Boston a boring city? (Adams, Boylston: city hall, rent, school)

[glass_of_merlot]

I don't like Seattle. I think Seattle is so isolated and the lack of public transportation sucks. I have never been to Boston but I would love to go. I don't care much about the night life but I do care about walkability and public transopration. Does Boston have that? I also care about history and I know Boston do not lack history. To me that would be amazing to live in a city like Boston. Right now i live in Chicago and I love it here.

[xS☺B☺s]

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

I don't like Seattle. I think Seattle is so isolated and the lack of public transportation sucks. I have never been to Boston but I would love to go. I don't care much about the night life but I do care about walkability and public transopration. Does Boston have that? I also care about history and I know Boston do not lack history. To me that would be amazing to live in a city like Boston. Right now i live in Chicago and I love it here.

Boston is quite a bit more pedestrian than Chicago. The T is on par with the L. Boston is more vibrant, a tab more elegant. Boston is a little warmer, a little more historic, a LOT smaller. Chicago is the big city with a touch of that midwestern friendliness. Boston could use a bit more touch. Boston is a small town compared to CHI, but what you might miss in big city amenities you can easily find with a quick bus ride to NYC any hour of any day for as cheap as a dollar.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

You simply cannot compare Boston, with any city over 1 million people. NYC has 8 million people, God knows how many people cities in China have.

Don't be ridiculous, man.

[Eugene80]

^ What I don't understand is, if Boston is so small, why does it have such outsize prominence among American cities? It's mentioned frequently in the same sentence as Chicago, Miami, NYC, and San Francisco. So there's no harm in actually comparing it to those cities.

Let me also say this: I'm no fan of my own city (Washington DC) but it does compare very favorably with Boston in terms of being more vibrant. Both are similar in size and Boston is even bigger. Yet there seem to be more things to do and a better economic climate in DC.

[TAM88]

Originally Posted by Eugene80

^ What I don't understand is, if Boston is so small, why does it have such outsize prominence among American cities? It's mentioned frequently in the same sentence as Chicago, Miami, NYC, and San Francisco. So there's no harm in actually comparing it to those cities.

Let me also say this: I'm no fan of my own city (Washington DC) but it does compare very favorably with Boston in terms of being more vibrant. Both are similar in size and Boston is even bigger. Yet there seem to be more things to do and a better economic climate in DC.

Saying there is more to do in D.C. than Boston is debatable and will vary from person to person. Personally, there is more for me to do in Boston and the Boston area than D.C. But to each his own.

Boston has a lot of clout because it's a fairly large city, over 600,000 and a fairly large metro area, over 4.5 million. It's also a major center for healthcare, education, high tech and finance. It's a popular city and metro area with tourists and a lot of movies for example have been shot here, especially in the last 4-6 years. A pretty solid selection of galleries and museums exist in Boston and Cambridge as well. Then there's the whole history thing, not just in the city, but outside in places like Salem, Lexington and Concord. There's a pretty diverse population and some well known companies are either based here, were founded here, or have significant operations here.

You also have to remember that Cambridge, a city over over 100,000, is right across the river and is always buzzing. That aids the vibrancy people feel when they visit Boston.

[blisterpeanuts]

Metro Boston is smaller than some other cities like NYC, Chicago, and LA, but it has a tremendous concentration of universities, possibly more than anywhere else in the country, with over a quarter million college and grad students and all the attendant outlets that cater to students--clothes, food, theaters, etc.

Two of the world's premier universities, Harvard and MIT, are situated in Cambridge, employing some of the world's top researchers and scholars and hosting many prestigious conferences. MIT in particular spins off a lot of technology start-ups and east Cambridge is always buzzing with entrepreneurial activity. There are five medical schools in the area and several hospital complexes which employ some of the top medical practitioners in the world. People come literally from all over the world seeking advanced treatments in Boston.

For art lovers, there are museums galore. Harvard University alone has a dozen famous art, science, and natural history museums. There are many lectures, concerts, poetry readings, story readings, folk dances, ballet and modern dance performances, and so forth.

Bostonians of all educational and economic levels seem to have an unusually high regard for culture, more comparable to Europe than to much of the U.S. In my 25 years here I have never ceased to be amazed at how respectful people are of knowledge and academic achievement. There used to be a saying around here about what counts:
In New York, it's what you have.
In Philadelphia, it's who you know.
In Boston, it's what you know.

Since the tech boom of the early 80s, eastern Massachusetts has transformed and grown considerably, attracting thousands of technology workers, financial specialists, and academicians, and for the most part they seem to adapt quite well to the native way of seeing things which is to value education and hard work.

It's also a very congested, crowded, and expensive place to live, so there are definitely trade-offs. The roads are somewhere between horrible and impassable much of the day. The public transportation is adequate but not fantastic. It's not Tokyo. If you rely on the MBTA to get to work every day, you will come to love it and hate it--you can sit and read during your commute, but there are constant breakdowns, slowdowns, price increases, etc. But, most of us just are philosophical about it--look out the train window and see the highway jammed with cars crawling at 1 MPH and you are grateful that the "T" exists, even though it's annoying at times.

In this internet age, cultural artifacts can be enjoyed wherever you are, so the need to squeeze into this little spot is somewhat diminished. But it's still got a lot of attraction for culture vultures and people persons who love the exciting and diverse atmosphere of Manhattan but don't want to deal with the day to day grind of living down there. And New York is a mere 4-5 hours away by bus or car or train, if you need your Manhattan hit.

[cityKing]

Boston is snoozeville.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by Oistrakh

Would you consider Boston a boring city?

No

[bjimmy24]

I believe that pretty much any city can be fun if you have a good job, meet the right people, and have a positive attitude. There is more than enough to keep a person occupied in Boston.

[theSUBlime]

I don't think Boston is boring and I don't even like it. I just think it's for a different kind of person than I am. I like SF, NYC and Seattle a gazillion times more. Boston is more for a person who doesn't want something crazy and wild. Gives me a more the "Oh, this is a nice place." It's very classic New England, if you know what I mean. If you're just looking for a city with nice architecture that is fairly predictable in terms of vibe, then Boston is a great choice.