Whoa: Lifestyle maggie sends reporters to neighborhoods where most Bostonians actually live
By adamg - 9/8/10 - 10:23 am
Props to the Weekly Dig for featurettes on East Boston, Roslindale, Roxbury, Dorchester, South Boston and Jamaica Plain (JP? Isn't that like almost an honorary Fenway or something?).
Maybe next year they'll even figure out how to take the Fairmount line to Mattapan and Hyde Park, or the Needham Line to West Roxbury, where their smirky little hipster selves would almost be entranced by the Trading Post and Boomerangs and they could stare in ironic detachment at the Dapper O'Neil memorial wall, except I bet they wouldn't even realize what they're looking at.
Comments
Oh, dear: When Nooyawkas get jobs at Boston papers
They write stuff like this:
Because you're in frickin' Boston, dearie, that's why. Also, the guy seems surprised that Castle Island is called that when it's not an island, suggesting he doesn't quite have the mental gears to figure out why it might be called that.
It was bizarre seeing a
It was bizarre seeing a neighborhood where I lived for half a decade being treated like an alien planet, and it made me happy that I'm too old to have to pretend to be hip anymore. Croke Park has had a sign for months though, so I wonder when that was written.
(And if the hipsters discover Boomerangs, I will cry. I've been in West Roxbury for six weeks and have already been there four times.)
Boomerangs?
So what is Boomerangs? Same thing as what's in JP? Pardon my ignorance; I grew up in West Roxbury but haven't lived there in quite some time.
Yep
Same idea, same charity. It's where the Decelle's used to be.
Oh wow!
I remember Decelle's! I hated that store. Going in there as a kid to shop with my mother was such a drag :)
Interns
Thanks for the props, Adam! The point though is that these kids don't know anything about Boston. It's our welcome back students issue so we sent students to write about neighborhoods they don't usually go to. Hence Paul not knowing it's called a frappe, Brittanie hitting up east side JP and neighborhoods being treated like alien planets. To them, they sort of are. :)
So the blind lead the blind
Here's an idea David. How about having some of the people who live here write about the city? Do a -this is what you should know about Boston, written by a few locals. Better yet, townies do the research and locals write the reviews.
I tried to read the reviews myself and had to stop mid way through.
Charlestown because otherwise I was going to boot party my computer. Please warn your budding journalist that very few (if any) newspapers allow use of any version of the F word. Then maybe a word or two on research.
What was with this odd twist of words whale size booths I am just going to skip over the rest of the bomb review.
I'm just offended by what was said about Ball Square
If you want to give the college students information they really need to know. Might I suggest an article on the many people killed and injured in bicycle accidents!
I'll write it myself.
"Here's an idea David. How
"Here's an idea David. How about having some of the people who live here write about the city?"
We do ... every week! :)
"very few (if any) newspapers allow use of any version of the F word."
Welcome to the Weekly Dig. :)
"Might I suggest an article on the many people killed and injured in bicycle accidents!"
We've definitely covered the issue in the past, but feel free to pitch me via email...
I try not to do free
I try not to do free journalism, since there are people who do it for a living, and that living is increasingly modest.
Still, many professionals do the job poorly, and so the students need to be shown how it's done properly...
Also, many students need to have impressed upon them that their competition is sloppy, opinion-laden unemployed basement bloggers, and that their audience generally can't tell the difference.
So, have at 'em. You'll forgive me if I avert my gaze.
That'll sell papers:
Any part of Boston, as written by fibrowitch:
You're all idiots. Don't come to my neighborhood. I like it, and you won't, and don't try to change it because I won't like that. Stay away from here, go somewhere else. We're not whatever city you came from so don't expect that. We have great bars and restaurants, but don't even think about liking them, because they're ours, and we don't want you in them making them crowded. We're really rude to outsiders, and we won't be nice to you until you aren't an outsider. Don't ask us how to not be an outsider, because if you haven't lived here longer than I have, I'll always consider you an outsider until I am dead. Don't ever call (insert neighborhood being reviewed) Boston, because we're (insert neighborhood being reviewed), not Boston. Just because it was annexed in (insert date neighborhood was annexed into Boston) doesn't make it Boston, and I will fight you tooth and nail on the boundaries of (insert neighborhood being reviewed) if you call it Boston.
Go away. If you weren't born in Boston, you're a tourist, and we hate tourists.
Can you make a Drupal plugin
Can you make a Drupal plugin for that?
I love it! Although some of
I love it! Although some of us do consider the neighborhoods to be both (insert neighborhood being reviewed) and Boston.
yes!
LIKE x10
What's wrong with the Ball Square article?
Can you be more specific? Seems like the writer hit most of the square's high points, except for True Grounds coffeehouse.
Ball Square was okay
They left out True Grounds, but it ain't hard to find. They also didn't seem to know that you DO NOT linger with homework at Sound Bites - it is not a coffee shop but a restaurant. Take it across the street.
Other than that, he had it pretty much down for a college kid's needs - his stated premise. For storied localism, he could have done better than PUB, which was abbreviated from Powderhouse Pub for reasons nobody seems to know and tends to be packed out with drunken teachers from the nearby St. Clements School. By turning the corner onto Boston Ave, he could have found one of the world's seediest candlepin experiences.
