Referring to Boston as "in town"

[simplexsimon]

I had this same question a few weeks ago after meeting with clients on the south coast (Fall River area) who, coincidentally, are construction industry adjacent.

When we said we work in the financial district in Boston, they said "oh you work in town" and I was wondering where it came from.

[robr2]

It's probably a holdover from when titans of industry moved out to the country to places like Brookline and Medford. Going into Boston meant going back into town much like farmers did before.

Growing up in Somerville, I knew people that said "we're going into town for dinner" or "we went to town to shop at Filene's." And that was in the 70's. I'll occasionally say to people I know will understand what it means.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by robr2

It's probably a holdover from when titans of industry moved out to the country to places like Brookline and Medford. Going into Boston meant going back into town much like farmers did before.

I think it might just be another thing we “borrowed” from [Old] England.

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_town

Apparently, it’s common terminology used in the vicinity of London.

[Rozzie Rat]

I have always said this when heading into DTX, Theater District, Back Bay, North End and immediate surrounding areas.

[P Larsen]

Boston is a metropolis with the soul of a town. In both good* and bad ways. While people refer to NYC and SFO as "The City" and DC as "The District", a lot of people in and around Boston have long referred to it as "town" in the sense of the central "Town" (let's just put the old use of "The Town" for Charlestown to one side for the purpose of this discussion).

* Most recently, I observed this after the Marathon bombings: it seemed everyone and their mother was within only 2-3 degrees of separation from people who were on the or near final stretch of Boylston Street at the time of the bombing, had run the race, were first responders and public safety people dealing with the injured and the manhunt. The Boston area is really tight that way. (I suspect Philly is like that too.)

[BOORGONG]

In French, for Montreal, we say: "en ville" too, even when it comes from inner city neighborhood folk gravitating towards the center.

Maybe less so for English speaking Montrealers, I don’t know. It’s a two headed hydra of a city here.

[xenu]

I've always said in town, especially with regard to Boston proper