jazzpianodad wrote “Boston and New Haven do not have the resources for a jazz musician outside of school that New York has” I would say Boston is not New York but it also has a lot more entry points for a young Jazz musician thanks to the University culture and Emerson, Berklee, Mass Art, SMFA, MIT, NEC etc… Boston can be a great city for a young performer to get their sea-legs before moving to NYC.
Also do not forget that Harvard now has a joint program with Berklee.