What should I know about Boston?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Where exactly is the Fish Pier? It’s been so long since I’ve eaten there that I don’t remember where it is anymore. I’m planning to take my second child for a college tours in 2009 so this information is helpful.</p>

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<p>" Boston City Hall is the ugliest building on the planet. Not even Stalinist Europe could come up with something so hideous and imposing. (Lafalum’s picture doesn’t include the sides and back, which are just as ugly.) "</p>

<p>Just about all architecture of that era that I have seen on the east coast is as hideous as that…ever see the structure that surrounds the Liberty Bell ? Also, in Cambridge, there is some seriously offensive buildings in and around Harvard Square…what were those architects thinking back then ??</p>

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<p>

That style was called “New Brutalism”. Sometimes you wonder what’s up with architects.</p>

<p>Another charming example of the style is Wean Hall at Carnegie Mellon: [Google</a> Image Result for <a href=“http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/376x262/Carnegie-Mellon-University-14BEAA3E.jpg[/url]”>http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/376x262/Carnegie-Mellon-University-14BEAA3E.jpg](<a href=“http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/376x262/Carnegie-Mellon-University-14BEAA3E.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.campusexplorer.com/colleges/ABBA2A2D/Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh/Carnegie-Mellon-University/&usg=__rPn5z-sID2bhxdvmEvD1ej6Lez8=&h=262&w=376&sz=79&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=BuTYyUTcHvuFCM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwean%2Bhall%2Bcarnegie%2Bmellon%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN]Google”>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.campusexplorer.com/media/376x262/Carnegie-Mellon-University-14BEAA3E.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.campusexplorer.com/colleges/ABBA2A2D/Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh/Carnegie-Mellon-University/&usg=__rPn5z-sID2bhxdvmEvD1ej6Lez8=&h=262&w=376&sz=79&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=BuTYyUTcHvuFCM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=122&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwean%2Bhall%2Bcarnegie%2Bmellon%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN)</a> (photo #3)</p>

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<p>I personally think Legal’s lobster roll is pretty good, but then I’ve NEVER had a lobster roll I didn’t like, including the ones that McDonald’s used to do along the Maine coast in the summer. Perhaps my standards are low.</p>

<p>When I first moved west from Boston, I was astounded to discover that drivers would actually let you in if you used your turn signals. Then I started doing it myself. Now I notice that I get there much faster (whole minutes!) if I “become a Boston driver” but that I feel exhausted afterwards. (But those skills do come in handy on rare occasions.)</p>

<p>One of my prized memories is of having traffic STOP FOR ME in Harvard Square at rush hour, when all I did was step off the curb. Of course, I was eight months pregnant with twins at the time–and carrying a thirteenth-month-old too. Still, drivers actually screeched to a stop, which was fun.</p>

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<p>I drove into Boston today and one of the most annoying things about driving here is where you have two lanes going in one direction where the left-lane has a high probability of several drivers making left turns. So the right lane is usually backed up. A number of cars will whiz by in the left lane and then cut in the right lane if the left lane is blocked thereby slowing down everyone in the correct lane. A similar thing happens on construction merges.</p>

<p>It’s an optimization for the individual vs the overall amount of time for the group.</p>

<p>There are other parts of MA where drivers are quite polite letting you in.</p>

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<p>It’s been a while since I lived in Boston, although I’ve been back to visit…but…with a car…I think some of the easiest shopping from Brighton is heading straight out to Newton. No rivers to cross, and, if you want, you can get there without getting on Storrow Drive or Memorial Drive!</p>

<p>Some of this stuff may be on mollie’s map…</p>

<p>Crate and Barrel. at Chestnut Hill Mall in Newton</p>

<p>Pottery Barn & Restoration Hardware
ATRIUM AT CHESTNUT HILL
300 BOYLSTON STREET
CHESTNUT HILL, MA 02467
(617) 964-4001</p>

<p>Target
550 Arsenal St
Watertown, MA 02472</p>

<p>I’m a little surprised that, when I went to the Bed Bath & Beyond website, I didn’t see one in the Newton area.</p>

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<p>mollie - I don’t know what criteria you used to create your map, or how far out from those schools you chose to mark, but there is also a Whole Foods a half block from Washington and Commonwealth. But it seems like most of your places are closer into Harvard, BU, and MIT, which is what you said your target market was.</p>

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<p>One place in the Boston area, which no one has mentioned and that’s a must-see for American history buffs, is Concord, MA. (It’s about 20 mi. from downtown.) See Old North Bridge (where the Revolutionary War began) and the Minuteman National Park, the Alcott House (home of Louisa May and the Alcott family) Walden Pond (Thoreau), Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home, the Concord Museum (decorative arts from MA as well as Emerson’s study and Thoreau artifacts), Old Manse (home of Nathaniel Hawthorne). There are walking tours in the summer and fall. It’s easy to spend an entire day here. The town itself has lots of fun small shops and a few restaurants.</p>

<p>IMO the best place in the city for good, interesting restaurants is the South End. Some of the better places for seafood: Union Oyster House, B&G Oysters, Turner Fisheries, the Summer Shack and Legal Seafood.</p>

