{"id":945,"date":"2018-11-04T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-04T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=945"},"modified":"2018-11-04T08:12:18","modified_gmt":"2018-11-04T13:12:18","slug":"a-reader-asks-why-does-boston-have-so-many-universities-compared-to-other-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/04\/a-reader-asks-why-does-boston-have-so-many-universities-compared-to-other-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"A reader asks: Why does Boston have so many universities compared to other cities?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader asks:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Why does Boston have so many universities compared to other cities?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boston benefits from almost 400 years of continual investment in education.<\/p>\n

For example, Harvard University was founded in 1636, just six years after Boston itself.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t an accident: From its founding, up to the American Revolution (when the British occupied Boston to shut down its commerce and impoverish the rebels), Boston was the favored trans-Atlantic destination, with a good harbor and the shortest travel times to and from Europe. Boston and its surroundings grew fast, creating a need for educated citizens to manage the burgeoning economy and political life.<\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s early emphasis on education resulted in a citizenry that could think for itself, and that in turn, was the foundation of much of the revolutionary thinking that led the then-Colonists to seek self-government.<\/p>\n

You can see that sentiment summed up on the Boston Public Library \u2014 the first major city public library in America \u2014 which has this inscription on its north facade: “THE COMMONWEALTH REQUIRES THE EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE AS THE SAFEGUARD OF ORDER AND LIBERTY.”<\/p>\n

Higher education has so long been a part of Boston that American humorist Mark Twain supposedly once compared Boston to New York and Philadelphia this way:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn New York, they ask \u2018How much is he worth?\u2019 In Philadelphia, they ask \u2018Who were his parents?\u2019 But in Boston, they ask \u201chow much does he know?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

I don’t know what the future holds; I think the rise of charter schools threatens the goal of a truly educated general populace. (Look at today’s anti-science, anti-fact climate.) But for now, I think the above answers the historical aspect of your question.<\/p>\n

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

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A reader asks: “Why does Boston have so many universities compared to other cities?” Boston benefits from almost 400 years of continual investment in education. For example, Harvard University was founded in 1636, just six years after Boston itself. That wasn\u2019t an accident: From its founding, up to the American Revolution (when the British occupied…<\/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":[7,17,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-around-boston","category-misc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-ff","jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":945,"position":0},"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":1748,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/02\/a-reader-asks-why-is-the-weather-so-unpredictable-in-boston-ma\/","url_meta":{"origin":945,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: “Why is the weather SO unpredictable in Boston, MA?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-02-02","format":false,"excerpt":"Regional forecasts are actually pretty accurate. (See: How Reliable Are Weather Forecasts?) But very local, small scale forecasts have additional variables. For example, Boston is a waterfront city and so is subject to various effects that apply only to the immediate coast. A distance of a few miles\/KM can make\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":945,"position":2},"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":1195,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/01\/a-reader-asks-why-havent-chicago-new-york-and-boston-produced-tech-hubs-like-silicon-valley\/","url_meta":{"origin":945,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: Why haven’t Chicago, New York, and Boston produced tech hubs like Silicon Valley?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-01","format":false,"excerpt":"Q. Why haven't Chicago, New York, and Boston produced tech hubs like Silicon Valley? (via Quora) A: Ha! Boston has been and still is a major tech hub. In fact, Boston was the US's first, and thus is also its oldest high-tech hub, starting all the way back with the\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":1471,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/23\/a-reader-asks-why-are-the-squirrels-in-boston-common-so-fat\/","url_meta":{"origin":945,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: “Why are the squirrels in Boston Common so fat?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-23","format":false,"excerpt":"They are exceedingly well fed. Boston hosts something around 20 million visitors each year. About 3 million of them walk the Freedom Trail, which starts at Boston Common. There also are many public events in the Common \u2014 concerts, fireworks, festivals, political gatherings, celebrations, etc. \u2014 throughout the year, which\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":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":945,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945","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=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":973,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions\/973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}