Posted by Atticus on January 5, 2005, at 19:40:13
In reply to Re: Cool U.S. cities ... » Atticus, posted by alexandra_k on January 5, 2005, at 18:08:06
Hi Alex,
Boston has its moments -- especially with so many universities lying about in town and in nearby suburbs -- but there's a certain stuffiness about the place that sometimes gets on my nerves. I guess I'd describe it as a sort of deliberate effort to be as "quaint" and steeped in colonial era Massachusetts as is possible. For instance, I'm surprised the city council hasn't ruled that McDonald's fast-food joints are required to be called Ye Olde MacDonalde's.
Also, be forewarned: The traffic is murder during rush hour (not to mention the parking, which is a nightmare in perpetuity) -- mass transit is your best bet. I think in Boston what you have is a place with sites of real historic and cultural interest that have been repackaged as though Disney ran the place. It has the same plastic feel that Times Square now does in my neck of the woods, Manhatttan. It IS real, but it "feels" like Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla., like a big simulacrum, like it's peculiarly unreal. I don't know if that makes sense to you -- or makes sense at all period, for that matter. But I guess that would be my main beef with Boston. All part of the "Starbuck"ing of America, I suppose. So it goes. Ta. ;) Atticus
poster:Atticus
thread:436479
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041226/msgs/438255.html