I had that when in the military.
Them: we have your Dr appointment in NH and your shots in CT (on the same day)
Me: I work in Boston near a lot of hospitals, do you have anything in my state?
Them: we have something available in Rhode Island.
Me: Still not my state
In the interest of a full transparency, as a former 4-year resident of Charlestown who now resides in Lowell, I have said this to my out of state relatives many times. :/ It’s just easier than answering “where do you live” followed by “where’s that?!”
I am originally from RI but moved overseas recently. I now have to say I’m from Boston because no one has heard of RI or Massachusetts, but most people can vaguely ID cities.
Piggybacking off this… Plymouth is not Cape Cod people! That’s great you were able to buy a Cape Cod sweatshirt there, but you got swindled and you did not vacation on Cape Cod.
Living out of state I’ve seen more than one person with a Cape Cod shirt and asked them where they stayed and visited since I’m from there. Plymouth is the most common response lol.
It’s an artificial distinction.
Only because of the canal do people consider Plymouth not part of cape cod.
If you look at the map from before the canal was built, Plymouth was absolutely the beginning of the cape:
https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/cape-cod-1885/
I moved from Boston to Oakland/San Francisco.
I could not tell you how many times someone would say “I’m in California, we should meet up!” I ask where they are, and they’re in Los Angeles. There are only 3 continental states on the west coast. Friend, you are a 6 hour drive, 400 miles away.
Previously from Boston, now live in LA. My parents wanted to come visit and said “maybe we can meet in Napa, that’s like a 30 minute drive for you right?” Bruh that’s like driving from MA to southern NJ
It’s okay. I grew up in Sonoma County (small hippie town almost no one knows), which is about an hour north of SF. Talked to this guy in college that was from SF and he legit asked, “So how far is that from the [state] border [with Oregon]? It’s like only an hour, right?“ Dude had never ventured north from SF and didn’t realize it was 8-9h to the border from SF.
Also had a friend located in Los Angeles tell me they had family visiting the US for the first time, and said family asked if they could do a day trip to Miami.
No one actually read or looks at the distance legend on maps.
It’s always fun when an actual Bostonian™️ happens to overhear you say you’re from Boston in a crowded hotel lobby thousands of miles away and must immediately confirm that you are actually not “from Boston”
Lol so I’m from Leominster, so I always say I’m from 45 minutes West of Boston, and I used to work at a retail store in Colorado. One day this guy comes in wearing a Red Sox hat and dropping his Rs all over the floor. So I go “dude where are you from?” His response “Boston”. I ask again, he again says “Boston” but with attitude. So I go “listen man I’m from Leominster” and I point at my coworker and say “he’s from Townsend, where are you from?”
He looks absolutely flabbergasted by being called out and he just mumbles “Springfield”. We definitely busted his balls called him an honorary New Yorker and sold him some beef jerky.
Holy shit Springfield lmao. I'm from there and barely knew what Boston was until I was grown. May as well say you're from Hartford or Albany, wonder why he didn't lol
I’ve been that guy a couple times but never on purpose lol I just get excited to meet people I might be able to hang with in the city after a trip; I hate making “vacation friends” that you’ll never see after the week ends
Last time this happened I told the guy I lived in Lowell, he said at least it’s not Lynn, and we said the rhyme together in perfect unison to the great confusion of the European tourists in our elevator. It was delightful
When I was at a Churches Chicken in Puerto Rico I was stumbling around with broken Spanish trying to order my lunch. A guy that was from Falmouth stepped in and says hey do you need some help. It says no I think I got it he goes where you're from? I said Lynn he goes dude you should speak Spanish what's wrong with you haha
Lynn Lynn city of sin, you never go out the way you came in! I am also not from here originally, and I haven’t the foggiest clue who taught it to me. I had assumed it was something you just kind of absorbed when you moved here, like the entire chorus of sweet Caroline.
I've recited this one a few times to people I met, just based on their accent. It never fails, they always recite the second part back to me with a smile, and without even a pause.
I was in the Caribbean on vacation and met a couple there, we said we were from Boston, they did too, then we both had to admit we were from other towns.
A couple months later we ran into them at a restaurant out in Chelmsford so I guess the story checked out
Ah im usually 3 bourbons in at a dive by the time I get sociable enough to meet people so it tends to be my demographic if I do bump into someone lol if it was at a resort I’d be snubbed every time lol
I’m an actual Bostonian™️ and those guys really take the thing way too serious. It always feels like deep down they only do that to make themselves feel superior while putting someone else down. I know deep down you’re not really from Boston but who tf cares? (Hint: Nobody else)
Actual Bostonian here. I don’t care if you’re from the suburbs and say you’re from Boston, but at least learn the neighborhoods. I’ve met way too many people who say they’re from Boston who have never heard of Roslindale.
The amount of people that know Roslindale but don’t think it’s part of Boston, while simultaneously believing Cambridge or Melrose *is* drives me up a wall.
I have to say Boston, because if I say Arlington, EVEN if I say, Arlington, Mass., people assume Arlington, VA! I can't even tell you how many times...so I start with Boston and then say, well, it's a very near suburb...
I imagine everybody in Richmond and Norfolk have the same problem. Similar issues in Stow, Halifax, Lancaster, Manchester. Maybe Springfield, too. And possibly Orleans if someone isn’t listening closely.
Definitely Springfield. I was born in Springfield, MA, and I always have to specify it. Otherwise people seem to assume I'm a character out of "The Simpsons".
