipswich, Rockport, and Newburyport are a little far from the city, but all have the character I'd look for, and I'd agree, are nicer than the Metrowest 'burbs.
I have a salt water and skiing lifestyle. I lived in Portsmouth NH for a decade. I had a Boston Symphony season subscription for a midweek day and my company had a luxury box at the Garden with parking so I did a lot of Celtics, Bruins, and concerts. I was north of the traffic jam so the Friday skiing drive was easy and I’d normally come back on Monday morning. My house had a boat dock. Portsmouth is a really nice place to live. Most high tech in Boston is well outside the city. I worked for BBN Labs briefly near Alewife and had about 9 months in Newton Corner. Everything else was outside 128. My Boston-Cambridge bar crawls were usually midweek.
I lived in Winchester for a bunch of years and reverse commuted. I was in the city at the same frequency as when I lived in Portsmouth. When it’s 80 mph on cruise control for most of the drive, being 50 miles out isn’t a big deal.
I took a hard look at Newburyport and Manchester by the Sea. I know Marblehead really well from sailing and have a bunch of friends there. I’d pick those over any metro west suburb though Newburyport would work a lot better for skiing access. It’s pretty much the same drive time to 95/101 at the Hampton toll.
With skiing as my winter lifestyle activity, it rules out most of the Northeast Corridor fancy suburbs. I have lots of friends who do the every weekend drive from Westchester, lower Fairfield, North Jersey, and Lon Gisland. No thanks. They all show up late on Fridays with a horror story about their drive. I knew an every weekender from Delaware who car pooled with someone in North Jersey for 5 years before moving. I can’t imagine it.
Chicago is in the North, though not Northeastern. Chicago has more in common wit the Northeast than DC, although location-wise there is obviously less connection.
In Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly, you will find large historic ethnic populations of Irish, Italians, Polish, and Greeks, and even Puerto Rican’s. DC doesn’t have these populations.
Chicago and the NE cities are legacy cities that are blue collar and industrial. Because of the historic demographics, you’ll find traditional “Democrats” that are mostly due to unions and political ties, rather than the new school liberals, you find in DC.
You will not find a sports follow like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs/Sox, or Eagles that have die hard fans in DC. People don’t move to DC and become Wizards, Nats, or even Skins fans like they do in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
You will not find booming skyscrapers in DC like you will in NYC, Philly, Boston, or Chicago. You will not find the old school El (elevated) trains that roll through urban neighborhoods in DC like you will in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
Chicago,Boston, Philly and NYC are known as “tough” cities. This goes back to the historic blue collar and industrial backbones of the cities. You will not find a “Chicago PD” type show filmed in DC. These types of shows are filmed in Chicago or the Northeastern cities.
Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly Whites all have a stereotype. Chicago (“Da Bears” Saturday Night Live stereotype), NYC and Philly (the Italian bravado), and Boston (the Irish Bostonian and accent). DC Whites have no stereotype. They are about as plain as vanilla. Their only stereotype is the nerdy government worker.
Chicago has more in common with NYC, Philly, and Boston than DC does, other than location. Although Chicago, Philly, Boston, and NYC are all in the “North.” DC (MD and VA) are all in the “South.”
Chicago is nothing like the Northeast. It doesn't look anything like New York, Philly or Boston on the ground. After you leave the Loop, it's bungaloo city. Outside of downtown, it has more in common with Minneapolis and Detroit. On the Southside, its mile after mile of strip malls and surface parking lots. You will not find that anywhere in the Northeast. The accent is all Midwest. No one mistakes a Chicago accent with a Northeast accent. The black people in Chicago sound country lite.
I have a salt water and skiing lifestyle. I lived in Portsmouth NH for a decade. I had a Boston Symphony season subscription for a midweek day and my company had a luxury box at the Garden with parking so I did a lot of Celtics, Bruins, and concerts. I was north of the traffic jam so the Friday skiing drive was easy and I’d normally come back on Monday morning. My house had a boat dock. Portsmouth is a really nice place to live. Most high tech in Boston is well outside the city. I worked for BBN Labs briefly near Alewife and had about 9 months in Newton Corner. Everything else was outside 128. My Boston-Cambridge bar crawls were usually midweek.
