Boston or New York City (Cambridge, Florida: real estate, neighborhood, taxi) - Massachusetts (MA) - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

beachwaverider7 · 10-13-2009, 02:10 PM

ny is so much better

holden125 · 10-13-2009, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

Here in Boston, when many people refer to "the city," they mean New York City!

Who are these people? Do they come from NYC originally? I'd like to punch them...

brightdoglover · 10-13-2009, 02:41 PM

I don't think the winters are much different between the two. Both are on the coast/water, and Boston is only about 150 miles further north. I've seen no difference.
I think both are cities in the European sense (as opposed to the non-coastal U.S. city). Relatively compact, walkable, not car-friendly. Except for a few West Coast cities, other U.S. cities tend to be a lot more sprawled and highway-filled and drive in-drive out-drive around.
I agree with the many who suggested the quality of the school program and specifics of it should determine which program the OP chooses. Since "accommodations" weren't a factor for the OP, that makes NYC an easier choice, in my mind.
No, I don't think Boston is a village or a cowtown. I guess what I meant by "village" was the scale of life on the street, getting off in South Station, or going on to Cambridge. The scale and density just felt a lot more like a town (which I like) than New York does to me.
I personally find NYC overwhelming, overstimulating and exhausting when I've visited. Like many places, it's a great place to live if you have money to leave when you want. I know there's a lot of free stuff and one doesn't need big money to experience the city, but just being there can be pretty overwhelming.
Then again, I seem to prefer to visit the city (any city) for food and culture and then to leave, back to my leafy town. And I always lived in and around Cambridge, not Boston, which I guess could be called a big town.

ogre · 10-13-2009, 08:28 PM

Um, guys, this thread is two years old.

Anyway, Brightdog, sorry if I seemed to be getting on your case back a couple of years ago. By chance it happened to be bad timing on the "big village" description. At the time you made that comment I happened to have been getting kind of exasperated with some ex-pat NYers who had been coming onto the MA forum and having a bit of a field day trashing Boston as a little nothing insignificant small town.

Usually I shrug off the insults to my home area, but coming onto the MA and Boston forums and repeatedly trashing Boston the way these guys were doing was a bit much, especially because I appreciate the opportunity these forums provide for people to really get the inside info on various places. People come here seriously seeking info to help them make major decisions like moving, and it could be doing them a real disservice for someone who has a personal problem with the city people are asking about to get on here and present an erroneous picture of what that city is about. Anything I said a couple of years ago was not meant to jump on you in particular.

By the way, I agree with you about the size of Boston. For me Boston offers plenty to keep me interested without the insane hustle and bustle of a city the size of New York. Not that Boston completely lacks in those drawbacks, but comparitively speaking it provides a lot of the positives cities have to offer without as many of the negatives as you have to accept as the price for that many positives in a giant city. NYC can be fun, but it is awfully intense for day-to-day living. I've been known to end a visit there with the thought that there's a lot of truth to that old saying about nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live there. But you know, different strokes for different folks.

brightdoglover · 10-14-2009, 03:25 AM

Hey, Ogre, I didn't realize how old the discussion was, or its history. Thanks for the clarification.
I used to take Amtrak down to NYC when I had an old high school friend who was a) single and b) had lots of money. He lived by the water in Brooklyn Heights and we would just go out around the clock- he'd let me pick the plays and jazz. We didn't do much for restaurants (except for Smoky Joe's) because there were plenty in Boston, but the plays and jazz were unequaled.
Once on a crisp November night, we walked across the bridge and all aroudn the Village and it was just so pleasant.
After about four days of this, I'd feel like my brain was bursting, especially if the weather was hot.
I really loved Sweet Basil's on Seventh Avenue. And hearing Ray Charles singing "Georgia" at Lincoln Center (although had heard him do the same show in the last 20 years at the former Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ, and the Orpheum in Boston).
Alas, old friend moved to Rome, married and is still there.

Mr. Joshua · 10-14-2009, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smarty

Good question.... Can you ask the 1000s of Boston students from NY and NJ who jammed the highways, planes and trains going home during Thanksgiving?

Agreed. I went to school in Boston (NU) and easily a third of the student body was from New York and New Jersey.

Cliff Clavin · 10-14-2009, 08:21 AM

Not to perpetuate a 2 year old threat, but coming from the north shore, we always referred to go Boston (DTX, Back Bay, Theater Dist) as “going in town” and going to NYC as “going to the city”. To this day, if I’m in New York for work, “I’ll be in the city for a few days”. I always thought this was common wordage.