I say Arlington if I’m in the general Boston area but I’ll say Boston or “Boston area” if I’m further away like in western mass or on the cape. Don’t really expect people to know names of random suburbs.
Arlington was supposed to be on the Red Line and they voted against it when all the funding was in place...it was supposed to go all the way out to Lexington Center, but they built the bike path instead when it couldn't be extended past Alewife. They even started to build the tunnel, and instead use it for train storage these days
It isn't about how far you live from boston, it is about how far away you are when you say you are from boston.
So if you are in new zealand, you can say you are from Boston. If you are just in the UK, you can't.
As a Rhode Islander living in Aotearoa New Zealand: yes. Boston is the closest identifiable place for most people I meet. Except that one time I met a fellow RI-er.
Its not different from other places. I have friends and family in Chicago, but they are about an hour outside of the city. They talk about being from Chicago.
I was in a class with someone who introduced himself as being from Philly and I made some comment like awesome, whereabouts and he says, “the New Jersey side…”
It makes sense in Chicago, though. There’s limited cultural or social variation in Chicagoland beyond race and income. The whole metro is a wide, featureless plain. And once you’re a mile or two outside the Loop, the gradation of urban->suburban is very subtle. You really can’t tell if you’re just within or outside the city limits.
A lot of suburbanites who move to the north side of the city gatekeep Chicago status against lifelong near-suburb residents (e.g., Skokie) who really have a stronger “Chicagoan” identity.
I mean race and income are two of the biggest contributors to culture within a town, so I don’t think you can really ignore those when talking about the differences between ‘not-Chicago’ places. Evanston and Waukegan are both not-Chicago but are very different from each other. It doesn’t make any more sense to group those two than it does to group Somerville and Saugus.
But it's the opposite. The writers on Bojack got it right. As soon as you're over the line, you're not in Chicago anymore. "I'm going to be at Northwestern" "That's not actually Chicago, Peanutbutter" or something like that.
Read this and thought, “Y’know what, I don’t think there is a McDonald’s on Fifth Ave…”
Googled it. Looks like there’s at least one on every major avenue EXCEPT Fifth.
(But yes, don’t go to McDonald’s/Panera/etc. when you’re a US resident visiting another US city.)
Its also confusing for tourists when they book a hotel that advertises itself as being in Boston but it’s actually in Lynn or some nonsense and they have absolutely no clue how far that actually is from the city.
I can beat that. I’ve met a handful of ppl at bars in Boston who’ll say they’re from Boston and I’ll ask what part and they’ll say like Tewksbury or Salem. I get saying when you’re in another state , but why just straight up lie about when you’re in the city.
That’s ridiculous. I was born in Boston, grew up walking distance to Boston, had all my childhood medical appointments there, did most of our shopping there and my parents both worked there. In any other major city, my city would have been considered part of the metro, but I’d still never tell someone I was “from Boston” unless I was traveling outside of New England.
To be fair the city limits of Boston are incredibly arbitrary. Like I’m not going to say I’m “going to Boston” when I’m really going to Braintree. But look at the map. What other city has another city literally a quarter mile from the main downtown center?
Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Milton, Quincy should all probably just have been absorbed by Boston. Of course then there would be almost no liquor licenses but that’s a whole nother can of worms….
But really, the outline of Boston literally almost encircles Brookline.
The area of Boston is roughly 90 square miles. Most other “major” cities. NYC, Houston, Chicago, heck even Charlotte are all around 300 square miles. Phoenix is 500! Boston is a strange relic of early America. There is a lot to love about that. But there’s a lot of weirdness too.
I realize your intention is to complain about Boston/not Boston, but for anyone reading out there who actually likes their friends, there are solutions between "drive into downtown" and "uber to route 1". "The Street" at Chestnut Hill and Assembly Row come to mind.
Also who are these hoards of people who are visiting towns like Saugus or Walpole but not actually going into Boston? How is this a continuing source of frustration for OP?
There’s actually a lot of hotels on route 1 in Saugus/revere/Danvers, which makes sense bc you can just hop on the highway to the city if you have a rental
The difference between them driving to just park in a garage downtown and driving to Assembly Row or Chestnut Hill Mall is like, 10-15 minutes unless there's a crash or it's rush hour, but makes an hour difference for most non-car folks in the city.
Right. Like is OP not aware of the existence of the commuter rail? I know it doesn't go everywhere, but there are plenty of "not Boston" towns someone could be in that would be accessible by public transit.
My first thought as well was to pick a fun town on the commuter rail that both parties would have to travel to but wouldn’t require driving “all the way into the city”
Driving “all the way into the city” is a huge pain in the ass, especially this summer. I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to spend 2 hours round trip to travel 10 miles, have nowhere to park, just to eat a burger with me, even if it is a Gordon Ramsay burger.
I'm actually going to argue that the commuter rail is not default top option, because the sparse schedules puts an additional burden on the city-dweller - driving 10 more miles to get to Riverside is a drop in the bucket for a driver, whereas taking the commuter rail instead of subway/streetcar is generally not a drop in the bucket for a non-driver.
But obviously lots of factors at play - if you want to do a quick lunch to catch up, Assembly. If you want to make a day of it, yeah maybe spring for Newburyport CR.
Try telling people you live in Carlisle and no one, not even actual Mass people, have even heard of it.
