Which metro area is less pretentious/white collar or more down to earth/blue collar- Boston or NYC?

[LexWest]

This question is hard to answer directly as none of these terms are mutually exclusive. Both NYC and Boston are White collar and blue collar yet pretentious for some reasons, but down to earth/less pretentious for other reasons (materialism, education). Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but nevertheless, here's some comparisons.

NYC is pretentious in regards to materialism. There are those who "must" live in NYC and will live in Bushwick or BedSty/Bedford-Stuyvesant to make it happen, or will live in East Harlem or settle for a small apartment at a high price because they "must" live in Manhattan. Those who are well off in the Metro may be more prone to showing their wealth in what they wear, drive and where they live.

In Boston, there isn't as much importance placed in living in Boston proper, even if Boston does has desireable neighborhoods, in comparison. Boston residents would sooner live in Medford, Malden, Waltham, or another suburb than pay a premium to live in Mattapan or Roxbury just to live in Boston. Also, among the well off in the suburbs, while there are those who are materialistic who will drive luxury cars and wear certain brands, there are plenty who live more modestly despite what others may do.

Boston is pretentious in regards to education. With so many great colleges and universities in the area and most fields in the area requiring some type of formal education, you'll be competing with those who went to some of the most prestigious schools in the country.

In NYC, while fields requiring education also exist, other fields that are strong in NYC (i.e. Arts and Entertainment), don't necessarily require formal education (although nice to have). The emphasis in prestigious schools may not be as prominent. Even in fields requiring education, no one's going to be laughed at by finishing with honors at a local college such as Fordham or any campus of Rutgers because they didn't attend Tufts or BU.

Of course, in both Metros, you have cities/towns that are working class, blue collar (i.e. Port Chester and Long Beach, NY in NYC Metro as well as Woburn and Weymouth MA in Boston Metro as examples). However, there are more extremes between wealthy communities and poor communities outside NYC (i.e. West Orange vs. East Orange, NJ; Bronxville vs. Mount Vernon, NY; Garden City vs. Hempstead, NY; Fairfield vs. Bridgeport, CT., etc.) compared to Boston (i.e. Andover vs. Lawrence, MA; Swampscott vs. Lynn, MA).

[Scriptkitten]

I find NYC pretensions way more tolerable.

[pandas&presents]

Originally Posted by LexWest

In Boston, there isn't as much importance placed in living in Boston proper, even if Boston does has desireable neighborhoods, in comparison. Boston residents would sooner live in Medford, Malden, Waltham, or another suburb than pay a premium to live in Mattapan or Roxbury just to live in Boston. Also, among the well off in the suburbs, while there are those who are materialistic who will drive luxury cars and wear certain brands, there are plenty who live more modestly despite what others may do.

Re: less materialism in Boston. I don't find this to be the case. Both cities just gravitate to very different brands. New York is avant-garde. In Boston, you see a lot of love for the older brands like Vera Bradley, Coach, etc.

Interestingly, I found people in NYC to be not so conscious re: handbag brands. Have a nice bag? Decent leather? Hold all your stuff? You're good to go in NYC and people won't say anything about not seeing a brand. The Century 21 (NYC dept store) handbag section is full of no name brands but it's always packed and making a killing. IME, in Boston, people are a little more vocal about no name brand handbags. (Although I still don't care and, unfortunately, the starter bags that were in a decade ago like Coach are still considered the must have brands in Boston.)

Also, when you say people in Boston are more likely to live within their means, I think it's b/c you are comparing an unequal amount of wealth. The number of TRULY wealthy people in Boston pales in comparison to NYC. That's why you are less likely to see extravagance here or people trying to emulate it.

[luvmyhoss]

Boston.

But you can get mugged either city.