A note for Boston newcomers
By adamg - Fri, 02/25/2005 - 10:34am.
Despite what you might read elsewhere, nobody calls that squattish Back Bay building with the weather lights on top the Berkeley Tower. Bostonians call it "the old Hancock building." Also, the building Bostonians now call "the Hancock" was built in the mid-1970s, not 1968.
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The more I read Bostonist, th
The more I read Bostonist, the more I think it's a bunch of people that just moved here from Iowa.
Bostonist is a joke.
Bostonist is a joke.
OK, Bostonist thoughts
"The more I read Bostonist, the more I think it's a bunch of people that just moved here from Iowa."
Not that there's anything wrong with that!
First, what I do like about Bostonist. I agree with Chris that Bostonist has the potential to shake up local arts/events coverage online - and they're helping remind me why Boston is such a cool place (although for us dead-trees types, Bostonist's event/music coverage has the same basic tone as the Globe's "Go" column).
But!
One thing I always liked about Gothamist was the sense of connection to New York (handy for us ex-New Yorkers, I guess). I got a quick feel for the New York zeitgeist online without having to read the local papers. Well, here in Boston, I read the Globe (and sometimes the Herald) and I watch local newscasts. So I don't need Bostonist to tell me that Mitt Romney is running for president or that it's going to snow, and I don't need political commentary reduced to simplistic abstractions ("You may remember [Finneran] as the democratic speaker of the house who just couldn't deal with all the gay marriage going on in the commonwealth" - um, no, some of us may also remember him as the Democratic speaker of the house who left office under threat of federal indictment over all the redistricting going on in the commonwealth).
OK, so I'm not Bostonist's target market - Recent BU graduates from the Guyland who don't read the Globe and have never heard of Readville or Ashmont. And I should cut them some slack, I guess - it's not like I could have written anything particularly insightful about Boston when I first moved here (some might argue that's still the case).
Yah, but...
I just wish they have people who HAVE lived here for a while to populate the site - if that is truly why the site is so weak. And, I think the target market may be a little more diverse if the people actually knew about great places to go in Boston and not just places for the "amateur" crowd. I mean, McCormick and Shmicks as an after work hangout? C'mon! Not that I am looking for a rehash of Stuff@Night or the Improper, but get OUT there, people! They should take a cue from their "parent" Gothamist, which I love...
I thought this was the Berkel
I thought this was the Berkeley Tower.
(Also -- the new Hancock was built in 1968?? I recall it still not being open when I arrived in 1975. They were still fixing the falling-glass problem.)
Hancock, Pru, what's the diff?
You know, one of those tall buildings in the Back Bay somewhere ...
Mirrors falling out of the Hancock WAS a long-time problem.
I still remember seeing places where mirrors had fallen out of the Hancock building back in the 1970's, which I haven't read or heard anytning about lately, thank heavens. Thank goodness that problem's been fixed (hopefully).