When I moved to Boston a few months ago, I didn’t know anything about where to live. My friend Sam Knox over at CFO offered to put Boston into terms that I could understand. Here is his guide.
| Boston | New York |
| Beacon Hill | Murray Hill |
| South End | West Village |
| Back Bay | Upper East Side |
| Kenmore Square | The upscale Village near NYU |
| Dorchester | Bronx |
| Mattapan | Harlem |
| Brighton | Woodside Queens |
| Alston | Woodside, Queens |
| South Boston | Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Archie and Edith would be right at home. Now gentrified. |
| North End | Little Italy. Touristy Italian food. No parking. NO street crime. |
| Brookline | Village, Upper West Side, Chelsea. Coolidge Corner is wonderful. |
| Quincy | Queens. Was Irish and FOB labor for shipyard. Now many Chinese and Brazilians. All reasonable. some very nice. |
Where did I end up living? Well, I had to commute to Lexington out beyond 128 every day, so it wasn’t like I could live in Dorchester. I ended up in Arlington. Sam’s take:
| Boston | New York |
| Arlington | A dull, cheap bedroom community. At least it’s not Belmont. |
| Belmont | The upscale Arlington (now featured in Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart” – and not kindly) |
| Other suburbs | Stay inside 128. Don’t ever go outside it. |
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