Bbbbbeantown

Mass Ave
Originally uploaded by senvetti.

Boston pics
Cambridge pics

So this past weekend, I took the Amtrak from Stamford, Connecticut and paid a visit to Bharat in Boston, Massachusetts. Great great great city – it exceeded my expectations on all levels.

- For a world-class city, Boston is smalllllll… and very compact. It’s an excellent walking city. You can cross from one end of downtown to the other within half an hour.

- Seeing as the city was founded in the 1600s, I was expecting much of the city rather weathered and ramshackle. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t. It’s a beautiful, green, and clean city, and the historic architecture was well-maintained and preserved. Quaint.

- With the brownstones, tree-lined boulevards, Victorian street lamps, public squares, monuments, parks, and regal architecture, the city has as very European feel to it. Unlike Toronto, it’s not littered with apartments and condos… Boston is more Montreal.

- Really impressed with the buildings in the financial district, and skyline. The buildings really come together, with a beautiful mix of art deco and glass skyscrapers (namely John Hancock, which I.M. Pei designed), and it’s a wonderful sight.

- Demographically Boston is really, really white. And unlike New York, where half the population is Jewish, Italian or Puerto Rican and the people look darker, in Boston the people are very Anglo & Irish looking, so it felt like being back in Canada. I counted maybe 10 black people and zero Hispanics. The largest minority is Asian... maybe 10%. Second largest is brown people (my kind).

- Almost everyone there was between 20 and 40. I saw scarcely any kids or middle-aged or elderly people. The trolley tour guide had mentioned the student population was 290,000! And the actual city itself has only 600,000 people. The whole city has a big campus feel to it.

- The people in Boston have a very educated, learned demeanor to them… not quite New York yuppie, but a less flashy, more scholarly look… lots of eyeglasses. Touring, I didn’t see many indigent people, or people that looked dumb or lower-class.

- You’ll see a lot of college kids jogging around in University sweaters and hoodies… of schools nowhere near the area. I saw a girl run around in a Duke sweater, and Duke’s in North Carolina!

- The transit system (the MBTA - Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, or just the ‘T’) is interesting. Their subway is the oldest in North America. They have subways with an electrified third rail, like Toronto and New York (the train crossing the Charles River into Cambridge is your classic subway). But switch over to another line and there are light rail trolleys, like an underground version of the Spadina streetcar. Overall, much less grimy than the New York subway, and only a $1.25 to ride.

- Doesn’t seem to be a lot of heavy industry or agriculture in the area. Main industries appear to be education, financial services, shipping, and tourism so it’s not an immigrant hub.

- There is definitely a Boston accent. Think JFK or Mayor Quimby. They drop the ‘r’s in their speech. “Come to Boston Hahba, have some chowda…. And across the river is Hahvahd, where the smaht kids ah.” I couldn’t figure out whether my trolley driver was just doing this for kicks. Then I realized that this guy was a native Bostonian… and that’s how he actually spoke!

All in all a charming city rich in history, a great place for someone in their 20s with a love of learning. But with all the amazing schools around, it’s one of those places where you can’t help but feel inadequate, because everyone around you has read Ulysses and is just as learned as you are. Forget Beantown, it should be called Braintown – it has to be the smartest city in America.