Boston

[Zippership]

Anybody a beantown resident here? What do you think of the city? What kinds of things do you like about it / dislike about it / etc.?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[c0mpletec0ntrol]

Heyyy I reside on the Brookline/Allston line myself. Its a great city, but like everything else has its perks and setbacks. Its small enough where its manageable, but almost so small that you can get bored. Not to say that it has nothing to offer, but boredom is completely possibly anywhere you live. It has that old timey historical side to it, and then the high fashion/expense side.

And then there is the most important part... ahh yes i nearly forgot...

The hospitals.

Dear god, you will not have a hard time finding a decent hospital in this city. I currently work at BIDMC, but then theres obviously the brigham, mass general, NEMC, boston medical center, st. elizabeths, etc. Not to mention the sheer volume of outpatient clinics. All = Great opportunities!

 

[sendwich]

outside of the schools/hospitals, i honestly don't know whats so great about boston. granted, i've only lived there for a year, but weather sucks, people have major attitude, you dont really have the luxury of driving yourself to places (parking=$$), public transportation isn't all that well organized. not trying to flame, but honestly, what's everyone talking about when they say "boston is a GREAT place!! awwww~"???

enlighten me people.

 

[bbabul01]

I love Boston. I've never been bored. Right now I live right near the Charles river in Cambridge, so I can walk downtown, run on the river, etc.

There are tons of students, which means you'll always find a fun crowd at any bar you go to. There's the Red Sox, which is an experience whether you make it to a game or not. Summer is great, winter sucks in the northeast in general. There's theater, and all that other crap too. I'm actually going to really miss Boston when I leave in a few months. It's been a great few years.

And I agree with the hospitals. Whether you're in the Harvard conglomerate with MGH, BI, or BWH (I work at the Dana-Farber). The other hospitals are great too though. BU has a great setup with BMC. As the public city hospital, they have a lot to offer. And Tufts has NEMC, which is another great hospital and tends to get a lot of patients from a very culturally diverse section of Boston. All in all, you shouldn't have a problem finding a great medical job, if that's why you're asking.

I can tell you more if you're interested, feel free to PM me.

 

[kbear12]

can anyone comment on typical apartment pricing? i'm possibly looking for a one bedroom near BU's med school.

 

[bbabul01]

outside of the schools/hospitals, i honestly don't know whats so great about boston. granted, i've only lived there for a year, but weather sucks, people have major attitude, you dont really have the luxury of driving yourself to places (parking=$$), public transportation isn't all that well organized. not trying to flame, but honestly, what's everyone talking about when they say "boston is a GREAT place!! awwww~"???

enlighten me people.

I will have to disagree. Weather sucks this is true. But that's a given and comes with living on the East coast. People have an attitude, but that's probably because you've only lived here for a year and give them an attitude back. Bostoners aren't going to be all warm and fuzzy to you if you act like you're the **** because you're from NYC/LA/etc. Boston isn't a driving city, that's just how it is. I can walk the entire length of the city in an hour, why do you need to drive? And public trans is actually really well organized, if you know how to use it and stop trying to pretend it's the MTA.

I realize you're not trying to flame, and everyone is entitled to your opinion. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[c0mpletec0ntrol]

outside of the schools/hospitals, i honestly don't know whats so great about boston. granted, i've only lived there for a year, but weather sucks, people have major attitude, you dont really have the luxury of driving yourself to places (parking=$$), public transportation isn't all that well organized. not trying to flame, but honestly, what's everyone talking about when they say "boston is a GREAT place!! awwww~"???

enlighten me people.

You raised so many valid points in that post that its actually depressing. Basically served to remind me of all that is true about Boston. Honestly though, you're going to find that (or various other things that tick you off) about any city. People are in fact dinguses here as anyone from a suburban/rural background would see, but hey thats most larger urban areas (this doesn't make it okay though), driving sucks in any city, public trans is DEFINITELY unreliable, inconsistent, stops at 12:30am, etc, but its better than paying for a car IMO.

I can't agree with you more about the weather though! I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE/GET A CAR!!!!

Another negative aspect; Boston closes. And early!

 

[bbabul01]

can anyone comment on typical apartment pricing? i'm possibly looking for a one bedroom near BU's med school.

$1300 to $1600 for a one bedroom in the South End. Not cheap at all. However, there are other places you can live that will be cheaper and not too bad of a commute. For example, I live in a 2 bedroom in Cambridge that is $1450 with utilities included. So I pay $725. It's on a bus line that actually picks up at my front door and drops off at the BU med campus, plus I live by the river.