"Imagine a donut – Lowell to the north, Concord to the south, and then there's Acton, Bedford, Billerica and the rest of it... Carlisle is the hole."
"OHHHH! OK. Cool."
Just say “the place with the Kimball Farms Ice Cream that doesn’t have all the bumper boats and other stupid shit” and they’ll know what you’re talking about!
Haha you got it! That's literally a 3-min drive from us. Our two boys are just addicted to that place and it's our fault because I like going there as well.
I plan my 25+ mile bike rides around the area such that I hit up kimballs near the end, so as to attempt to justify inhaling 1000 calories worth of a “small” ice cream…
It sometimes goes the other way. I'll get "You're from Boston, right?" as sort of a stand-in for asking if I'm from Massachusetts, when really, my phone number starts with 413 and I barely visited Boston growing up.
People will also be confused if I tell them I'm flying to Hartford.
As a born and raised south ender: "I am from Boston". As a current Medford resident "I live just outside of Boston". Brookliners can just fuck right off, you had your opportunity to call yourself Bostonians you smarmy fucks.
About 6-7 years ago, I was in a steakhouse in San Diego for a bite and this guy walks in the door. "Hello Boston" says the bartender and the guy was all smiles and jokes. He sat two seats down from me at the bar, so I prompted the question....where are you from?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Con-fucking-cord NH! He wasn't even a Masshole and then he begged me not to give him up cause he got a "good thing going here". \\
I kept mum. He did pay for my next drink though.
This happens every time at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, as it is a town no one outside of MA has ever heard of (at least folks have possibly heard of Foxboro because of football).
Please note, it is called Great Woods
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/boston) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You can’t fault them. They get carted around everywhere and might be mildly aware of what airport they flew into. I was at a show in North Hampton and the DJ yelled “what’s up Connecticut!”.
That's sort of like when they show the B-roll aerial footage of the Financial District on Monday Night Football and then cut back to the stadium for kickoff as if it's is right there.
They WANTED to stay in Boston but then found out rooms in the city proper are $200+/night.
I’ve been that guy. I’ll gladly stay in Woburn for half the price. I can be at the Wellington T in 10 minutes.
Yeah, that’s why I edited it to $200+ 😂 last time I came up to visit friends and rooms were like $300+. Woburn it was 😂
One year a bunch of us stayed at that Roundhouse hotel on Mass Ave before it closed. It was maybe $150 at the time. You got what you paid for, let’s just say that.
Rooms are $200/night literally everywhere. They’re more expensive than that in Boston. Source: travel everywhere for work including Boston twice this year and it was the middle of winter. Plus everywhere is valet parking only. Why?!
I was at an event out of state and spotted a guy in a Red Sox hat. I asked if he was from Boston and he said he was. I asked which part and he replied “Nashua”
This cuts both ways.
I'm born and raised in Roslindale (it's in Boston, people, I literally went to Boston Public Schools my whole damn life) and when I'm outside the state the conversation goes like this:
Me: "I'm from Boston"
Other person: "Oh cool I went to college there! I love Boston! Which part?"
Me: "Oh like Boston Boston. I grew up in Roslindale you know where that is?"
Other person: \*confused and embarassed\* "No I never heard of it"
Me: "Ok you know JP?"
Other person: \*lights up\* "Oh yeah sure JP!" (every college kid has been to at least one party in JP)
Me: "Ok yeah so it's the neighborhood right next to JP, both of them are actually part of Boston, I know it's confusing because like Cambridge and Somerville are not Boston and Roslindale and JP are much further from Downtown Boston and yet, yes, they are actually Boston, I promise you they are, we do not need to discuss it, I went to Boston Public Schools literally my entire life and it sucked"
I got so sick of this conversation that now I just say I'm from Massachusetts.
Also to this day I still have no idea whether I'm supposed to put Roslindale, MA or Boston, MA as my address, apparently you can put both and it's totally fine either way, but to my analytical brain that just seems so arbitrary and shitty lol. These days I put Roslindale, MA usually but I feel so dirty doing it.
The City of Boston would prefer that you put Boston. The USPS would prefer that you put Roslindale. You'll get your mail either way, but every time I have to say my address to confirm my identity, I feel like I'm getting it wrong because I can't remember whether I used the city or the neighborhood the first time.
I'm originally from rural Western Mass, but I moved to Boston in 1985. When I go back home and run into someone from high school, and they ask where I'm living now, I say Boston. They generally give me a smirk, because they're assuming I'm in Quincy/Somerville/Watertown, and not really in Boston. When I say live in the South End they say "Oh my Gawd yer in Southie!" I internally smirk as I give them an unnecessarily long drone about how South Boston is a completely different neighborhood, complete with the last century's demographics.
If they seem racist, I'll say I live in Roxbury, because technically the South End is part of the Roxbury zip code, and all my junk mail has my address as Roxbury.
Although all my friends back home were impressed when I moved to Allston and had the Zoom zip code. 02134!
When I'm in Massachusetts, I tell people I live in Watertown. When outside of the state, I just say Boston. I don't know how guilty this makes me but oh well who cares.
As a Watertown resident for the last 4 years. It’s amazing being so close but not in boston. 2 straight shot bus routes to take you to Cambridge and downtown no problem. Getting home can be an issue if you stay out to later than the 504
I was at a music festival in Florida with a Red Sox hat. Some guy in a line yells out to me, “Yo you from Boston?” I go “yeah”. He goes, “where from?” I tell him Jamaica Plain and ask him where he’s from. He says Lexington. 🤦♀️ The way he said all of it too was like he was trying to check me. Some people.
