Pinnacle at Central Wharf (Harbor Garage) | 70 East India Row | Waterfront | Downtown

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bigpicture7 said:
^ cue the response from kmp that boston isn't in the same tier as SF/etc in 4, 3, 2...
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Except it is. Some people are stuck in the mindset of old Boston from 30+ years ago, which I would agree, when I was a kid, Boston was an also-ran in many ways. Since the turn of this century, Boston has changed tremendously, and that goes not just for the region's population growth but also the perception world-wide.
 
gac108 said:
Except it is. Some people are stuck in the mindset of old Boston from 30+ years ago, which I would agree, when I was a kid, Boston was an also-ran in many ways. Since the turn of this century, Boston has changed tremendously, and that goes not just for the region's population growth but also the perception world-wide.
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It was just an inside joke that you'll get if you stick around aB long enough.
 
bigpicture7 said:
It was just an inside joke that you'll get if you stick around aB long enough.
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I've been reading this site since '08 but only joined for commenting last year. Not sure why it took me so long. I know all about the different commenters on here, past and present.
 
gac108 said:
Except it is. Some people are stuck in the mindset of old Boston from 30+ years ago, which I would agree, when I was a kid, Boston was an also-ran in many ways. Since the turn of this century, Boston has changed tremendously, and that goes not just for the region's population growth but also the perception world-wide.
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I was here 2005-14, then NYC for the last 6 years and just moved back up. Even when keeping loose tabs on the city it's shocking how much Boston's changed and how it's really shaken off its 20th century baggage. It's been something of a minor miracle for me to see Boston not feel so ass backwards.
 
gac108 said:
Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit, but I also don't put Boston on the same level as Detroit or Pittsburgh- those 2 cities are in no way close to Boston in terms of growth, popularity, demand for various industries (med, tech, education, finance, etc), or just overall draw. I don't think anyone in the world would consider Boston to be a second-tier city along the levels of Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Charlotte, etc. and would instead put it with Chicago, SF, LA, or NY in terms of "perceived" magnitude or impact to the US. I am thrilled with the construction boom we have been experiencing, especially during a time when so many other cities are struggling from the pandemic. My point was simply that Boston is notorious for all the hoops/red tape and lengthy approval processes and push-back from small but vocal groups. I get frustrated when a beautifully designed project with so many street-level and accessibility improvements such as this will bring to an iconic, heavily foot-trafficked spot (especially for what garbage obtrusive parking garage is there) is dragged out for decades for BS reasons. How long has it been teased that this garage was going to be taken down? Early to mid '00s? Also, I just want one iconic supertall over 1000 feet- not here obviously- to stand out on our lengthy plateau of a skyline. Ok rant over.
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If only that were true... 😟

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My impression is that the average American's idea of Boston is of a provincial city whose claim to fame is its role in the Revolution. The more educated members of the public may also include the abolitionist movement or that it was once known as the Athens of America, but nothing beyond the 19th century. I think "The Venice of America" is how many people think of it today.
 
xec said:
If only that were true... 😟

wygOw9I.jpg


My impression is that the average American's idea of Boston is of a provincial city whose claim to fame is its role in the Revolution. The more educated members of the public may also include the abolitionist movement or that it was once known as the Athens of America, but nothing beyond the 19th century. I think "The Venice of America" is how many people think of it today.
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I think this is more about airport hub rather than city of importance and in that case, I would count Logan, and by extension, Boston, as secondary, likely to the ones in NYC.
 
xec said:
If only that were true... 😟

wygOw9I.jpg


My impression is that the average American's idea of Boston is of a provincial city whose claim to fame is its role in the Revolution. The more educated members of the public may also include the abolitionist movement or that it was once known as the Athens of America, but nothing beyond the 19th century. I think "The Venice of America" is how many people think of it today.
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Airport-wise, which is what this article is referring to, Logan isn't a hub and therefore secondary to even Detroit or Atlanta, but not the city (metro) overall. I've lived around the country and in other countries as well and from my vast national and international interactions, Boston is and has been considered (at least for the last 15-20 years) on-par with the biggest metro areas. Again, this is based on impressions and not statistics. I'm also talking about conversations with other highly traveled people and expats, mostly under 50, and excluding people from NYC, who seem to think that's the only city in the world and every other place is simply a small wannabe town (I talked with a New Yorker recently who truly believed that NY was bigger than Shanghai... of course the extent of his travels were Florida and possibly Cancun, sooo...). Again, there are those who are either trapped in their bubble due to age, ignorance, or lack of exposure, and of course the locals who likewise self-depricate and refuse to accept change, but I think most on here would have similar experiences to mine.
 
