Living in Boston

You don't mind the weather with a low temperature today of 3F? You're braver than me.

Driving in downtown Boston is an art, probably best done with your eyes closed. Some simple rules: traffic signs and signals are merely suggestions, treat crosswalks and double-parked cars as mini-chicanes and don't ever drive into a pothole you can't see the bottom of.

There are some great twisty roads in and around the city (Storrow Drive, Memorial Drive) if you can get to them when the traffic is light (4 AM in the summer isn't bad). Otherwise, you have to go farther out.

The western suburbs where I live seem to have gotten very MB heavy recently. Used to be even numbers of BMW, Audi, Porsche, but now all I see are Benz's. I think you'll find the exotics spend most of their time in quiet (and warm) garages unless the weather is really nice, then they all come out.

As for business, it all depends what you want to do. Massachusetts is known more for driving industries out then attracting them, but high-tech, bio-tech and financial services seem pretty entrenched.

What are you studying and what do you think you'd like to do?

And, oh yeah, welcome to Boston.

Joe

 

I grew up in Boston but haven't lived there for more than 20 years so take this for what that is worth.

Boston is a great city, big enough to have a varied cultural, restaurant and social scene but small enough to be easy (depending on time of day!) to get access to. You can live in one of the nicer western suburbs, and there are many, and still be no more than 1/2 an hour away from downtown on a Saturday night.

With 200,000 plus college students in the area, a lot of the nightlife is geared toward that age group and a bit older, so it is a fun place to be for that.

Add in good access to beaches and mountains (most no more than 2-3 hours away) and it offers a lot.

I learned to drive in Boston and so don't really understand what the problem is ;_0 ! Rotaries are fun because no one in Boston likes to stop if they can help it.

The car culture is very vibrant with very active Ferrari ownership and big Porsche, BMW and even Alfa Romeo clubs there. With so many good touring roads not far from Boston, its a great place to have a sports car.

Professionally job availability is geared I think toward some high tech and bio technology sectors probably with financial services following, particularly asset management and then maybe health care. My career is more in investment banking and capital markets so the New York area is where I have settled for the time being.

My wife also grew up in Boston and still reminds me that her understanding of our move to NY was "3-5 years and then back to Boston".

Boston has a lot going for it and is in the top 5 city areas of the country to live in IMO.

John

 

I left Mass 15 years ago for warm,sunny Florida and never looked back. Best move I ever made in every way!

 

amen to that- i actually moved up here (new hampshire) from north carolina. to say the least bit im a little bit CHILLY...
not sure if i will ever walk again due to the freezing temperatures of walking from my car to work but you never know!
time to fly south for the winter.....

 

yea, my dad worked for fleet and now BofA. they still have a huge corporate building there.

 

Having lived in Boston for 5 years I am happily moving back to NYC without looking back.

I don't want to sound to jaded, but frankly after living here for a good deal of time, I am not impressed with the people, the service, or the overall quality of life found in Boston. This city has terrible to non-existant city services, and lacks any semblance of an infrastructure. Much of the city services (from garbage pick up to snow removal) are outsourced to private contractors that do a crappy job at best (remember the whole putting gps in snowplow fiasco?), rather then building well-managed city run services. The city is filled with renters who are temporary residents and share an "I could careless" about their neighborhoods. As a result, government extends the same attitude much of these neighborhoods. Denying simple things like street lights or basic community offerings -- this despite the fact that I live in a fairly upscale community across from one of Bostons' prized possesions: Fenway Park. Additionally, Boston is trapped between militant liberals who would like to see everyone use granola-powered birkenstocks and puritanical self-righteous catholics who want chips planted in your brain that will notify them should experience any ounce pleasure (no matter how small). To make matters worst, no matter which group you identify with -- you will end up being taxed for programs for both. Finally, despite being surrounded by many colleges and Harvard (honestly, do the others even count?), I can tell you that Boston is perhaps one of the most intolerant cities north of the mason-dixon. It never ceases to amaze me how there is a strong undecurrent of sheer rascism here. Not to mention that it is still an incredibly segregated city.

So in sum: Boston is a great city to come and go to college in. But as for settling down and a future...well, I say no. I used to say "Boston will be a great city in 20 years", now I think that will only happen when it burns to the ground and has to be rebuilt.

