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I read an old post recently that talked about how people coming to Denver CO imagine they will be swinging around with arms outstretched Sound of Music style with Swiss Apps style mountains and a burbling brook. In reality, people move here and find that Denver is an irrigated desert on the plains that is dusty and windy with a lot of traffic. People rarely get into the mountains especially with families, and the mountains they do get in aren't the mountains they envisioned. Essentially, the life you picture yourself having in CO is very unlikely unless you can work from home or are wealthy enough to live in the mountains. Otherwise, you're pretty much stuck along the front range on the plains where jobs are. I was personally surprised by Denver and Colorado before moving here as well. For whatever reason I thought that Denver proper was buried in the Rocky Mountains.
What are some stereotypes or images of cities or states that either you or transplants have held and then been disappointed to find out aren't true upon visiting or moving?
Reno is kind of the same way. I mean, we have mountains, you can ski there, it's probably good for hunting (wouldn't know, never touched a gun), but the average resident rarely goes there, unless they're driving through to get to Lake Tahoe or Donner Pass. It's totally not worth the price tag of living here - which is substantial and only seems reasonable compared to the Bay Area, where a lot of people and companies here relocated from. A basic studio apartment in a mildly sketchy neighborhood in Reno can easily run you $1,000 or even $1,300 a month. The "creative scene" we love advertising is pretty much limited to some sculptures and murals in highly visible locations in and around downtown.
I read an old post recently that talked about how people coming to Denver CO imagine they will be swinging around with arms outstretched Sound of Music style with Swiss Apps style mountains and a burbling brook. In reality, people move here and find that Denver is an irrigated desert on the plains that is dusty and windy with a lot of traffic. People rarely get into the mountains especially with families, and the mountains they do get in aren't the mountains they envisioned. Essentially, the life you picture yourself having in CO is very unlikely unless you can work from home or are wealthy enough to live in the mountains. Otherwise, you're pretty much stuck along the front range on the plains where jobs are. I was personally surprised by Denver and Colorado before moving here as well. For whatever reason I thought that Denver proper was buried in the Rocky Mountains.
What are some stereotypes or images of cities or states that either you or transplants have held and then been disappointed to find out aren't true upon visiting or moving?
That may be because Denver bills itself as the "Mile High City". When I first heard it described that way when I was a kid living in the Northeast, I envisioned a city perched up high on a mountain.
L.A. and beaches. The water is cold-ish and the beaches aren’t that inviting (watch for the tar). Many locals rarely go and even more rarely actually swim.
L.A. and sunshine. A visit during june gloom/may gray will disappoint. Low 60s and overcast isnt what they show on TV.
Wow I didn't know that about LA. I did know about Denver. The eastern part of Colorado was probably the most depressing drive I've had in my life.
This isn't really about a stereotype but there seem to be a good number of transplants who move to Greenville SC because they think it is some kind of utopia because they like its downtown area.
They'll complain after moving to Greenville about areas with poverty and rundown areas and traffic as though those things don't exist in every metro.
That Boston is liberal and that the public schools would be good.
It’s democrtic but the liberalism plies to cities like Cambridge and Somerville which have very separate and different governments and Nd laws. Boston is Union Democrat with poor k-12 schools and amazing universities.
Most transplants deeply regret that they enter a heavilynimpoverished minority district in the “Athens first America”
Or that our mayor is aformer union boss complete with goons. Or our last mayor was a barely intelligible Boston lifer who was mildly undereducated. Pushback against thing like beer gardens, food trucks and happy hour being illegal also disappoint transplants.
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Miami. Most tourists are steered to 'boutique' communities like Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, never realizing that a large portion of the metro is drab, dingy and dated.
That Boston is liberal and that the public schools would be good.
It’s democrtic but the liberalism plies to cities like Cambridge and Somerville which have very separate and different governments and Nd laws. Boston is Union Democrat with poor k-12 schools and amazing universities.
Most transplants deeply regret that they enter a heavilynimpoverished minority district in the “Athens first America”
Or that our mayor is aformer union boss complete with goons. Or our last mayor was a barely intelligible Boston lifer who was mildly undereducated. Pushback against thing like beer gardens, food trucks and happy hour being illegal also disappoint transplants.
Based on national standards Boston has decent schools, just bit by MA standards
Based on national standards Boston has decent schools, just bit by MA standards
It has decent schools for a big city they’re still Pretty bad compared to a normal public school as evidence by college attendance and college graduation seeing as only 1in 7 BPS. Graduate lates graduates college in 6 years. HS graduation only cracked 70% two years ago, 10 yers ago it was about 60% graduation rate. SAT scores also are well below average.
Is they were decent the schools wouldn’t be 75% low income and 87% minority. They would be more reflective of the general demographic. Subtract the exam schools and it’s pretty terrible. Still aeveral schools where the water is unsafe to drink and yet more schools that have been fully or partially condemned in the past 5 years. Also school cleanups of hypodermic needles...schools with suspension rates of 20%+.
My cohorts graduation rate was 64%. When I entered Hs in 2008 the graduation rate was 59.9%. These are the people that make up the bulk of native Boston work force. The graduate rate is still about 15%.
The district is searching for it 5th superintendent in 7 years and faces a shrinking enrollment in a growing city.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 04-22-2019 at 07:22 AM..
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