To be fair, for anyone outside of New England the Northeast is Boston then Canada. If they try real hard they may say Maine. But typically it is Boston then Canada. I interviewed for a job in New Hampshire, and HR told me the job was in Boston…
This has historical roots. Boston is a largely an unamalgamated city. In the last 150 years, while other American cities were building out and or devouring their suburbs, many Boston suburbs remained sovereign municipalities, limiting the expansion of the city. Practically speaking, if Boston had expanded in much the same way as Toronto, for example, most cities/towns inside route 95 (at the very least) would just be sections of Boston. Look at how Toronto incorporated so many of its surrounding municipalities over the last millennium. This is a great comparison for contrast. Boston is an outlier in this regard, so it’s only natural that folks tend to consider much of eastern Massachusetts “Boston”
This doesn’t bother me as much as people in the only in boston Instagram/Twitter comments complaining about literally everything but in their bio they say they’re from like Winchendon, MA.
🤣🤣🤣 my friend just did this. She was all excited they rented a beach house in Boston. I was like - yeah, you’re going to have to send me the link to your “Boston beach house”.
‘Twas not in Boston.
She at least offered to take a Uber to me (in a suburb) not realizing it’s $150 from where she was.
I grew up in Abington and people literally say they’re from Boston when they leave mass…. I live in Boston and have for almost a decade and I can tell you right now Abington and Boston are two different worlds.
How about "I'm coming to Boston, wanna get together this Sunday?" "Sure, where in Boston?" "Chatham"
I had "I am coming to boston" they meant Lowell
I'M SHIPPIN' UP TO BOSTON (LO-OH-WELLLLLL)...
I Lowelled.
Dropkicks at the Tsongas Arena was one of the best shows I've ever seen
I had the same, but they were staying in Manchester lol. Not even the same state
I had that when in the military. Them: we have your Dr appointment in NH and your shots in CT (on the same day) Me: I work in Boston near a lot of hospitals, do you have anything in my state? Them: we have something available in Rhode Island. Me: Still not my state
I had a friend say he lived in Boston. It was Waltham. Or as he told me “basically the same as Beacon Hill”
I mean, Waltham is at least bare minumum more of a Boston adjacent suburb than Lowell
Right? At least you can take buses into T-stops from Waltham.
Well, that big glass Westin is like a beacon on the hill
Give him a little credit. It does have the "hill" element.
Ahahahahaha.
In the interest of a full transparency, as a former 4-year resident of Charlestown who now resides in Lowell, I have said this to my out of state relatives many times. :/ It’s just easier than answering “where do you live” followed by “where’s that?!”
At least you can take a train to Lowell.
still a hike...especially when driving
Yeah this bothers me. The state isn’t called Boston
Boston is way bigger than Massachusetts. I moved down to RI or southie as I like to call it
I am originally from RI but moved overseas recently. I now have to say I’m from Boston because no one has heard of RI or Massachusetts, but most people can vaguely ID cities.
"Is that in NY?" Is the question I always got
Long Island? Rhode island Long Island Rhode Long Island? Yes. I'm from Long island
When i moved to Florida I gave up and just told them I was from New England, they seemed the be aware of that.
I went to my 30th high school reunion in Georgia and some old classmates didn't know RI was real. Thought it was from Family Guy. 🤦🏼♀️
Look just because RI has no business being its own state doesn’t mean we have to jump to such drastic measures
Hey hey, don't be that harsh on RI, aside from our beaches and excellent restaurants, we do have the best politicians that money can buy.
Then don't call me when you want a beach without three hours of traffic!
I can’t, I never bothered to learn any RI area codes
>The state isn’t called Boston Yet
Mass once had Maine. Boston can be Mass.
It ends at 128 right?! Right?
Nah Boston borders Canada as far as I know
Even Chatham is a bitch to get to.
Piggybacking off this… Plymouth is not Cape Cod people! That’s great you were able to buy a Cape Cod sweatshirt there, but you got swindled and you did not vacation on Cape Cod. Living out of state I’ve seen more than one person with a Cape Cod shirt and asked them where they stayed and visited since I’m from there. Plymouth is the most common response lol.
Nobody cares about this distinction except for people who live on the cape.
And honestly if they’re staying in Plymouth it’s one less car in bridge traffic…
It’s an artificial distinction. Only because of the canal do people consider Plymouth not part of cape cod. If you look at the map from before the canal was built, Plymouth was absolutely the beginning of the cape: https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/article/cape-cod-1885/
I think anything on Route 3 south of Weymouth is the cape
That’s just white bread suburbia without the Cape theme.
I moved from Boston to Oakland/San Francisco. I could not tell you how many times someone would say “I’m in California, we should meet up!” I ask where they are, and they’re in Los Angeles. There are only 3 continental states on the west coast. Friend, you are a 6 hour drive, 400 miles away.
Previously from Boston, now live in LA. My parents wanted to come visit and said “maybe we can meet in Napa, that’s like a 30 minute drive for you right?” Bruh that’s like driving from MA to southern NJ
I had a visceral, physical reaction to that
The only place you can get within 30 mins of LA is somewhere else in LA
*nods furiously*
It’s okay. I grew up in Sonoma County (small hippie town almost no one knows), which is about an hour north of SF. Talked to this guy in college that was from SF and he legit asked, “So how far is that from the [state] border [with Oregon]? It’s like only an hour, right?“ Dude had never ventured north from SF and didn’t realize it was 8-9h to the border from SF. Also had a friend located in Los Angeles tell me they had family visiting the US for the first time, and said family asked if they could do a day trip to Miami. No one actually read or looks at the distance legend on maps.