Finally, beware of those who speak highly of Boston and claim to be Bostonians themselves. There are few people who actually live in Boston proper. Most have long ago moved to the suburbs, and every year what is considered "Boston" moves further and further north, south, and west.

As much as I have a strong disdain for this city there are some positive things. It's actually not that bad to own a car here, parking and insurance is managable. Boston does have a fair amount of cultural things. It also offers nice places to walk and rollerblade (just don't use them at night). And overall it does have a young personality.

Like I said, it's a great place if you are a renter in college or a recent grad. If you plan to stay longer, you can get the same result by jamming a pencil in your eye.

Best of luck

-N
yuppieracing

 

egads nabbs. did menino kick you in the crotch yesterday?

everybody's entitled to their opinion, of course.

you're right that very few "bostonians" on this board actually live in boston proper. it's tough to be a car nut and live in or right around the city. most of us are definitely in the suburbs (i lived in brookline for a few years and then headed west - now i'm about 20 miles out in the metro west area). i lived in town (beacon hill, charles river park, east cambridge) for about ten years. traded in rats and pigeons for deer and hawks.

city living is all about money, if you ask me. either you can afford to live in buildings and areas where and how the city works for you, or you can't. boston's not materially different than other cities in this regard.

i personally never lived anywhere near fenway (though i have friends that did) because the number of college students as a percentage - and that's what drives the neighborhood behavior issues - is just too high.

there are many luxury buildings and developments, and pricey sections of various areas (eg: pieces of back bay) that 99% of the students are priced out of, and they are "different" places than college-town. but you have to pay pay pay.

there are racists everywhere. i don't have stats at hand, but it seems unlikely that boston is any more or less badly behaved in this regard than any other big town north of the M-D line - if for no other reason, boston crossed the "minority as majority" line in the 1990s; and about 25% of the population is college students. which isn't to say that racism is acceptable behavior - it isn't - but i think your assertion is unlikely to be true.

doody.

 

Doody -- I realize I must've sounded like a bit of a nut, but what I said is actually fairly rational and (I think at least) coherent.

There are some up and coming areas in Downtown crossing that actually seem pretty exciting. Beacon Hill, Back Bay and the North End most definately offer a much better permanent living situation. Obviously, if you live in area (as I do) that is predominantly renter, where most are here temporarily and could care less of their surroundings, you have a less pleasant living experience. Additionally, since many of the residents are not registered to vote in these areas , city and state government do not go out of their way to give juicey improvement projects to these areas. Clearly government will cater to areas that have a higher population of registered voters. Unfortunately when you have a city whose population has a large number of renters, with the exception of a few enclaves, a majority of the city is passed over with improvements and better service going to a small minority of the city.

Regardless of where you live in Boston, you have the same city services. I am always shocked that certain basic serivices that most major metropolitan cities offer, are not available here. From what I understand in the 1960s Boston shed it's services in favor for employing contractors. The thought being that Boston would save money by not having full-time departments etc. Things like street repair, sidewalk repair, light repair, trash pick up, snow removal, etc are subcontracted. As a result you have a system that is wrought with corruption and pretty inefficient. Most cities have long ago abandoned the idea of contracting out, and have built up centralized services.

Again, despite having a relatively small police force, Boston police officers are one of the highest paid in the country. In my 5 years in Boston, I have never seen a police officer on foot. And although I have nothing against police officers, the few times we have needed them they have been slow to respond and in one case called us back after dialing 911 and said they wouldn't come out.

As for rascism -- you are correct, there are rascists everywhere. However Boston has a strong undercurrent of intolerance, something that I really never experienced anywhere else. Th fact that Boston fought integration and busing to the absolute bitter end, speaks volumes as to the attitude that still exists here. Sure there are always thugs or drunken bafoons who will yell out something insulting. But that's not what I am talking about. Boston is still a very divided city, both literally and figuratively. If you talk to anyone who lives in Boston and is not lilly white or is Jewish (yes there is still a considerable amount of anti-semitism) they will all tell you about run-ins they have all had. I think the best way I can describe this intolerance is the way that this city makes you feel like you stand out. Why I like living in cities the most is the anonymity it provides, I can't tell you how many times I've felt like I absolutely stood out here.