Of course, the bike lanes might offend and inconvenience some people who think they should be able to park without looking out for other people.
Ball Square Bowling
is not an establishment open to the public. Some leagues bowl there, and you can also put a group together to rent it for a Saturday night (I've been to two such events this year). But you can't just walk in and bowl.
A Boston.com article from February, inspired by Davis Square LiveJournal's bowling party that month.
I see
That way, they know who is there when the roof falls in or the walls collapse from the vibrations from the trains.
I do have to say, The Southie
I do have to say, The Southie article was amusing because it missed quite a bit. The writer probably wanted to get the hell out asap though, as every "student" I've ever talked to thinks southie is synonymous with south central.
God bless cinema.
And how do you write about where to get subs without mentioning Rondo's?
Our Wicked Smaht Assistant
When he and his student wife toured the area, they did so well ahead of time, toured several areas, did their homework, and then got an apartment in Southie. They were not impressed by the Allston/Brighton places the real estate agents tried to steer them to and asked around enough to learn how taking the red line to work and school would be way better than fighting with the green line.
shhhhhhhhhhh!
shhhhhhhhhhh!
Don't fret!
Hey, look: I hired him as a research assistant. He seems to have a vocation!
Most people get more overwhelmed and don't do their homework like this guy did, and let the realtors steer them to their age ghettos, so don't worry!
No, you won't
With a post filled with that many grammatical errors, you're very, very unlikely to write anything that anyone's likely to publish, even for free. (You sound way, way too excited about bicycle accidents, by the way)
Hmm...
The article is better than a lot of the msm crap about how only downtown matters, but I agree with having it edited by some people who actually live here:
1) What/where is the Roxbury Community Center?
2) The address given for the high fort is nowhere near the fort.
That Roxbury address
actually belongs to the Discover Roxbury organization. Great folks, but yeah, not anywhere near the water tower (which btw was built long after the Revolutionary War)
Right
I know that, but that address isn't going to help anyone find the park. Plus, there are parks right around there, which are nice, but people are going to be right confused when they get there and there's no big tower and no view of the city.
Or they could "discover" Ten Tables
...rather than walking another 2-3 blocks and discovering all the food that tastes 99% as good and costs %50 less.
I find it deeply amusing that as far as any of the rags/mags are concerned, the only destinations in JP are the Arboretum, the pond, Ten Tables, Salgamundi, and The Upmarketed Barfood (er, I mean, The Milky Way.)
Um, did you read the JP
Um, did you read the JP entry? Just wondering, since it's about the other JP, the part between Washington St. and Franklin Park.
Huh?
The Dig article doesn't mention either Ten Tables, Salmagundi, or the MIlky Way - but it does recommend Doyle's.
I was referring to other rag/mag cliches
...not what was in the article Adam was mentioning.
Also Charlestown
but is "lifestyle maggie" really an appropriate descriptor for the Dig? I'd call the Improper Bostonian and Boston Magazine that, but not the Dig.
Eh, just a different lifestyle
Downwardly mobile instead of upward.
Downwardly Mobile... is that new a yoga position?
Don't be a hater, Adam, we can't all cover local car crashes, stolen puppies and an occasional picture of a sunset over the Charles...
Oh, please, we're not that narrowly focused
We also provide extensive coverage of whether bicyclists are a threat or a menace, whether the Green Line is running on time today (answer: no) and whether Ramsay Park is in Roxbury or the South End.
So, if you went to Brandeis and live in Rozzy...
...what type of "mobile" is that? Sideways?
Nice
Actually laughing out loud here.
Never heard of East JP
On the other hand, when several years ago while considering whether to move to JP, I heard the phrase "the gun side or the green side."
While East (and presumably West) JP sounds neutral and not inflammatory, the gun side or the green side sound much more colorful and intriguing. If only the guns though were merely water guns. That would be fun!
I just love
I just love when (white) people conveniently forget why they're called "Jimmies"
I just love it when
people blithely parrot urban legends without bothering to check on whether or not they are actually true.
Keep it truthy - just like the teabaggers.
THANK YOU! ...for pointing
THANK YOU! ...for pointing out the truth about the jimmies myth.
Yeah, but no...
http://www.brighams.com/ice_cream/facts.asp
In 1930 James Bartholomew was lucky enough to acquire a job at Just Born, Inc. Bartholomew operated a machine that produced Born's latest invention, tiny hot-dog shaped chocolate sprinkly things. But what to call them? Born briefly pondered that question before deciding to accredit the name to the producer, Jimmy Bartholomew. The new product was named JIMMIES, which is still a trademarked name, but no longer made by Just Born
I can't believe you people
I can't believe you people can't cite your own site.
http://www.universalhub.com/glossary/jimmies.html
When I reviewed restaurants for The Dig...
they routinely let me write features in which I did a round-up of restaurants in less-covered Boston neighborhoods. I'd done one on each of these, except for Hyde Park and Mattapan, which were on the drawing board when The Phoenix poached me. So this notion isn't completely new at The Dig, though ownership and editorial staff have turned over quite a bit since my tenure there.