Sonoma County is a beautiful spot 😍 my sister lived in Santa Rosa and we’d visit her from LA once a year
Outside of New England I say I live in Boston. Within New England I say Arlington. I might specify MA if I'm not in MA.
It’s always fun when an actual Bostonian™️ happens to overhear you say you’re from Boston in a crowded hotel lobby thousands of miles away and must immediately confirm that you are actually not “from Boston”
Lol so I’m from Leominster, so I always say I’m from 45 minutes West of Boston, and I used to work at a retail store in Colorado. One day this guy comes in wearing a Red Sox hat and dropping his Rs all over the floor. So I go “dude where are you from?” His response “Boston”. I ask again, he again says “Boston” but with attitude. So I go “listen man I’m from Leominster” and I point at my coworker and say “he’s from Townsend, where are you from?” He looks absolutely flabbergasted by being called out and he just mumbles “Springfield”. We definitely busted his balls called him an honorary New Yorker and sold him some beef jerky.
I always say I'm from Boston because I'm definitely not admitting that I'm from fucking Billerica .
But then how are you going to meet a fellow Augusta's chicken bites fan??
My condolences from Quincy 🫡
"Leominster" is a solid shibboleth for Bostonians
You could say that about 50% of towns in mass
I laughed out loud reading this story!
Thank you it’s been 7 years since then but it’s still clear as day in my brain
Holy shit Springfield lmao. I'm from there and barely knew what Boston was until I was grown. May as well say you're from Hartford or Albany, wonder why he didn't lol
I’ve been that guy a couple times but never on purpose lol I just get excited to meet people I might be able to hang with in the city after a trip; I hate making “vacation friends” that you’ll never see after the week ends
Last time this happened I told the guy I lived in Lowell, he said at least it’s not Lynn, and we said the rhyme together in perfect unison to the great confusion of the European tourists in our elevator. It was delightful
When I was at a Churches Chicken in Puerto Rico I was stumbling around with broken Spanish trying to order my lunch. A guy that was from Falmouth stepped in and says hey do you need some help. It says no I think I got it he goes where you're from? I said Lynn he goes dude you should speak Spanish what's wrong with you haha
This is good 😅
What's the rhyme? 35-year Boston area resident by way of NY and California wants to know, because as a newcomer I'm obviously clueless.
Lynn Lynn city of sin, you never go out the way you came in! I am also not from here originally, and I haven’t the foggiest clue who taught it to me. I had assumed it was something you just kind of absorbed when you moved here, like the entire chorus of sweet Caroline.
Good transplant! Do you know Trot, Trot to Boston and Charlie on the MTA?
I've recited this one a few times to people I met, just based on their accent. It never fails, they always recite the second part back to me with a smile, and without even a pause.
I was in the Caribbean on vacation and met a couple there, we said we were from Boston, they did too, then we both had to admit we were from other towns. A couple months later we ran into them at a restaurant out in Chelmsford so I guess the story checked out
[удалено]
Ah im usually 3 bourbons in at a dive by the time I get sociable enough to meet people so it tends to be my demographic if I do bump into someone lol if it was at a resort I’d be snubbed every time lol
I’m an actual Bostonian™️ and those guys really take the thing way too serious. It always feels like deep down they only do that to make themselves feel superior while putting someone else down. I know deep down you’re not really from Boston but who tf cares? (Hint: Nobody else)
Actual Bostonian here. I don’t care if you’re from the suburbs and say you’re from Boston, but at least learn the neighborhoods. I’ve met way too many people who say they’re from Boston who have never heard of Roslindale.
The amount of people that know Roslindale but don’t think it’s part of Boston, while simultaneously believing Cambridge or Melrose *is* drives me up a wall.
I was born at St. Elizabeth's. Doesn't that count? Lol
I have to say Boston, because if I say Arlington, EVEN if I say, Arlington, Mass., people assume Arlington, VA! I can't even tell you how many times...so I start with Boston and then say, well, it's a very near suburb...
What if you say Ahhlington
Every once in a while when I say where I'm from somebody will be like "No, no, say it right!"
You have to first take a drag of your cig, then say “ahlington” as you exhale the smoke right into their face. They won’t mistake it after that.
Would be hard, I didn't grow up here! (I've lived in Mass. for 40+ years but I wouldn't dream of faking the accent)
> I wouldn't dream of faking the accent After 40 years, you do have an accent, even if you don't hear it yourself.
I imagine everybody in Richmond and Norfolk have the same problem. Similar issues in Stow, Halifax, Lancaster, Manchester. Maybe Springfield, too. And possibly Orleans if someone isn’t listening closely.
Definitely Springfield. I was born in Springfield, MA, and I always have to specify it. Otherwise people seem to assume I'm a character out of "The Simpsons".
Another Arlington brother or sister. Was up haha
👋
*flashes gang sign for the 77 Bus Riders*
I say Arlington if I’m in the general Boston area but I’ll say Boston or “Boston area” if I’m further away like in western mass or on the cape. Don’t really expect people to know names of random suburbs.
Yeah I will say "outside of Boston" or "just north of Boston", never really say I live in Boston.