Really my major gripe is simply with how the city is run and the general attitude of Bostonians. I find that the city government is frankly barely able to provide services -- regardless of where you live in Boston. They do things like suspend street cleaning for a 1/4 of the year. No matter how many snow storms Boston has, each one brings the city to its knees. These are all things that effect Bostonians, regardless of where they live. In short the infrastruture that Boston's government runs on is frankly inadequate and a joke.

Oh and yes, mumbles has managed to piss me off I used to see him all the time.

We're moving to Grenwhich Village in NYC in a few weeks, and I'll be happy to give a report comparing the two in a few months

Just my $.02, of course.

-N

 

I don't know about racism, but there certainly is a strong undercurrent of rudeness among a lot of people around here, and people definitely are not as friendly as in other places I have been. And that's without even mentioning the road rage factor. In cars people are absolute a$$holes 99% of the time!

Birdman

 

AMEN Birdman..... people + cars = idiots with horsepower!

I live north of Boston in Salem and commute each day to Cambridge (never in my Ferrari!) I like Boston but find the cost of living there is much too high for the value and the parking/garaging a real problem.

I can't say I find the people especially rude or anything. People are people wherever you go. I find the Boston folks much nicer than say Parisians ANY DAY! It's all about perception I guess.

I love New England and the North Shore area of MA the best. It can be incredibly beautiful. Country/Ocean drives in a Ferrari make it awesome!

 

I was wondering when someone would pop up and brave this thread in "defend New England" mode and its from a north shore neigbor no less!

Having lived in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Basel (in Switzerland) and spent a good amount of time in other world cities (I have an office in NYC) including Paris - I'm with my neighbor from Salem in liking this part of the world as a place to be.

There is a certain set of rude people in every city around the world. Even the world's politest city (Tokyo) has a very strong undercurrent of rudeness and racism towards strangers from overseas.

We chose the north shore because we were tired of city living and wanted to bring up our children in a nice suburban community. Boston is not NYC but that's why we chose a suburb of Boston rather than a suburb of NYC.

The one thing that bugs me about New England is the randomness of drivers. I would say that in NJ or NY people are agressive and cut you up commonly in New England my observation is that there are far more inattentive drivers who'll think nothing of a 3 lane change with no signal directly in front of you. It would appear that the MA drivers test is too easy and the basic sequence of "Mirror Signal Manoevre" is not taught - more "Nike Driving" is the order of the day ("Just do it").

I love the fact that I get enthusiastic remarks every time I drive my F-car - and yes I do drive into Boston from the North Shore in it I also like the fact that I can park the car in the street from time to time and essentially not worry very much about it. In London I had a car keyed all down the side whilst it was parked in a church yard. Plus driving a really nice car is often met with shouts of w**ker from jealous people.

New England has a enthusiastic car culture and everyone seems to love Ferraris.

 

I too love living around Boston,I will agree that there is lots of political BS in the city ,it is such a mob mentality look at the wall Mit has run in to trying to do what he was elected to do.Mit a rep. ran in a very dem. state ,on a platform of needed change,it is not his fault that he has run into so much trouble trying to do what he was elected for ,it is the mob ,look out for the job "don,t kill the job" mentality that is killing mit's efforts.Oh some of you might not agree??? well let's look at the BIG DIG! "DON'T KILL THE JOB", what have our elected official done about the big dig //,,WELL Mit tyed to fire the guy in charge ,he is still ruining the show,I rest my case.
As dan said Boston is a Ferrari friendly city ,I bring the 355 in and have never had a problem ,go to the 4 season's and give the guy a 20 and the car won.t move,and he won.t let any one touch it.Good luck in nyc down town and soho are the only places in nyc I like ,there are parts of nyc as large as boston that are seeming waste lands.oh and the auto parts stores ,,,you drive around and find the car you need parts for and you take them ,short check out lines.It happens in all city's I know but nyc is just toooo bbbiiiigggg for my likes ,and I think that Bostons size is one of it's strong points.I have been in my office on a fri. at 11:00 and skying before 1:00 in N.H. that is a cool thing .Boston has a great ballance of city and country I love it !!!
m02 DAVID

 

Just to echo Dan's and Dave's points:

I chose to live in Boston (after coming here for college) for a number of reasons. Alternatives were NYC, DC/VA, or SF/Valley. Here, I live in a very nice town with an absolutely excellent public school system. I live literally 20 minutes away, by car, from downtown Boston (30 minutes in heavy rush hour traffic). Great skiing is about 90-150 minutes away. Beaches are 30 minutes away, the Cape is less than 2 hrs, even with some traffic.