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<p>Ahahahaha</p>

<p>I’ve lived in metro Boston (Cambridge and Somerville) for five years. My dad lived there circa 1980. When he came to town for my graduation, we got food in the North End and walked through what used to be the Combat Zone to get there. He was completely floored at how nice it is now, and how much new stuff there was! He said it used to be unsafe to walk through there.</p>

<p>Dorchester, on the other hand, has fallen, apparently. He was startled when I told him that it was probably the most unsafe part of the city now. He said that it used to have rough bars but wasn’t especially unsafe on the whole. Outside of a few neighborhoods (Dorchester, maybe Roxbury), metro Boston is a fairly safe place these days. Even the neighborhoods that people consider “sketchy” (like Area 4 in Cambridge), I generally feel safe walking through alone.</p>

<p>I agree with everyone about the drivers and the traffic. Also the roads are horribly confusing. Metro Boston doesn’t really believe in street signs.</p>

<p>If you are from the South like me, you may never get used to the weather (I haven’t). But I love the city anyway. :)</p>

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<p>“I agree with everyone about the drivers and the traffic. Also the roads are horribly confusing. Metro Boston doesn’t really believe in street signs.”</p>

<p>Oh, that reminds me. It is assumed in Metro Boston that you know the street you are on so that the only street signs you will ever see is for a side street or a cross street. That was a big issue for me when I first moved here from the sign-a-plenty area of Metro DC.</p>

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<p>In D.C., everybody is assumed to be non-local–which is not quite true. In Boston, everybody is assumed to be local–which is not true, either. </p>

<p>I love taking guests to Concord and the Old North Bridge, though usually in the fall or summer when it’s dry. Another fun place to take guests to is the De Cordova Museum in Lincoln. The outdoors sculpture are fun. One passed Walden Pond on the way.
On route 2A going toward Lincoln and Concord is the Minuteman Prk. The museum has a nice son et lumiere show on the battle of Lexington and the showdown at Old North Bridge, Paul Revere’s ride, etc…</p>

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<p>Bromfield and Marite, I agree on Concord/Lincoln. That’s our current stomping ground. There is great cross-country skiing in the winter (when there’s snow) and both towns are part of what a friend of mine calls Road Cycling Heaven. When the weather is OK, you’ll see hundreds of cyclists at the monument in Concord Center resting before or after the big ride.</p>

<p>Also, for the fun but weird scene. Get to the North Bridge early (like 6 or 6:30 AM) on Patriot’s Day (April 19th, I believe) and watch a full-uniform reenactment of the first battle.</p>

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<p>Tewitt … if your daughter is in Brighten she lives somewhere between 100 yards and 2 miles from me … don’t be afraid to give me shout if you need some help.</p>

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<p>

My major criterion was that I had to be able to remember where it was. :slight_smile: Since my Boston life has mostly been spent around MIT and Harvard, those are the places I know. I really should go through and mark all of the Whole Foods/Shaw’s/Star Markets, though. I know I already have all of the Targets marked, because my husband and I go to Target on weekend nights for fun.</p>

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<p>well, we already have a date to go to IKEA, but I’m sure Target will be on the list.</p>

<p>It’s still an awesome map.</p>

<p>I spent last night studying the T lines/stops, specifically the green line. Looks like she has three stops within a ten minute walk of her apartment. Is the green line a subway out by Brighton?</p>

<p>Oh, and what are Shaws and Star Markets?</p>

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<p>Shaws and Star Market are grocery stores, like Hannaford’s. Not especially pricy (like Whole Foods) and not necessary dirt cheap (like Super Walmart), but they usually have good stuff for decent prices.</p>

<p>The Green Line is above ground (I think the term is “fast-rail service,” but that’s a little vague) in Brighton. It goes below ground at the Kenmore station.</p>

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<p>And - if her local supermarket carries Gifford’s Ice Cream, buy the Maine Camp Coffee flavor. mmmmm.</p>

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<p>The only east coast grocery store I’m familiar with is Wegmans (well, other than Whole Foods, but the closest one to me is about 10 miles away). I love Wegmans and wish we had those around here. Our grocery stores stink. The few good ones are not close by.</p>

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<p>There are four green lines that I’m aware of:</p>

<p>Boston College
Cleveland Circle
Riverside
Huntington Ave</p>

<p>Boston College goes via Commonwealth Avenue to Boston College in Chestnut Hill. I would say that it goes by or through Brighton on the southern side. The Cleveland Circle train goes on Beacon St to Cleveland Circle which is another area near Boston College though there’s a resevoir between the station and BC. This is further south of the Boston College line. The Riverside line is a little further south and is useful for going to Brookline, Chestnut Hill and Newton. The Chestnut Hill stop is about a mile south of Boston College.</p>

<p>If the apartment is near BU, then she should be pretty close to the BC line.</p>

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<p>Many Shaws have gone upscale and the Shaws on Commonwealth Avenue near BU is pretty nice. Shaws was bought out by Alexanders a few years ago and I think that they want to recoup their investment.</p>

<p>There is an 88 Supermarket and food court at the big bend on Commonwealth Avenue. The 88 Supermarket is an asian (mainly Chinese) market with food courts that provide Korean, Indian, Chinese food.</p>