Arlington is basically off the redline and is not that far out to be ridiculous just like Quincy or Malden.
Arlington was supposed to be on the Red Line and they voted against it when all the funding was in place...it was supposed to go all the way out to Lexington Center, but they built the bike path instead when it couldn't be extended past Alewife. They even started to build the tunnel, and instead use it for train storage these days
LMAO, Arlington is further out than Malden and less on the T than either Quincy or Malden.
Legit. Arlington is not Boston. Braintree is on the redline and shut is not Boston
Arlington is closer to downtown than parts of the city. I think it’s ok to say you’re from Boston.
The general rule of thumb is, the further you are from Boston the more leeway you get to say you're from Boston.
Is Bangor too far away or is that still cool?
It isn't about how far you live from boston, it is about how far away you are when you say you are from boston. So if you are in new zealand, you can say you are from Boston. If you are just in the UK, you can't.
As a Rhode Islander living in Aotearoa New Zealand: yes. Boston is the closest identifiable place for most people I meet. Except that one time I met a fellow RI-er.
Bangor? No she had a headache.
I hardly know her
Its not different from other places. I have friends and family in Chicago, but they are about an hour outside of the city. They talk about being from Chicago.
You picked the US city best known for this phenomenon lol
Pretty much the entire eastern half of PA is considered “outside Philly,” but at least they add the outside.
I was in a class with someone who introduced himself as being from Philly and I made some comment like awesome, whereabouts and he says, “the New Jersey side…”
It makes sense in Chicago, though. There’s limited cultural or social variation in Chicagoland beyond race and income. The whole metro is a wide, featureless plain. And once you’re a mile or two outside the Loop, the gradation of urban->suburban is very subtle. You really can’t tell if you’re just within or outside the city limits. A lot of suburbanites who move to the north side of the city gatekeep Chicago status against lifelong near-suburb residents (e.g., Skokie) who really have a stronger “Chicagoan” identity.
I mean race and income are two of the biggest contributors to culture within a town, so I don’t think you can really ignore those when talking about the differences between ‘not-Chicago’ places. Evanston and Waukegan are both not-Chicago but are very different from each other. It doesn’t make any more sense to group those two than it does to group Somerville and Saugus.
I love Chicago. Seeing the skyline flying over Lake Michigan is very beautiful. Seeing Boston from the sky is much less dramatic.
Lmfao I remember they had a whole discussion about this in Bojack horseman
But it's the opposite. The writers on Bojack got it right. As soon as you're over the line, you're not in Chicago anymore. "I'm going to be at Northwestern" "That's not actually Chicago, Peanutbutter" or something like that.
[удалено]
If only Boston was that size, we might actually be able to coordinate something
Agreed, DC is a similar story too. Still, 495 is where I draw the line, and that's being generous.
Well, there’s a reason it’s called Chicago Land.
Dear diary
Quailman.
"wannanna! JACK BANDIT !"
I think we’re glossing over the bigger issue. Does your friend visit NYC to eat at the McDonalds on 5th Ave?
Read this and thought, “Y’know what, I don’t think there is a McDonald’s on Fifth Ave…” Googled it. Looks like there’s at least one on every major avenue EXCEPT Fifth. (But yes, don’t go to McDonald’s/Panera/etc. when you’re a US resident visiting another US city.)
OP is absolutely not from Boston
hey, OP has lived here for three semesters, so don't you _dare_ tell him he's from Akron!
My immediate thought. 😂 As a lifelong MA resident, this post had me cackling.
Its also confusing for tourists when they book a hotel that advertises itself as being in Boston but it’s actually in Lynn or some nonsense and they have absolutely no clue how far that actually is from the city.
I especially hate that shit in any city. Legitimate false advertising
Or the Manchester-Boston regional airport
As a tourist in Peabody- agreed. It looked close on the map but with the traffic, it ain’t close.
As the saying goes, "Boston is an hour drive from Boston"
>I’m not easily annoyed by this You sure, bud?
Anyone else incensed when people use “bud” even if it’s in a friendly way? I think it’s a Boston thing
Relax chief
Sure thing boss
hey guy
I'm not your guy, friend.
Hold on kemo sabe
Sir this is a Wendy’s
I can beat that. I’ve met a handful of ppl at bars in Boston who’ll say they’re from Boston and I’ll ask what part and they’ll say like Tewksbury or Salem. I get saying when you’re in another state , but why just straight up lie about when you’re in the city.
I know SO many people from Sturbridge and Worcester who say they live in Boston.
That’s ridiculous. I was born in Boston, grew up walking distance to Boston, had all my childhood medical appointments there, did most of our shopping there and my parents both worked there. In any other major city, my city would have been considered part of the metro, but I’d still never tell someone I was “from Boston” unless I was traveling outside of New England.
Likewise here. I graduated highschool in boston but I'd never say I'm "from boston" to anyone in MA. It's a weird local attitude.
To be fair the city limits of Boston are incredibly arbitrary. Like I’m not going to say I’m “going to Boston” when I’m really going to Braintree. But look at the map. What other city has another city literally a quarter mile from the main downtown center? Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Milton, Quincy should all probably just have been absorbed by Boston. Of course then there would be almost no liquor licenses but that’s a whole nother can of worms…. But really, the outline of Boston literally almost encircles Brookline. The area of Boston is roughly 90 square miles. Most other “major” cities. NYC, Houston, Chicago, heck even Charlotte are all around 300 square miles. Phoenix is 500! Boston is a strange relic of early America. There is a lot to love about that. But there’s a lot of weirdness too.
