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1st of hopefully a series. In Suburban Smackdown!, I compare the suburbs. Comparing cities is boring and many large cities have been compared before so, why don't we spice things up here and compare the suburbs and satellite cities!
Brookline, Massachusetts (suburb of Boston) vs Hoboken, New Jersey (New Jersey suburb of New York City and Jersey City)
Which suburb is better in these categories:
Amenities
Architecture
Cost of living
Crime
Culture
Diversity
Downtown (if it exists)
Food
Friendliness
Future outlook of the suburb
Good place to live/visit
Growth
Nightlife
Outdoor activity
Political views
Population density
Public transportation, otherwise access to the main city
Quality of life
Skyline (if it exists)
Shopping
Things to do
Weather
Feel like Hoboken will win this pretty easily with this forums strong urban preference. It's one of the most urban cities in the country with beautiful architecture. It's basically the other Brooklyn.
Brookline is also pretty, but in more in a gently rolling leafy way. It's more of an affluent streetcar suburb with a dense portion near Coolidge Corner.
If you want a walkable suburb, go with Brookline. If you want a city feel, go with Hoboken.
Hoboken is an extension of the city for all intents and purposes (JC as well - heck most of Hudson County). Thus not a true suburb in classic sense. So yeah unfair comparison. Hoboken has a density of 60k/sq mile! Granted the city is only one square mile - but boy is it dense.
I do think the more apples-to-apples compare for Hoboken would be Cambridge, but that said it's at least an interesting comparison.
Hoboken:
- Much more urban / dense
- Younger with more bars & nightlife (sometimes to it's detriment)
- Better transit connections to NYC than Brookline to Boston (PATH + Ferries vs. Green Line)
- Slightly more affordable
Brookline:
- Has more suburban areas with actual mansions
- Has more dense areas with some restaurants and nightlife, but never approaching density levels of Hoboken
- Lots of transit stops, but green line is slow as molasses
- Highly regraded public schools, making it somewhat of an urban unicorn (with prices to match)
I live in Hoboken, but love Brookline and would live there in a heartbeat if in Boston area.
I think a more apt comparison to Brookline would be a Main Line suburb like Bryn Mawr. Both gorgeous, old money Northeast suburbs right adjacent to the main city.
DCB: Brookline has busses and MBTA to Boston, it’s mostly surrounded by Boston neighborhoods physically. It’s better connected to Boston than Hoboken. Brookline has no less than 12 GreeLine MBTA stops
BigCity: much of Brooklines northern 3rd is highly urbanized beyond anything Bryn Mawr.
DCB: Brookline has busses and MBTA to Boston, it’s mostly surrounded by Boston neighborhoods physically. It’s better connected to Boston than Hoboken. Brookline has no less than 12 GreeLine MBTA stops
BigCity: much of Brooklines northern 3rd is highly urbanized beyond anything Bryn Mawr.
Didn't realize that. Even still, the built environment as you get closer to Boston proper looks very much like some Main Line suburbs abutting Philly with the beautiful old school and new school mansions, landscaping, etc.
Didn't realize that. Even still, the built environment as you get closer to Boston proper looks very much like some Main Line suburbs abutting Philly with the beautiful old school and new school mansions, landscaping, etc.
I guess- not really IMO. there’s a lot of very large apartment buildings and very large apartment buildings as well as triple deckers.
Brookline Village and Coolidge corner have a lot of Bryn Mawr look... but there’s some pretty major differences in scale/modernity. I always say it- a lot of what people think is "Boston" is actually Cambridge or Brookline.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 04-13-2022 at 08:30 AM..
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