KentXie said:
I think this is more about airport hub rather than city of importance and in that case, I would count Logan, and by extension, Boston, as secondary, likely to the ones in NYC.
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Not to encourage this silliness, but from an aviation standpoint Bloomberg (or in this case something called Skylark) is full of it. Logan is a "hub" for Delta and effectively a hub for JetBlue, with a strong focus city for American in a JV with the latter. It's not a matter of opinions or impressions, it's a matter of airline schedules. Putting Logan in the same category as Indianapolis or Cleveland is easily debunked nonsense.
 
gac108 said:
(I talked with a New Yorker recently who truly believed that NY was bigger than Shanghai... of course the extent of his travels were Florida and possibly Cancun, sooo...).
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The last three times I've gone to Shanghai, I travelled with colleagues from Houston and Philadelphia. Consistently -- nearly w/o exception -- when people learned that I was from Boston, the news was met with a knowing, "Ah, Boston. Yes" (or equivalent), while the reactions to my companions' home-cities were some variation of, "Never heard of that" or "Where's that?"
 
chrisbrat said:
The last three times I've gone to Shanghai, I travelled with colleagues from Houston and Philadelphia. Consistently -- nearly w/o exception -- when people learned that I was from Boston, the news was met with a knowing, "Ah, Boston. Yes" (or equivalent), while the reactions to my companions' home-cities were some variation of, "Never heard of that" or "Where's that?"
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Im having a hard time imagining people not knowing about Houston and Philadelphia.

Unrelated but the similar soundingness of Boston and Austin has gotten me in strange conversational waters before. Ill say I am from Boston theyll here Austin and then talk my ear off about Texas until I realize the mistake.
 
393b40 said:
Im having a hard time imagining people not knowing about Houston and Philadelphia.
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Well, this is halfway around the world and a very different culture in a (in some ways) sheltered/isolated country. I'm moderately well-travelled and educated and I know *I* wasn't familiar with Xi'An, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenzen, or Harbin (rough equivalents to cities like Phillly and Houston) before I started going to China. I don't think it's that surprising -- I think it's just anecdotal evidence that Boston is far more well-known, globally.
 
chrisbrat said:
Well, this is halfway around the world and a very different culture in a (in some ways) sheltered/isolated country. I'm moderately well-travelled and educated and I know *I* wasn't familiar with Xi'An, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenzen, or Harbin (rough equivalents to cities like Phillly and Houston) before I started going to China. I don't think it's that surprising -- I think it's just anecdotal evidence that Boston is far more well-known, globally.
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Precisely. I lived in Shanghai for several years and traveled extensively throughout Asia and they always said something like "Oh yea Boston- great schools!" or "Oh Boston- my [bio/med/tech] company has a big office there!" and I agree that often Asians weren't familiar with most other American cities outside of NY, LA, SF, Vegas, Chicago, DC or Seattle if they hadn't traveled to the US. I had expat friends from Cleveland, Portland, Memphis and others and it was rare that people had heard of them.
 
And Europe. Same. Paris, London, Madrid - say you're from Boston, people nod and smile. They know. They'll even say, Boston's different.
 
KentXie said:
I think this is more about airport hub rather than city of importance and in that case, I would count Logan, and by extension, Boston, as secondary, likely to the ones in NYC.
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Thanks for pointing that out. I remembered and interpreted the article in the context of this discussion, but your interpretation is most likely the correct one.

I think my second point about the average American thinking of Boston as this country's Venice is generally valid though.
 
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