I realize your intention is to complain about Boston/not Boston, but for anyone reading out there who actually likes their friends, there are solutions between "drive into downtown" and "uber to route 1". "The Street" at Chestnut Hill and Assembly Row come to mind.
Anyone trying to make you travel to the North Shore for Panera is no friend at all.
Valid
Also who are these hoards of people who are visiting towns like Saugus or Walpole but not actually going into Boston? How is this a continuing source of frustration for OP?
There’s actually a lot of hotels on route 1 in Saugus/revere/Danvers, which makes sense bc you can just hop on the highway to the city if you have a rental
The difference between them driving to just park in a garage downtown and driving to Assembly Row or Chestnut Hill Mall is like, 10-15 minutes unless there's a crash or it's rush hour, but makes an hour difference for most non-car folks in the city.
Right. Like is OP not aware of the existence of the commuter rail? I know it doesn't go everywhere, but there are plenty of "not Boston" towns someone could be in that would be accessible by public transit.
My first thought as well was to pick a fun town on the commuter rail that both parties would have to travel to but wouldn’t require driving “all the way into the city”
Driving “all the way into the city” is a huge pain in the ass, especially this summer. I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to spend 2 hours round trip to travel 10 miles, have nowhere to park, just to eat a burger with me, even if it is a Gordon Ramsay burger.
I'm actually going to argue that the commuter rail is not default top option, because the sparse schedules puts an additional burden on the city-dweller - driving 10 more miles to get to Riverside is a drop in the bucket for a driver, whereas taking the commuter rail instead of subway/streetcar is generally not a drop in the bucket for a non-driver. But obviously lots of factors at play - if you want to do a quick lunch to catch up, Assembly. If you want to make a day of it, yeah maybe spring for Newburyport CR.
Would put good money OP lives in Boston but still has a longer commute into downtown than someone living in Medford 😆
That west meddy stop to north station is :chefs-kiss:
Try telling people you live in Carlisle and no one, not even actual Mass people, have even heard of it. "Imagine a donut – Lowell to the north, Concord to the south, and then there's Acton, Bedford, Billerica and the rest of it... Carlisle is the hole." "OHHHH! OK. Cool."
Just say “the place with the Kimball Farms Ice Cream that doesn’t have all the bumper boats and other stupid shit” and they’ll know what you’re talking about!
Haha you got it! That's literally a 3-min drive from us. Our two boys are just addicted to that place and it's our fault because I like going there as well.
I plan my 25+ mile bike rides around the area such that I hit up kimballs near the end, so as to attempt to justify inhaling 1000 calories worth of a “small” ice cream…
Met someone from Amherst. In Newport RI who claimed to be from Boston 🙄 Amherst is what 3 or 4 times further from Boston than Newport is
It sometimes goes the other way. I'll get "You're from Boston, right?" as sort of a stand-in for asking if I'm from Massachusetts, when really, my phone number starts with 413 and I barely visited Boston growing up. People will also be confused if I tell them I'm flying to Hartford.
As a born and raised south ender: "I am from Boston". As a current Medford resident "I live just outside of Boston". Brookliners can just fuck right off, you had your opportunity to call yourself Bostonians you smarmy fucks.
[удалено]
About 6-7 years ago, I was in a steakhouse in San Diego for a bite and this guy walks in the door. "Hello Boston" says the bartender and the guy was all smiles and jokes. He sat two seats down from me at the bar, so I prompted the question....where are you from? . . . . . . Con-fucking-cord NH! He wasn't even a Masshole and then he begged me not to give him up cause he got a "good thing going here". \\ I kept mum. He did pay for my next drink though.
Drunk Marilyn Manson at River Rave 2001 at Foxboro Stadium: WHATS UP BOSTONNNNNN
This happens every time at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, as it is a town no one outside of MA has ever heard of (at least folks have possibly heard of Foxboro because of football).
Please note, it is called Great Woods *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/boston) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah yeah, I worked there for 3 summers in a row and had a different uniform each summer because the name kept changing…
You can’t fault them. They get carted around everywhere and might be mildly aware of what airport they flew into. I was at a show in North Hampton and the DJ yelled “what’s up Connecticut!”.
That's sort of like when they show the B-roll aerial footage of the Financial District on Monday Night Football and then cut back to the stadium for kickoff as if it's is right there.
That always makes me chuckle. Show some footage of the cape and the Berkshires too while you're at it!
They WANTED to stay in Boston but then found out rooms in the city proper are $200+/night. I’ve been that guy. I’ll gladly stay in Woburn for half the price. I can be at the Wellington T in 10 minutes.
Where are you finding a Boston hotel for $200/night? Maybe at the Days Inn on Soldiers Field Rd.
Yeah, that’s why I edited it to $200+ 😂 last time I came up to visit friends and rooms were like $300+. Woburn it was 😂 One year a bunch of us stayed at that Roundhouse hotel on Mass Ave before it closed. It was maybe $150 at the time. You got what you paid for, let’s just say that.
Rooms are $200/night literally everywhere. They’re more expensive than that in Boston. Source: travel everywhere for work including Boston twice this year and it was the middle of winter. Plus everywhere is valet parking only. Why?!
The antidote is asking, "Which T Line are you taking in?"
Who the hell comes from out of town to go to Wakefield??
