How long have you lived here?

Born in 78 in Billerica and lived there all through HS. Went to college in CT back to Mass, then a few other states, now overseas in SE Asia.

I come back to Boston every couple of years now and I love what I see happening in the city. Last time I visited in summer of 2022, it seems like the streets were busy and vibrant on a Tuesday morning on a hot summer day. It was great to see.

Downside is the loss of fun places to go: Good Times in Somerville. The Tasty in Harvard Square.

Downtown Crossing has always underperformed for some reason and I felt the same when I was back last summer. Sure, there were a lot of people walking around, but there were still quite a few empty storefronts.

I didn't get out to see Allston/Brighton or Davis Square last trip (two places I loved to visit when I lived in Cambridge and Brookline), but I hope to see them when I get back this summer.

Affordability is gone though. Boston was always an expensive city, but I could still find some okay deals in and around the area. Sadly, that's no longer the case.

If I ever move my family back, as much as I'd love to live in, or around, Boston, I just don't see us being able to afford it. Sadly.

It's still one of the few cities in the world where I can walk down the same streets and never feel bored with my environment.
 
Fun thread.

Born and raised here, went to college in providence (another great city imo) lived in Boston for 10+ years and now raising the fam south shore. Old enough to skate at Maximus. Old enough to remember faces, Young enough to never partied there. Old enough to have bday parties at lanes and games and good times. Old enough to see games at Boston garden but young enough to not really remember it well. Old enough to remember people smoking at all 3 spots…plus airplanes.

Most proud of the big dig…it was such a game changer for the city and especially the north end which is also my fav neighborhood. It’s so iconic and think best “little Italy” in US. Also honorable mention to the seaport. It’s really come into its own. My first job was there in 2008…night and day. Additionally the Fenway is completely different. Lastly, mandarin oriental and 888 boylston were very impactful.

Biggest cons: Harvard sq. Used to hang there with friends growing up. Loved the garage, used to browse newbury comics, then pizza at cafe A. Tannery and concepts in the back before the owners got weird…watching the pit from a distance. The whole area has just changed into less of a destination. Honorable mention loss of bars on boylston st. Pour house, whiskeys, daisys…almost forgot about the alley. Someone mentioned it…that was a unique spot, too bad it’s gone. Lastly the T is a Fing dumpster fire with no end in sight. And obviously affordability in general.
 
Another young entrant to the city and a lurker on AB for over a year now. I first visited the city in 2019 and liked it immediately. Moved here at end of 2020 and been living here car-free ever since (and plan on doing so even though the T can be painful sometimes). I've spend time across the US in other cities but I appreciate Boston for its walkability, overall safety and varied architecture.
 
I've lived in Somerville, Medford, Watertown, Chelsea, Upton, Ashland, Newton, and now Scituate. Never actually Boston proper. However, I feel that I've had a good range of housing types, walkability factors, and transit options. I always tell people that you have different needs at different stages of your life. In my 20's and 30's, it was fun to be in Somerville and near Cambridge. Now, I enjoy a much quieter existence, but I still like that Scituate has some character, and it isn't just a typical suburb. We lived ten years in Newton, and I think I miss it the most based on livability, transit, and closeness to the city. However, it doesn't have an ocean! :) Plus, housing was super expensive!
 
1996 after B-school in Evanston IL and earlier in DC and a downtown job commuted from Arlington VA

Upon arrival in Boston overpaid to rent a basement apt near L’burg Sq Beacon Hill (shoulda bought a 2flat in Arlington or the biggest house in Medford for the same monthly $). Rented at St Mary’s Brookline before buying condo in East Arlington 2002 then house in West Medford 2005 (expecting the GLX by 2009 🤪)
 
Arlington said:
1996 after B-school in Evanston IL and earlier in DC and a downtown job commuted from Arlington VA

Upon arrival in Boston overpaid to rent a basement apt near L’burg Sq Beacon Hill (shoulda bought a 2flat in Arlington or the biggest house in Medford for the same monthly $). Rented at St Mary’s Brookline before buying condo in East Arlington 2002 then house in West Medford 2005 (expecting the GLX by 2009 🤪)
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I lived near Ball Square in Somerville until 1992, and I remember people speaking about a Ball Square Green Line Station at that time! It took 20 years later to actually happen. LOL
 
  • Born in Dorchester
  • Grew up in NH
  • Moved back to Greater Boston and lived in towns inside I-95 and between I-90 and Route 1 for 13 of those years
  • Also three different stints in downtown neighborhoods totaling about 10 years
 
Moved hear from the western burbs in year 2000 and, except for a stretch of field assignments for work spanning ~'06 - '09 (midwest + europe), have been here ever since in Medford, Somerville, Cambridge, Boston. Lots of fond memories from the early aughts. Here are a few I don't think I've seen mentioned before:
  • Old enough to remember Denise's (sp?) Ice Cream in the heart of Davis Sq., young enough to remember it being converted to a J.P. Licks
  • Old enough to have spent plenty of time going to the movie theater that used to be in the Copley Place mall
  • I remember the Marche Movenpick food hall at the Pru, but not really noticing that it had closed because I never really went there
  • I remember hosting out of town guests and bringing them to the North End but being slightly embarrassed because to get to the N.E. in the early aughts, you had to cross over all these plywood boardwalks spanning the nuclear war zone that was the C.A.T. big dig zone.
And, of course, many of the other reminiscences from others above from this timeframe resonates with me as well.
 
bigpicture7 said:
  • I remember the Marche Movenpick food hall at the Pru, but not really noticing that it had closed because I never really went there
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I was talking about this with someone the other day and they didn't remember it! I was in 8th or 9th grade when it was open, and I remember going in there and getting overwhelmed, then just walking back out to go to the regular food court. A bit too ahead of its time, I think.
 