Basically, not cheap. And that's Boston.

 

[sendwich]

can anyone comment on typical apartment pricing? i'm possibly looking for a one bedroom near BU's med school.

hey kbear!

i lived in a studio off of mass ave (which runs right into the BUMC). it was more on the smaller side, a basement. $900 including all utilities, also by the river. i've seen studios even smaller, closer to the medschool for $475, utilities included. but places like this are extremely rare. and it isn't a place you'd want to spend the next 4 years of your life (unless you're willing to do the "get in-get out" kind of lifestyle. most 1 bedrooms in the vicinity of the school do run for at least $1300 though. when will you be looking for a place?

 

[sendwich]

You raised so many valid points in that post that its actually depressing. Basically served to remind me of all that is true about Boston. Honestly though, you're going to find that (or various other things that tick you off) about any city. People are in fact dinguses here as anyone from a suburban/rural background would see, but hey thats most larger urban areas (this doesn't make it okay though), driving sucks in any city, public trans is DEFINITELY unreliable, inconsistent, stops at 12:30am, etc, but its better than paying for a car IMO.

I can't agree with you more about the weather though! I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE/GET A CAR!!!!

Another negative aspect; Boston closes. And early!

sorry, didnt mean to have that effect . the time i was there wasn't a fun time for me (was studying my face off in the grad program) so that could have had an effect on my view of boston. seems like your stay in boston was positive. sorry for being a debbie downer .

 

[freetheyaz]

$1300 to $1600 for a one bedroom in the South End. Not cheap at all. However, there are other places you can live that will be cheaper and not too bad of a commute. For example, I live in a 2 bedroom in Cambridge that is $1450 with utilities included. So I pay $725. It's on a bus line that actually picks up at my front door and drops off at the BU med campus, plus I live by the river.
Basically, not cheap. And that's Boston.

HA! reminds me of "I live in a van..down by the river!"

 

[Orthodoc40]

Lived here forever, basically. With a year in NY and one in Chicago thrown in. Wouldn't care if NYC didn't exist & will never go back there if I can help it.

But Bostonians do have an attitude that's obnoxious. (It's worse in Cambridge). Once I was on an elevator with one other person. I asked them what time it was and they kept staring straight ahead, like I wasn't even there. (No headphones on or anything like that.) It wasn't the first time it happened. People don't acknowledge your existence here.
Now, when I was working in NYC, you'd think it would be worse. Just the opposite. Asked someone the time in the elevator there, and she tells me, then starts talking to me like she's known me forever, blabbing on about how her aunt gave her these earrings and... Weirdest thing. I think it's SO crowded that people have to acknowledge other people's existence in NY. In Boston, they just think they are above it all.

It's a great walking city, and you are probably better off w/o a car.
It's also a great restaurant city.
One other great hospital not yet mentioned was Children's.

 

[sendwich]

People have an attitude, but that's probably because you've only lived here for a year and give them an attitude back. Bostoners aren't going to be all warm and fuzzy to you if you act like you're the **** because you're from NYC/LA/etc.

you can't assume i've given attitude back. it's something i've observed as a second party. please don't assume.

Boston isn't a driving city, that's just how it is. I can walk the entire length of the city in an hour, why do you need to drive? And public trans is actually really well organized, if you know how to use it and stop trying to pretend it's the MTA.

thanks for bringing up a good point. i was just pointing out since i come from a driving city (which most cities are), you lose out on having the privacy and freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want. you're right, it's a lifetyle people have to adjust to, if they haven't experienced it before.

thanks for bringing up some great points. sorry, i was just ranting about parts of boston that didnt' agree with me.

 

[sendwich]

Lived here forever, basically. With a year in NY and one in Chicago thrown in. Wouldn't care if NYC didn't exist & will never go back there if I can help it.

But Bostonians do have an attitude that's obnoxious. (It's worse in Cambridge). Once I was on an elevator with one other person. I asked them what time it was and they kept staring straight ahead, like I wasn't even there. (No headphones on or anything like that.) It wasn't the first time it happened. People don't acknowledge your existence here.
Now, when I was working in NYC, you'd think it would be worse. Just the opposite. Asked someone the time in the elevator there, and she tells me, then starts talking to me like she's known me forever, blabbing on about how her aunt gave her these earrings and... Weirdest thing. I think it's SO crowded that people have to acknowledge other people's existence in NY. In Boston, they just think they are above it all.

It's a great walking city, and you are probably better off w/o a car.
It's also a great restaurant city.
One other great hospital not yet mentioned was Children's.

classic. this is what i'm talking about.

depending on where you go, i've noticed "snobby/better than thou" attitudes too.