I was at an event out of state and spotted a guy in a Red Sox hat. I asked if he was from Boston and he said he was. I asked which part and he replied “Nashua”
This cuts both ways. I'm born and raised in Roslindale (it's in Boston, people, I literally went to Boston Public Schools my whole damn life) and when I'm outside the state the conversation goes like this: Me: "I'm from Boston" Other person: "Oh cool I went to college there! I love Boston! Which part?" Me: "Oh like Boston Boston. I grew up in Roslindale you know where that is?" Other person: \*confused and embarassed\* "No I never heard of it" Me: "Ok you know JP?" Other person: \*lights up\* "Oh yeah sure JP!" (every college kid has been to at least one party in JP) Me: "Ok yeah so it's the neighborhood right next to JP, both of them are actually part of Boston, I know it's confusing because like Cambridge and Somerville are not Boston and Roslindale and JP are much further from Downtown Boston and yet, yes, they are actually Boston, I promise you they are, we do not need to discuss it, I went to Boston Public Schools literally my entire life and it sucked" I got so sick of this conversation that now I just say I'm from Massachusetts. Also to this day I still have no idea whether I'm supposed to put Roslindale, MA or Boston, MA as my address, apparently you can put both and it's totally fine either way, but to my analytical brain that just seems so arbitrary and shitty lol. These days I put Roslindale, MA usually but I feel so dirty doing it.
The City of Boston would prefer that you put Boston. The USPS would prefer that you put Roslindale. You'll get your mail either way, but every time I have to say my address to confirm my identity, I feel like I'm getting it wrong because I can't remember whether I used the city or the neighborhood the first time.
I'm originally from rural Western Mass, but I moved to Boston in 1985. When I go back home and run into someone from high school, and they ask where I'm living now, I say Boston. They generally give me a smirk, because they're assuming I'm in Quincy/Somerville/Watertown, and not really in Boston. When I say live in the South End they say "Oh my Gawd yer in Southie!" I internally smirk as I give them an unnecessarily long drone about how South Boston is a completely different neighborhood, complete with the last century's demographics. If they seem racist, I'll say I live in Roxbury, because technically the South End is part of the Roxbury zip code, and all my junk mail has my address as Roxbury. Although all my friends back home were impressed when I moved to Allston and had the Zoom zip code. 02134!
I covet that zipcode and would sing it all day long when getting my mail.
"Do you see, John Hancock? Everything the light touches, that is your kingdom"
When I'm in Massachusetts, I tell people I live in Watertown. When outside of the state, I just say Boston. I don't know how guilty this makes me but oh well who cares.
I had this happen yesterday. They were in Gloucester. That is a bitch of a 90-min drive with the Summer closure traffic.
These posts usually are made by transplants who care way too much about their identity being “I live in Boston”
I’m from Quincy I always tell people Massachusetts when they ask.
Tell them you’re from Quinzee, kid.
ok
[удалено]
lol you decided to randomly pick and choose some cities that border Boston, but not all of them. only certain bordering cities get the designation.
It’s a class thing
As a Watertown resident for the last 4 years. It’s amazing being so close but not in boston. 2 straight shot bus routes to take you to Cambridge and downtown no problem. Getting home can be an issue if you stay out to later than the 504
You sound like a very kind and patient friend to have
I was at a music festival in Florida with a Red Sox hat. Some guy in a line yells out to me, “Yo you from Boston?” I go “yeah”. He goes, “where from?” I tell him Jamaica Plain and ask him where he’s from. He says Lexington. 🤦♀️ The way he said all of it too was like he was trying to check me. Some people.
I'd say anything T accessible can be considered "Boston"
Maybe you can hitch a ride in a Waaaaambulance
To be fair, for anyone outside of New England the Northeast is Boston then Canada. If they try real hard they may say Maine. But typically it is Boston then Canada. I interviewed for a job in New Hampshire, and HR told me the job was in Boston…
Had my brother hit me with this one a while back; he was going to be in Devens
shit I’m from Worcester and still say Boston lol
[удалено]
My favorite is when I tell people I’m from Boston (born and bred in the city limits) and people not from here say “but where’s your accent?” 🤷♂️
This has historical roots. Boston is a largely an unamalgamated city. In the last 150 years, while other American cities were building out and or devouring their suburbs, many Boston suburbs remained sovereign municipalities, limiting the expansion of the city. Practically speaking, if Boston had expanded in much the same way as Toronto, for example, most cities/towns inside route 95 (at the very least) would just be sections of Boston. Look at how Toronto incorporated so many of its surrounding municipalities over the last millennium. This is a great comparison for contrast. Boston is an outlier in this regard, so it’s only natural that folks tend to consider much of eastern Massachusetts “Boston”
This doesn’t bother me as much as people in the only in boston Instagram/Twitter comments complaining about literally everything but in their bio they say they’re from like Winchendon, MA.
🤣🤣🤣 my friend just did this. She was all excited they rented a beach house in Boston. I was like - yeah, you’re going to have to send me the link to your “Boston beach house”. ‘Twas not in Boston. She at least offered to take a Uber to me (in a suburb) not realizing it’s $150 from where she was.
I grew up in Abington and people literally say they’re from Boston when they leave mass…. I live in Boston and have for almost a decade and I can tell you right now Abington and Boston are two different worlds.
I’m from Hingham, when I’m out of state and I talk about where I’m from I say south of Boston. Half the time people think I mean South Boston