Hey, there! Log in / Register
Why he loves Boston
By adamg on Wed, 01/05/2011 - 11:49am
Dot rat Tim Smith quotes Dennis Lehane and adds his own reasons for staying in Boston:
The character is unlike anything else. I love that about Boston. I love that our streets reserve the right to stop being themselves then pick up again three blocks over. I love that our pubs have more history than most city halls. I love that we have two JJ Foley's and zero Walmarts. I love that Fenway has only a handful of seats that face the action, but is still the best place in the world to watch a baseball game. I love that wherever you are in the city, you can probably walk home if you really had to. I love that even though we may have the worst architecture, there is no beating the 360 skyline view from the Mass Ave Bridge on a cold winter night. I love all of the different neighborhoods and blocks and corners.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
So true
Just need a reminder of this every so often when I'm biking but not part of the "cycling community," eating out but not part of the "industry" or "food culture" or going out to shows but not part of "the scene."
I have to say-
-I've been up and back, away and over, lived in LA, Tokyo, NYC, Florida...been married in Austin, Texas and in Japan and I gotta tell ya, each and every time I step away, something always pulls me back to this backwater, like there's some invisible rope I can't untie. And each time I bitch and moan incessantly until I walk through Kenmore Square, down on Comm. Ave., and then through the park and to the waterfront and I turn around on Long Wharf and I look at the city and the bum sleeping on the bench with the Aquarium and the Courthouse in the background and the planes taking off behind me and then...I think I know a little of why it brings me back.
the Boston walk
Wow, I used to do the same thing whenever I would come home to visit. Roam around Fenway, walk down Comm Ave/Newbury Street, cross the Gardens/Common and then out to the North End and the waterfront, regardless of the weather. I'd always get that feeling of "why the hell am I not living here?"
That feeling also hits hard when flying in/out of Logan and the plane banks up and over the city and you can basically see everything in one shot.
Me too...sorta in reverse
I used to do something similar when visiting Boston *before* I ever lived here. I visited a few times, walked across the city, fell in love with it. Definitely had the "why the hell am I not living here" moment, then after returning to my home at the time began making plans to make that happen. I won't be living anywhere else!
JJs
I thought there were three?
Indeed.
Three
You are right about the three J.J. Foley's
J.J. Foley's Cafe, the oldest and the best, the last real old-time tavern (along with Wally's) in the South End. Even better since they added a restaurant side a few years ago. Great family-owned place.
J.J. Foley's Bar & Grille, Downtown Crossing, owned (I believe) by the brother of the original's owner. Okay for the neighborhood, pretty popular after-work spot for the Financial District crowd, but the food isn't nearly as good.
J.J. Foley's Fireside Tavern, Hyde Park, owned (I believe) by yet another relative, much more of a small, modest, local dive. No food.
J.J. Foley's Fireside Tavern,
If by Hyde Park you mean Hyde Park ave., then yeah.
Is this place any good? I
Is this place any good? I live literally spitting distance from it but have been too freaked out by its diviness to poke my head in.
Harvard Bridge!
Hey, that's the Harvard Bridge, not the Mass Ave Bridge!
Why it's called the Harvard Bridge when it goes to MIT
The answer.
The real answer
The non-joke answer is that the Harvard Bridge was built before MIT moved to Cambridge. (They were originally located in Copley Square.) And apparently it's named after John Harvard directly, rather than after than the college down the river that he gave his inheritance to.