 

[freetheyaz]

A similar thing once happened to me in an elevator in Boston..this guy kept asking for the time, but I really didn't feel like looking at my watch so I ignored him. Can you believe how rude he was? Just because I had a watch on, doesn't mean I have to tell him the time.

 

[MChitty]

classic. this is what i'm talking about.

depending on where you go, i've noticed "snobby/better than thou" attitudes too.

I also feel you have to take into account that everyone in Boston is not necessarily from Boston. The population pretty much doubles during the school year, so every snobby person you encounter isn't necessarily from the area.

That being said, New Englanders are not friendly in the way that Southerners or Midwesterners are, but I've had plenty of great conversations with strangers while taking the subway or whatnot. I feel like it's all a matter of who you run into.

I should also reveal that I'm a native New Englander and went to undergrad in Boston...so I'm pretty much in love with the whole area.

 

[bbabul01]

A similar thing once happened to me in an elevator in Boston..this guy kept asking for the time, but I really didn't feel like looking at my watch so I ignored him. Can you believe how rude he was? Just because I had a watch on, doesn't mean I have to tell him the time.

Also, everyday I cross the Charles, I mourn Chris Farley. And I think to myself, would I appreciate my van by the river if he had never been on SNL? Probably not.

 

[Eric Lindros]

.

 

[bbabul01]

Boston would be cool if the residents didn't absolutely suck.

I agree. I hate myself. However, that's like saying New York would be great if there weren't any Yankee fans.

 

[ADeadLois]

Lived here forever, basically. With a year in NY and one in Chicago thrown in. Wouldn't care if NYC didn't exist & will never go back there if I can help it.

But Bostonians do have an attitude that's obnoxious. (It's worse in Cambridge). Once I was on an elevator with one other person. I asked them what time it was and they kept staring straight ahead, like I wasn't even there. (No headphones on or anything like that.) It wasn't the first time it happened. People don't acknowledge your existence here.
Now, when I was working in NYC, you'd think it would be worse. Just the opposite. Asked someone the time in the elevator there, and she tells me, then starts talking to me like she's known me forever, blabbing on about how her aunt gave her these earrings and... Weirdest thing. I think it's SO crowded that people have to acknowledge other people's existence in NY. In Boston, they just think they are above it all.

It's a great walking city, and you are probably better off w/o a car.
It's also a great restaurant city.
One other great hospital not yet mentioned was Children's.

This must have happened before the 2004 World Series.

 

[Schaden Freud]

Pros: Active, compact, lots of places to go, all the perks of a metropolis really, close to a lot of daytrip locales and awesome nature, summers are beautiful.
Cons: Really expensive, too many college students, winters are harsh and dark, no decent pizza.

Anybody a beantown resident here? What do you think of the city? What kinds of things do you like about it / dislike about it / etc.?

 

[nager105]

Boston is a great city, possibly the best city in America in my opinion.

Cons (already mentioned mostly): poopy weather during the winter (but that's like half the country so), driving downtown is nuts, cost of living is quite high, people tend to be a little uptight, everything closes early

Pros (some mentioned, some not): parking at a T station is cheap ($5 a day at Alewife on the Red line and then you can use public transportation all day), historical and modern mix together, GREAT music scene (i.e. Club Passim, T.T. the Bear's), there is so much to do outside of Boston (Vermont and NH are close for skiing, Maine is close for camping/outdoor crap, the Cape is amazing during the summer), good food, good theatre, it's in the bluest (politically) state, amazing hospitals and biotech everywhere...

I could go on, but I won't. If I leave Boston for med school, I will definitely come back for residency.

 

[supersleuthMD11]

The thing about botson is that once you've lived here, you're sucked in. It is by far the most amazing city in the northeast - you have access to all the cultural factors of a big city without having a unmanageble metropolitian area...the place is beautiful in the summer, spring, and autumn, even in the winter, there is so much to do inside - music, theater, sports @ the garden, a decent bar scene - that you can't go wrong.

plus, if you bike or run or love to walk down tree-lined riverfront walkways, you'll love it here.

oh, and the chow-dah is amazing. and the BoSox.

I'm heartbroken that I'm leaving.

 

[wiki23]

I moved to Boston in August from the Midwest and I must say that Boston is a fun place to visit but I wouldnt' want to live here. (and I do live here).

