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I think Chicago has more even swaths while Metro Boston is more uneven. You don’t have Marblehead next to Salem’s, Manchester’s next to Gloucester’s, Brockton’s next to Avons, Hull’s be to to Hingham's in Chicagoland. You can give a direction from the Loop and give a median income in return. But Metro Boston also doesn’t have the swath of Gary/East Chicago etc. to the South. It’s sprinkled in gateway cities across the metro.
But Metro Boston is very wealthy at this point where even blue collar suburbs are wealthy by Chicago standards. Even if Billerica doesn’t look it
I think Chicago has more even swaths while Metro Boston is more uneven. You don’t have Marblehead next to Salem’s, Manchester’s next to Gloucester’s, Brockton’s next to Avons, Hull’s be to to Hingham's in Chicagoland. You can give a direction from the Loop and give a median income in return. But Metro Boston also doesn’t have the swath of Gary/East Chicago etc. to the South. It’s sprinkled in gateway cities across the metro.
But Metro Boston is very wealthy at this point where even blue collar suburbs are wealthy by Chicago standards. Even if Billerica doesn’t look it
Aren't we comparing Chicago's North Side, rather than Gary and East Chicago, which aren't north? I thought that was clear, by the title of the thread.
I think Chicago has more even swaths while Metro Boston is more uneven. You don’t have Marblehead next to Salem’s, Manchester’s next to Gloucester’s, Brockton’s next to Avons, Hull’s be to to Hingham's in Chicagoland. You can give a direction from the Loop and give a median income in return. But Metro Boston also doesn’t have the swath of Gary/East Chicago etc. to the South. It’s sprinkled in gateway cities across the metro.
But Metro Boston is very wealthy at this point where even blue collar suburbs are wealthy by Chicago standards. Even if Billerica doesn’t look it
From Geoff D "I don’t see how you can compare them since Chicago is so much bigger and is the dominant city for hundreds of miles. Boston is a boutique city that is world class in narrow areas. Education, obviously. It has critical mass with biotechnology/Big Pharma and tech. It has world class health care. Fidelity is there so it has a bit of finance though dominated by NYC a few hours away. Outside of the Bay Area, it’s the biggest concentration of smart-educated people in the country. Those smart-educated people cluster together in blue chip suburbs with outstanding schools and amenities. The ones without children cluster in fancy urban enclaves. If you’re not one of those, it’s the biggest socioeconomic divide in the country with the largest gap in income and wealth in the country."
Im not sure I can really take this 100% seriously. The worst places in Metro Boston....compared to the worst places in Metro NYC or Metro Philly? The best places are pretty much on par with each other- are you all saying Bosotn has a bigger wealth and income divide or qualitative lifestyle divide than Philly and NYC? What about Miami and LA?
From Geoff D "I don’t see how you can compare them since Chicago is so much bigger and is the dominant city for hundreds of miles. Boston is a boutique city that is world class in narrow areas. Education, obviously. It has critical mass with biotechnology/Big Pharma and tech. It has world class health care. Fidelity is there so it has a bit of finance though dominated by NYC a few hours away. Outside of the Bay Area, it’s the biggest concentration of smart-educated people in the country. Those smart-educated people cluster together in blue chip suburbs with outstanding schools and amenities. The ones without children cluster in fancy urban enclaves. If you’re not one of those, it’s the biggest socioeconomic divide in the country with the largest gap in income and wealth in the country."
Im not sure I can really take this 100% seriously. The worst places in Metro Boston....compared to the worst places in Metro NYC or Metro Philly? The best places are pretty much on par with each other- are you all saying Bosotn has a bigger wealth and income divide or qualitative lifestyle divide than Philly and NYC? What about Miami and LA?
No what I am saying is in Chicago the North is all rich, the west is all middle class and the South is all poor/working class while Boston have a much more uneven distribution of rich/poor towns. Spread out like a patchwork quilt.
This is because towns as close as Waltham developed separate from Boston whule in Chicago from the beginning each town was built as part of Chicagoland so it’s more cohesively “Chicago”’and jinx of reflects that, while Metro Boston is melded together micro climates
No what I am saying is in Chicago the North is all rich, the west is all middle class and the South is all poor/working class while Boston have a much more uneven distribution of rich/poor towns. Spread out like a patchwork quilt.
This is because towns as close as Waltham developed separate from Boston whule in Chicago from the beginning each town was built as part of Chicagoland so it’s more cohesively “Chicago”’and jinx of reflects that, while Metro Boston is melded together micro climates
Yea I agree with all of this, especially the bolded.
My issue is more with GeoffD's comment
But saying Boston is the widest socioeconomic divide probably isn't true. More true on the social side... but the cultural divide is the real chasm- there's no elevation of a more modest or nonworking class culture beyond blue collar townie stereotype that is pretty small overall and declining. And it doesn't extend into cultural events or space beyond a dunkin donuts... Doesn't man it doesn't exist and thrive, its just not in the zeitgeist or mainstream. The whole area is relatively well off and comfortable compared do most other big cities. We see this with our naked eye but also empirically in statistics. VEry very little of it is destitute and noe of it is hopeless. Chicago is just exceptionally affordable and middle-class.
Even in those towns, the roads are in generally poor condition, there are hardly any sidewalks, most properties have shallow frontage, and chain-link fences are relatively common. Despite the fact real estate prices (in those towns) are very high, you still see quite a few vinyl-sided, multi-family properties or “tenements,” as they are called in New England, scattered throughout neighborhoods. The entire “lay of the land” in the northern suburbs of Chicago is just nicer, more aligned with wealthier areas across the country and more congenial to upscale tastes and preferences.
I agree with the notion that Chicago (and the Midwest generally) is more likely to be manicured than the Northeast, but let's be honest: the Midwest is generica on a large scale.
Eastern MA certainly has its weathered spots, but like the rest of the Northeast Corridor, there's a "je ne sais qoui" that is very different from Chicagoland, and one that I find far more preferable and infinitely interesting and layered. The history, the landscape, the general feel of New England and the Mid-Atlantic to me is second to none, and that which I find much more desirable.
Chicago suburbia is good for predictability and mainstream American materialism. Boston suburbia is far more interesting, intriguing, and eclectic.
Chicago suburbia is good for predictability and mainstream American materialism. Boston suburbia is far more interesting, intriguing, and eclectic.
Oh! So you've extensively tootled around the North Shore? Or Riverside? Or Oak Park?
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