I lived in Winchester for a bunch of years and reverse commuted. I was in the city at the same frequency as when I lived in Portsmouth. When it’s 80 mph on cruise control for most of the drive, being 50 miles out isn’t a big deal.
I took a hard look at Newburyport and Manchester by the Sea. I know Marblehead really well from sailing and have a bunch of friends there. I’d pick those over any metro west suburb though Newburyport would work a lot better for skiing access. It’s pretty much the same drive time to 95/101 at the Hampton toll.
With skiing as my winter lifestyle activity, it rules out most of the Northeast Corridor fancy suburbs. I have lots of friends who do the every weekend drive from Westchester, lower Fairfield, North Jersey, and Lon Gisland. No thanks. They all show up late on Fridays with a horror story about their drive. I knew an every weekender from Delaware who car pooled with someone in North Jersey for 5 years before moving. I can’t imagine it.
You situation is similar to mine (though I think you're a bigger boater) - I have a small Whaler I keep at no-frills dock ~ 5 mintute walk from my condo (winterized and stored in the same spot), and in the winter we ski Sugarbush in VT (and sometimes Sunday River in Maine). The downside here is that we don't get to breeze up North after work on Fridays. But at least in our current position, we can duck out between 1-2 on Friday and she can access email in the car and even boot up the laptop and connect to a hotspot if necessary. Still, that 3 hour drive with no traffic easily becomes 4 by about 2pm on Friday.
The problem for us is that we work downtown (and other employers in our fields are mostly downtown as well). We have an incredible commute right now (she's under 10 minutes, I'm about 15 door to door) and that's worth the trade off with the longer drive North in the winter. Especially since we love being in town on nights/weekends when we're not skiing or on the water. Newburyport and Portsmouth are great towns, but the commute downtown would be brutal (I've done the 50+ mile commute before and never again). If we were able to get jobs along 128 or 495, I think we'd absolutely consider either of them. I know people commuting from Berwick, York, and Kittery ME to 495 and 128 jobs. It's an easier commute than my South Coast - Boston drive was. Very doable.
But I'd absolutely take North Shore over Metro West any day of the week and twice on Sundays. And I 100% agree about skiing - until you hit the Rockies, Boston is far and away the best city for access to "real" skiing. I knew people when I was living in DC who got by going to VA and PA for their fix, but the best of the best in those areas (Blue Knob) is a Wachusett-type mountain (1,000 or so ft. of vertical, 100 or so skiable acres) that's 3+ hours from DC (nearly 4 from Philly). Just really not worth it. And while DC and CT have access to the VT mountains (esp. Southern VT), the traffic leaving metro NYC is far, far, far worse than leaving Boston.
If you don’t agree with what he said you’re definitely just tryna be part of the club. Not a lie was told.
While wealthy DC folks and parts of their suburbs reflect the northeast in many ways it’s just clearly and obviously different. You yourself admit as much. And please no one cares how southern the black people sound, seriously. You all in DC sound southern and country to me too(not as much). But obviously the metro is wayy blacker than NYC PHilly or Chicago so that’s a major difference. I can’t think of anything he said that wasn’t true.
DC is as different as Chicago is from NYC/BOSTON/CT/NJ. He just highlighted the ways that Chicago is more similar and he wasn’t wrong.
DC is very different from NYC/Philly/Boston but it's also very similar in a lot of ways from a cultural and attitude standpoint. Let's be real for a minute. On the ground, Loop not included, Chicago doesn't look like any city in the Northeast. I've lived in Brooklyn, been to Philly and Boston plenty of times.