Boston in the summer is great! When the weather is nice there is so much to do. Your experience also depends where you live. I live in Jamaica Plain which is much different from Downtown Boston and Cambridge. There is also a lot of violence in Boston and I have encountered too much. Riding the subway can be a bit dangerous (especially the orange line) and most likely you won't be able to afford a car. I personally would prefer to live somewhere with cheaper living expenses and be able to have my own transportation. Grocery shopping can be a pain...as well as other daily activities. As I said before, I think Boston is a great place to visit, but not worth the price to live here. It is kind of has the pitfalls of NYC but without all of the opportunities.

 

[ADeadLois]

Pros: Great sports scene, "Walkability", frequency of Dunkin' Donuts

Cons: Parking, expensive, food isn't as good as other big cities, difficult to get around if you don't know the area (the highway structure in and around the city was poorly conceived)

 

[Schaden Freud]

Wow you find Boston dangerous? I have definitely had the opposite experience. I've lived here for over 2 years and not once did I feel concerned for my safety (meanwhile, I visited Cleveland for one night and nearly got mugged- luckily a cop drove by right in time)... Boston does have unsavory areas, but there is generally no need to ever visit them as the city is pretty segregated (for better or worse). Jamaica Plain used to be somewhat shady, but now it's the happening place to be.

I moved to Boston in August from the Midwest and I must say that Boston is a fun place to visit but I wouldnt' want to live here. (and I do live here).

Boston in the summer is great! When the weather is nice there is so much to do. Your experience also depends where you live. I live in Jamaica Plain which is much different from Downtown Boston and Cambridge. There is also a lot of violence in Boston and I have encountered too much. Riding the subway can be a bit dangerous (especially the orange line) and most likely you won't be able to afford a car. I personally would prefer to live somewhere with cheaper living expenses and be able to have my own transportation. Grocery shopping can be a pain...as well as other daily activities. As I said before, I think Boston is a great place to visit, but not worth the price to live here. It is kind of has the pitfalls of NYC but without all of the opportunities.

 

[wiki23]

That is the main problem with Boston is that it is extremely segregated. There are the rich and then living across the street are the very poor. This leads to a lot of hostility on the subway etc. In NYC, everyone is together so it isn't much of an issue. But in Boston, there are a lot "bad areas". For instance, I already saw a stabbing and was in the middle of gun fire. Granted I was in a rather unsafe area, but if you want to do community medicine that is where you will be! Boston has community health centers which are located in medically underserved areas...also some of the more dangerous areas.

 

[ADeadLois]

That is the main problem with Boston is that it is extremely segregated. There are the rich and then living across the street are the very poor. This leads to a lot of hostility on the subway etc. In NYC, everyone is together so it isn't much of an issue. But in Boston, there are a lot "bad areas". For instance, I already saw a stabbing and was in the middle of gun fire. Granted I was in a rather unsafe area, but if you want to do community medicine that is where you will be! Boston has community health centers which are located in medically underserved areas...also some of the more dangerous areas.

NYC is just as segregated as Boston, if not more so.

Says the guy who got off at the wrong stop on the subway and was told to "get out <<expletive>>" by a friendly Harlem-ite.

 

[Schaden Freud]

Yeah NYC is segregated. A good illustration is to take a walk from East 96th to East 106th Street on the Upper East Side and see how dramatically things change.

NYC is just as segregated as Boston, if not more so.

Says the guy who got off at the wrong stop on the subway and was told to "get out <<expletive>>" by a friendly Harlem-ite.

 

[nager105]

For instance, I already saw a stabbing and was in the middle of gun fire.

Gunfire? Really? How long have you lived in Boston. I've been to JP a lot and have never felt unsafe. When I think of unsafe cities (ehem Philly) I don't think of Boston.

 

[Robizzle]

Amazing how many SDNers seem to live like 10 blocks away from me.

 

[sendwich]

Amazing how many SDNers seem to live like 10 blocks away from me.

host a SDN get-together!!

 

[bbabul01]

But then I'd reveal my secret SDN identity. I don't really like who I am on SDN. I wouldn't want people associating that with my real person.

 

[Orthodoc40]

I agree. I hate myself. However, that's like saying New York would be great if there weren't any Yankee fans.

Actually it's more like the world would be great if there weren't any yankee fans.

 

[Orthodoc40]

A similar thing once happened to me in an elevator in Boston..this guy kept asking for the time, but I really didn't feel like looking at my watch so I ignored him. Can you believe how rude he was? Just because I had a watch on, doesn't mean I have to tell him the time.

Nice try - but I'm not a guy. Still -

Might be hard to tell from my other post, but I do think Boston is one of the best places to be. Especially for students.