"Poached by the Phoenix"?
And the Ron Burgundy "I'm kind of a big deal" Award goes to...
There is no "other JP." Nor
There is no "other JP." Nor is there an east, west, north or south JP. Jp is JP. Period.end. The hispters ruined my home. Ugh.
poor you
Sweety, JP has been home to hipsters since the late 80's!
Why discourage people from discovering....
... and writing about the less well-known (to newcomers) and less often explored parts of Boston? Not sure why you were so snarky about this Adam.
It isn't the exploration
It is the clue deficiency.
Note Comment #1: someone lives in Boston and doesn't know what the difference between a milkshake/frappe/etc. is? That's just dumb. Even if the intent was to "translate" for recent arrivals, they could have presented this as "this place is Old School Boston: if you want an ice cream drink, you better order a "frappe"...", but they instead went for the "whoh this is so weirdo strange that they don't call things by the names that I grew up with" when it isn't odd at all.
Coupla things
As much as it pains me to say this about anybody who uses Drupal, the Dig's Web site kinda desperately needs help (blatant pitch: Dudes, I'm available for consulting):
We don't see many copies of the Dig up here on the Hyde Park line and I didn't see these things in print. Noticed them in my RSS aggregator and when I called them up, there was no intro that I could see, no links to an intro, not even links from one article to the other. So I had no idea they were part of a back-to-school issue involving sending interns to neighborhoods outside their comfort zones. That's actually a cool idea (especially since it involves neighborhoods that don't get much coverage in "best of" guides) and I'm sure it looks just wonderful in print, but online? Feh! There are ways to create packages in Drupal.
Maybe knowing what all these overviews were, I wouldn't have been rubbed the wrong way by Nooyorkish descriptions of East Boston and South Boston, and I certainly would never have wondered why they introduced all the neighborhoods with stereotypes except Roxbury (but sorry, the whole frappe/jimmies thing? They don't have access to the Googles at Dig Central?).
In any case, yes, I think it IS cool they went outside the usual North End/Allston/Fenway axis, even if they did leave out West Roxbury and Hyde Park. The Roslindale article was a nice intro to the Square.
are we reading the same thing?
As a 30+ year resident of JP, I am completely non-offended by the article in the Dig. I can't remember the last time I read a review of JP that included 826 Boston, so props to the Dig!
And I must have missed JP being treated like an alien planet- I think the reviewer really "got it"!
I guess we just don't have much to complain about these days, eh?
Those also happen to be...
...the neighborhoods where most Bostonians actually die.
(Sorry...too easy)
One of my New York City friends reports that the hipsters out there have appointed JP as the "Williamsburg of Boston". Which maybe would make Roxbury the Boston version of Greenpoint, which is much cooler.
Hold on, now
there's a WEST Roxbury? My, the things you learn on these www-places.
So newspaper writes about
So newspaper writes about places they dont usually mention....and that's bad.
Newspaper does not write about said places.....and that's bad.
I've never seen so much smugness on one page, and universalhub has a lot of it.
"They're want to call a milkshake a milkshake, which 99% of the country does, and not use the name only people within 5 square miles use? HOW DARE THEY! What's next, drink from a water fountain!?!"
It seems like most of the people commenting would be more content if we went back 20 years when Boston was declining as people moved out and nobody moved in. I guess that way said commentators wouldn't have to deal with the word milkshake.
By the way, Adam, thanks for
By the way, Adam, thanks for linking to these articles. I didn't think they were too bad. Sure, they may have missed a few things, but they are too short to get it all. I thought the Rozzie bit was quite good, made it sound like a good place to check out. The reporter needs to study the bus map a bit more, but other than that, he even managed to get the current name of the comic book/cards/head shop. It took me a sec to realize what he was talking about.
Who's maggie?
Admiral Benson: Oh, by the way I'd like to thank you for having us over for dinner the other night. Cheryl and I thought the stroganoff was marvelous.
Lt. Commander Block: But sir, we didn't have dinner the other night.
Admiral Benson: Really? Then where the hell was I? And who's this Cheryl?
Let's not forget...
...they're intern authors, after all— meaning they're still fine-tuning their craftsmanship.
I for one appreciate the angle the Dig took of having newcomers to the area write their impressions of these neighborhoods. It was a nice twist. Usually when you read similar pieces in other publications, the authors have this sort of snarky/holier-than-thou/know-it-all attitude because they think JP Lick's or Fire & Ice is some sort of mega-secret akin to One-Eyed Willie's treasure map.
Honestly, I don't know what's with all the hate on this feature. Bloggers can be so hurtful!
ugh.
Just read the JP section and yes--kind of refreshing to read about a part of JP that's usually overlooked, including Forest Hills Cemetery. But man, the tone of these pieces makes me want to smack the smirky little hipsters upside the head. Or tell them to walk up to anyone and ask the way to "East J.P"--I'm really not sure where they'd end up. Thank God I got to read the Phoenix when I was a dumb college kid (back when the hipster art students I knew who lived in "East J.P." were getting mugged weekly and trying to avoid the X-Men).