Things to do in Boston
When describing Boston, many people who’ve lived there for a time have told me things like, "Boston feels like a small town" and "Boston has the rudest, most suicidal drivers I’ve ever seen” and, regardless of whether or not they’re one of those drivers, “Be careful when entering that intersection!"
That’s really just the beginning. Having recently relocated from Boston to Los Angeles, I’ve found that there are many, many things I miss about the Boston area. I’ve actually had more frustrations about this move from Boston to LA than any other move in my life (including when I lived in Sweden for a few years), and I’ve wondered how much is has to do with with Boston (which, I admit, I was always looking forward to leaving) and the layers and layers that I’ve learned exist in Los Angeles.
For mysterious reasons, LA is a city of secrets. Friends here have sworn me to secrecy before sharing things like which restaurants to go to, what to order that’s not on the menu, and so on. It feels good to be part of an exclusive club, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s also a bit strange. So, when a fellow startupreneur recently moved to the Boston area and asked about things to do in Cambridge, I found myself writing down a stream of thoughts that I couldn’t resist sharing.1
- Get a map! Boston’s roads are paved cowpaths and the city is a huge Celtic knot. Yes, Boston was designed by cows.
- On Fridays and Saturdays, go to Haymarket (Haymarket stop on the Orange Line) if you want to save a ton of money on food but live very, very well. I could write a whole article about Haymarket, but the short of it is that it’s a superb open air market with fresh produce, fish, meats and cheeses. I recently walked away with 24 pints of organic strawberries for $6.
- The best place for a game of chess is in Harvard Square at the Au Bon Pain courtyard (Harvard Square on the Red Line). I did write an article about it, so search for my name if you want to. Keep in mind that there are always more players than there are boards to play with, so bring a board unless you like to watch.
- The Esplanade along the Charles River is gorgeous in the summer and is great for biking, running, rollerblading and people watching. It’s also a good place for free concerts during the summer.
- The best thrift stores are Boomerangs in Jamaica Plain and Savers on Route 1. I’ve found Armani shirts there for $5.
- The Museum of Fine Arts (Ruggles stop on the Orange Line), or the MFA as locals call it, has free admittance on Wednesdays.
- The greenest, most socially responsible bank you’ll find in Boston is Wainwright Bank. I haven’t been to their newest branch, but I heard it uses natural light and the counters and flooring are made of renewable materials like cornstalk and bamboo.
- There is a Trader Joe’s that’s accessible by the T (Hynes Convention Center on the Green Line) but it’s a dry store thanks to the Massachusetts’ law that prohibits them from selling alcohol at more than 3 locations in the state. The Trader Joe’s on Memorial Drive in Cambridge is the best location. For whatever reason, the lines are shorter, the staff seems happier and you’ll always find parking.
- One of the greatest resources in Boston is the Independent Activities Period at MIT (Kendall/MIT stop on the Red Line) every January and February. I have great memories of a 20 hour course I took with Tim Berners-Lee.
- If you have a dog, you are morally obligated to go to Franklin Park in Jamaica Plain. It’s the city’s largest greenspace and it was designed by the same Frederick Law Olmstead who also designed Central Park in New York. It’s also home to the Franklin Park Zoo, where a gorilla actually escaped a few years ago and was seen waiting at a bus stop.
I don’t miss Boston’s drivers but in a strange way I do miss driving in Boston. It seems that other drivers are trying to collect their insurance by somehow getting you to drive into them, but they’re just getting to their destination as quickly as they can. This and more is explained in The Boston Driver’s Handbook, and I recommend it to anyone moving to the Boston area with the intention of staying for any length of time.
Funnily enough, the one question I got wrong on my California driving test was about legally entering intersections during rush hour.
- 1. This is the same list I posted to Y Combinator News but with a few minor corrections.