DC's ethnic group is black people. That's the city's culture. A lot of people on this board have no clue about DC from a black cultural standpoint so they make assumptions and stereotypes. Everything I post is 100. I went to an HBCU in the deep south. My roommate and my GF were from the southside of Chicago. Both of them sounded deep fried southern. No one is mistaking a white or black Chicagoan with a New Yorker, Bostonian, or Philadelphian.
Chicago is nothing like the Northeast. It doesn't look anything like New York, Philly or Boston on the ground. After you leave the Loop, it's bungaloo city. Outside of downtown, it has more in common with Minneapolis and Detroit. On the Southside, its mile after mile of strip malls and surface parking lots. You will not find that anywhere in the Northeast. The accent is all Midwest. No one mistakes a Chicago accent with a Northeast accent. The black people in Chicago sound country lite.
Boston doesn’t look like Philly or DC on the ground. In some places it looks like NYC. Outer neighborhoods of Boston and Baltimore have similar colonial type detached architecture. DC Bmore and Philly look very alike with the rowhomes. Chicago’s downtown is more approximate of NYC and Philly. Boston is the only one without a large street grid. But it’s downtowns has more NYC and Philly like areas than DC or Bmore.
You can find a good deal of surface lots in NYC Philly and Boston, that’s for sure. Just not in the core.
Looks are a bit arbitrary when it comes to these cities themselves. The difference in the suburbs is more obvious when it comes to DC vs the others though. Especially in NoVa.
1. LA is LA, entertainment capital of the world no need to say more. Baltimore is Baltimore, it also shares more northern traits and developed earlier than DC. Shows like Chicago PD, Boston’s Finest and New York Undercover (throwback) aren’t made in DC.
2. Congresspeople, nuff said.
3. Chicago is not northeastern but it suburbs share as many qualities if not more with suburban Philly Boston NYC as DC.
4. DC is neither northern or southern but take influences from both. The list did an effective job at illustrating its dissimilarities without hyperbole
Sidenote: one of the things that makes the northeastern cities “tough” is there roots in blue collar industry, their role as immigration ports, mob ties and ethnic enclaves/tensions. DC is lacking in all of these aspects. The only thing that makes DC “tough” is an unreasonably high rate of gun violence (not even sure why that exists there but it does) which is a more recent (past 40 years) development. But violent is very very different than tough.
Are you serious. DC's ethnic/immigrants are black people. Blacks are to DC, what the Italians are to NYC and the Irish are to Boston. Go read the autobiography of Malcolm X. He stated working as a Pullman Porter and getting off the train at Union Station in DC always worried him more than walking the streets of Harlem. DC is one of the toughest cities in America and it doesn't have any gangs.
DC is very different from NYC/Philly/Boston but it's also very similar in a lot of ways from a cultural and attitude standpoint. Let's be real for a minute. On the ground, Loop not included, Chicago doesn't look like any city in the Northeast. I've lived in Brooklyn, been to Philly and Boston plenty of times.
DC's ethnic group is black people. That's the city's culture. A lot of people on this board have no clue about DC from a black cultural standpoint so they make assumptions and stereotypes. Everything I post is 100. I went to an HBCU in the deep south. My roommate and my GF were from the southside of Chicago. Both of them sounded deep fried southern. No one is mistaking a white or black Chicagoan with a New Yorker, Bostonian, or Philadelphian.
A lot of people comment on how Chicago and Boston are similar. But I’ve never been to Chicago. I’ve lived with Chicagoans as roommates or close proximity and had them come to Boston but I’ve never been myself. Good friends have gone to school in Chicago. They all, uniformly, remark how Chicago and Boston are fundamentally similar. Fwiw these are all black peoples. I love only met 2 white people form Chicago-haven’t talked to them extensively.
Black people from DC who aren’t highly educated sound very southern to me but not in the same style as black Chicagoans. I think most people on this board no a good deal about that statute of black DC but less about the idiosyncrasies and customs. But they know much more about black DC than the black populace anywhere other than Atlanta New York or Chicago. It’s talked about all the time on here.
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