You can't get this in NYC without spending 4-5 times what I did for my house, easily. Maybe 10x. When I want the things that only Manhattan can offer . . . I go to Manhattan. About 3 hrs away by car, less than 2 hours by shuttle. I actually like having four seasons, despite the inability to drive Ferraris for 2-3 months a year. Yes, it's expensive, but the overall compensation level here is higher too. So while housing is much more expensive than, say, the midwest, we make more money, AND other things are priced the same (e.g., would you rather make $100k-$200k and live in a $600k house and buy a $80k car, or would you rather make $50k-$100k and live in a $300k house and buy . . . a $80k car?).

As for driving: the difference between Boston and NYC is that while both places are filled with extremely aggressive, inconsiderate, rude drivers, New Yorkers don't take it personally. You cut some one off in NYC, you might get a horn, maybe a glare, maybe even, rarely, a finger, then forget about it in 3 seconds. Here, if you do the same thing, the other driver will hunt down and torture your family.

But you'd never be rude, right?

vty,

--Dennis

 

It's true what Dave says, Mitt has a freaking army against him. I remember he axed some extraneous gov't program back in the Spring, and although I was in Canada I remember seeing a segment on CNN where they went on about "Services cut in MA" "Boston axes jobs" etc... and of course they interview employees being cut etc. who go on about injustice and rant in anger against Mitt. I remember at the time I was surprised the fuss over such a small part of a bloated government.

I like it better here in my second year, I feel more accustomed to the manners and such. That said, for permanent living I need somewhere warmer.

The driving is insane though... I drive down city streets having to predict what every person in a car or on foot is going to do.

 

uh, you should do that ANYWHERE you're driving, dude ;-)

doody.

 

Well, there's casual driving - then there's the paranoia here having to imagine every car swerving in front of you, every single alley or sidestreet have someone bolt out cause they can't see past the parallel parked cars, and every pedestrian stride triumphantly across an intersection when you have a green light... and are 10 yards away.

It's like a crazy carnival ride.

 

I have cows across the street, Boston 40 minutes away, great sking 1 hour from here and Ocean within 1 hour.
I travel for work non-stop and would not want to live anywhere else.
Sure there is a lot of potholes and roadrage, but there is also great places to visit and a great quality of life.
As for the weather, I can't wait to get back in the bucket!!!!

 

I would rather like to live in new york city. Plenty of exotics cars there. Are you one of those satanic redsox fans?

 

drove up to Boston last weekend in my CS, and my friend in the 360. now i am wondering, WTF is wrong with the pedestrian????? they walk as if cars do not exsit.
i had a red light so i was waiting at the intersection for few mins. lights turned green, i was starting to go, ppl KEPT on walking. they saw me inch forward, they acted like i just beat up their kids. my window was down so i simply said "am i not having a green light??", the guy started cursing.
this happened ALMOST EVERYTIME at a light(not the someone cursing at me part but the fact everyone just keeps walking even though i have green light and they have a red hand that indicates no walking). it's very annoying.

 

Yep - thats my no.1 annoyance as a someone not from Boston living here. People seem to be trained to just cross the road whenever. It's mad. You just learn to drive slowly and ignore it. The Mass highway code seems to be a bit vague on the subject

 

the pedestrian behavior is actually surprising to non-natives, but it's actually not really aberrant. in MA laws, as i understand them (and i'm no lawyer), a pedestrian always has the right of way. therefore, it's the auto driver's problem to make sure they're paying attention to them, QED.

of course some pedestrians do take this to the extreme, which is understandably annoying for drivers.

amusingly enough, this behavior is annoying for non-native drivers, but native walkers have to be very careful when they're travelling - lest they step off a curb in Cleveland and get taken out .

doody.