Like Java King, I also moved here from Nebraska. I arrived in 1993 for law school and stayed thereafter. Lived in Beacon Hill, North End, Charlestown and Roslindale, had three kids and eventually moved to the suburbs. Like others echoed, nightlife options for younger people seemed to have waned, Harvard Sq., Kenmore Sq., the alley near Emerson and Boylston in Back Bay have less options for bar hopping or going out for the night. On the more positive note many neighborhoods have rejuvenated over the years. During my time in Roslindale from 1998 to 2005 it was exciting to see all kinds of new businesses revitalize Roslindale Sq. The Seaport, Assembly Sq., Kendall Sq./East Cambridge, and the area of Boylston St. area of Fenway have all undergone dramatic transformation. Hope to see downtown crossing and the financial district regain some of its former vitality sometime in the near future, even if it comes back in a different form. At this point in time, it's probably the area of Boston most impacted by the aftermath of Covid.
 
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Moved to Boston
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in 1984 just moved out last September 2023, the expansion of the skyline has been most impressive, the biggest disappointment is nothing was built taller in those 40 years, good ole days ^ hanging out on the rooftops of Brighton 1985
 
Boston02124 said:
Moved to Boston View attachment 47316in 1984 just moved out last September 2023, the expansion of the skyline has been most impressive, the biggest disappointment is nothing was built taller in those 40 years, good ole days ^ hanging out on the rooftops of Brighton 1985
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Wow hope you are doing well in your new city!
 
Old enough to remember a visit to Norumbega Park in Auburndale before they demolished it for the Newton Marriott. And the "To Be Continued" lettering on the Court St end of the unfinished Center Plaza building-- I guess they built the other sections first. The Nantasket boat from Long Wharf and the roller coaster at Paragon Park. Of course, plywood on the Hancock tower. The original Sasaki Dawson and Demay sunken plaza in Copley Square and the sunken fountain in Govt Center. Catching the orange line elevated at Thompson Square. Taking a ticket at the Paramount delicatessen under the Dover St station of the elevated. The English High School building directly across Ave Louis Pasteur from Latin. Daisy Buchanan's. Jacks. Matt Talbot's. The Orson Welles. The Watertown streetcar and the Arborway line. Bailey's, R. H. Stearns, Gilchrist, Jordan Marsh and the Jordan Marsh Annex. The Boston Herald as a broadsheet. The Globe evening edition, the Record American. All in the Dirty Old Boston vein. Not old enough to remember Scollay Square, the West End, the Cocoanut Grove fire, the Boston Post or the Boston Evening Transcript -- but you have to be ancient to remember those last few.
 
qubbin said:
Old enough to remember a visit to Norumbega Park in Auburndale before they demolished it for the Newton Marriott. And the "To Be Continued" lettering on the Court St end of the unfinished Center Plaza building-- I guess they built the other sections first. The Nantasket boat from Long Wharf and the roller coaster at Paragon Park. Of course, plywood on the Hancock tower. The original Sasaki Dawson and Demay sunken plaza in Copley Square and the sunken fountain in Govt Center. Catching the orange line elevated at Thompson Square. Taking a ticket at the Paramount delicatessen under the Dover St station of the elevated. The English High School building directly across Ave Louis Pasteur from Latin. Daisy Buchanan's. Jacks. Matt Talbot's. The Orson Welles. The Watertown streetcar and the Arborway line. Bailey's, R. H. Stearns, Gilchrist, Jordan Marsh and the Jordan Marsh Annex. The Boston Herald as a broadsheet. The Globe evening edition, the Record American. All in the Dirty Old Boston vein. Not old enough to remember Scollay Square, the West End, the Cocoanut Grove fire, the Boston Post or the Boston Evening Transcript -- but you have to be ancient to remember those last few.
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That's an awesome list! Of all of those, I was here for the Sasaki Copley Square design, the Orange Line elevated, and the Orson Welles theatre.
 
qubbin said:
Not old enough to remember Scollay Square, the West End, the Cocoanut Grove fire, the Boston Post or the Boston Evening Transcript -- but you have to be ancient to remember those last few.
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I do remember the old West End. I used to see it really well from the Green Line elevated between Science Park and North Station. I was about 8 years old. My mother and I would sometimes take the GL from Lechmere into town. I distinctly remember the old West End (as seen from the el) having the feeling of a colorful, lively village, certainly not a slum.
 
Charlie_mta said:
I do remember the old West End. I used to see it really well from the Green Line elevated between Science Park and North Station. I was about 8 years old. My mother and I would sometimes take the GL from Lechmere into town. I distinctly remember the old West End (as seen from the el) having the feeling of a colorful, lively village, certainly not a slum.
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According to Jane Jacobs in the Death and Life of Great American Cities, most "experts" at the time also found the North End to be a terrible slum and wanted it to see the same fate.

NIMBYs drive me crazy... but the absolute hubris and inhumanity of midcentury planners have given everyone a good reason to be wary of Smart People Who Know Better And Want To Change Things.
 
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