{"id":656,"date":"2018-10-13T07:05:23","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T11:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=656"},"modified":"2018-10-13T13:14:34","modified_gmt":"2018-10-13T17:14:34","slug":"a-reader-asks-is-boston-ma-a-terrible-place-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/13\/a-reader-asks-is-boston-ma-a-terrible-place-to-live\/","title":{"rendered":"A reader asks: ‘Is Boston, MA a terrible place to live?’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q: A reader asks: ‘Is Boston, MA a terrible place to live?’<\/strong> (via Quora)<\/small><\/p>\n

A: Questions like this, with a built-in bias, presuppose the answer, sort of like \u201cHave you stopped beating your wife?\u201d But the answer is clearly no.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s proof:<\/strong> People don\u2019t choose to move to a place that\u2019s terrible, and\u00a0Boston hasn\u2019t had a population decline since the since the 1980s. (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

So, either all these people moving in are really, really stupid \u2014 or the premise of your question is wildly wrong:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Of course, like everywhere else, Boston has some areas that are not great to live. Like everywhere else, some Bostonians experience hard luck and bad times through no fault of their own; and that sucks. Like everywhere else, other Bostonians experience hard times through poor voluntary choices.<\/p>\n

But for most people, Boston is more than OK, and can be great.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the population numbers would be going down.<\/p>\n

(BTW: A reader seriously disagrees with the above. Scroll down for interesting comments!)<\/p>\n

\n

Permalink: https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-aA<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Reply? Questions? Use the Comment box at the bottom of the page, or click CONTACT<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: A reader asks: ‘Is Boston, MA a terrible place to live?’ (via Quora) A: Questions like this, with a built-in bias, presuppose the answer, sort of like \u201cHave you stopped beating your wife?\u201d But the answer is clearly no. Here’s proof: People don\u2019t choose to move to a place that\u2019s terrible, and\u00a0Boston hasn\u2019t had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-around-boston"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-aA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1405,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/22\/a-reader-asks-do-people-drive-a-lot-worse-in-the-rain-in-boston-ma\/","url_meta":{"origin":656,"position":0},"title":"A reader* asks: “Do people drive a lot worse in the rain in Boston, MA?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-22","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, of course. Accident rates in Boston go up in the rain \u2014 just as they do in every other location on the planet. I'm not sure what else you\u2019d expect when roads get slippery and visibility goes down! I'm guessing that what you're really getting at is the poor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":942,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/24\/a-reader-asks-why-are-so-many-people-from-boston-so-quick-witted-and-quippy\/","url_meta":{"origin":656,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: Why are so many people from Boston so quick-witted and quippy?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-24","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: Why are so many people from Boston so quick-witted and quippy? A: Overlooking that you forgot to add \"handsome, intelligent, and saintly,\" I'll try to answer your question: I think it's the local emphasis on education. Boston's culture is in part the result of over 400 years of continual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Around Boston..."","block_context":{"text":"Around Boston...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/around-boston\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1568,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/06\/a-reader-asks-how-bad-is-the-traffic-in-boston-ma\/","url_meta":{"origin":656,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: “How bad is the traffic in Boston, MA?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-06","format":false,"excerpt":"As with any city, there are places and times when traffic is bad; and places and times when it's not. Without more specificity to your question, it's really not answerable. But here's how you can find out: Open Google Maps for Boston, and enable the traffic layer; Google Maps will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Boston-traffic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Boston-traffic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Boston-traffic.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Boston-traffic.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1167,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/25\/a-reader-asks-what-is-the-best-way-to-get-around-boston\/","url_meta":{"origin":656,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: What is the best way to get around Boston?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-25","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: What is the best way to get around Boston? (via Quora) A: Here's my list, in ascending order, best to worst; I adjust as needed to account for weather issues, distance being travelled, schedule pressures, whether or not I need to carry bulky items, etc.: Walk Bike T (subway\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":920,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/03\/a-reader-asks-whats-your-experience-of-uber-in-boston-mass\/","url_meta":{"origin":656,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: What’s your experience of Uber in Boston, Mass?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-03","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Ross asks: \"What's your experience of Uber in Boston, Mass?\" The Uber service and drivers here are OK; but (IMHO) Uber as a corporation sucks: known for bad business practices, criminal investigations, institutionalized misogyny, etc. Why give money to a company like that? I use Lyft instead. It has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1273,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/08\/a-reader-asks-in-the-event-of-a-tsunami-in-boston-where-is-the-safest-place-to-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":656,"position":5},"title":"A reader* asks: “In the event of a tsunami in Boston, where is the safest place to drive?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-08","format":false,"excerpt":"A reader wonders where to seek higher ground in and around Boston.","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":724,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}