city guides

Boston Uncommon

Nichole Bernier explains the singular pleasures of America's original business destination.

There are cities that, by nature, get under your skin and into your blood. They inspire art, entice migrations, spark wars. Spending time in them isn't so much a way of living as a way of being, and being a resident isn't about geographic identity—it's like a race, an ethnicity.

Boston, to me, has always been that sort of city. Its natural beauty has moved artists from Henry David Thoreau to Winslow Homer. Its most storied immigrants are, of course, the Irish, but lately, the influx of hip young foreigners to the city's universities has approached migration proportions. And Boston certainly claims responsibility for sparking a war, this country's first, in a righteous fit of tea-wasting rage.

As much as Boston is notoriously insular—you could live in certain neighborhoods for decades and still be considered a newcomer because you weren't born here—Boston is famous for its accessibility. It is a very walkable city. This is a particularly good thing, because the traffic and pattern of one-way streets can be circuitous, but the real bonus is that its terrain makes for a terrific stroll. The brownstone-lined streets of the Back Bay and Beacon Hill roll toward the manicured parks of the Public Garden and Boston Common, then uphill and down toward downtown and the seaport. Across the parks and toward the west is the shopping mecca of Newbury Street. Beside that is the trendy restaurant and shopping scene of the South End; go a bit further west, and you hit Fenway Park, which is, in the words of John Updike, a "lyric little bandbox of a ballpark."

Parks are an important part of Boston, a city with 3,180 acres of public and private open space. The Emerald Necklace, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (of New York's Central Park fame), is the oldest park system in the country, a nine-mile network leading into Boston. Much of the city is sandwiched between the active harbor and the Charles River (questionably immortalized in the Standells hit song, "Dirty Water"), and the river is edged by a wide swath of parkland known as The Esplanade, a favorite spot for exercising or sunning.

Beyond Boston, there are hills and water everywhere. For those who love nature's variety, it feels like a city that won the environmental lottery. To the north are the White Mountains, and to the west, the Berkshires. Ski season brings a conga line of cars heading toward both, and summer turns those cars toward Cape Cod and the islands (Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket).

The city's character

The Yankee character is a combination of propriety and stoic good sense, jazzed up with a vivacious intellectual curiosity. Bostonians are avid consumers of public television and public radio, and the recent death of esteemed local radio personality David Brudnoy was marked with a memorializing on par with that of a national politician. And, of course, politics are such a hallmark of the city—from John Kennedy to John Kerry—that at times, it feels like the city's main export.

While politics may feel like Boston's prime industry, there are actually plenty of fields fighting for that mantle, from biotechnology to financial services to healthcare. Many esteemed international businesses call Boston home, including Fidelity, Staples, Gillette, Ahold and Raytheon. Exercise giants Reebok and New Balance are based here, as are retailers Talbots, TJX and Timberland. If higher education were considered an industry, Boston might well be its headquarters, with universities including Harvard and Radcliffe, Boston College and Boston University, MIT, Tufts, Wellesley, Brandeis, Northeastern and Babson.

Bostonians don't take things at face value—they want proof, especially when it comes to getting a good deal. The famously frugal town was the birthplace of Filene's Basement, and, if you happen to visit during the infamous wedding dress sale (which makes the morning news each year), you will find just how far local brides are willing to go for a bargain. Bostonians are at once fiercely loyal and notoriously ruthless (listen to Bostonians heckle a sporting event, and you'll see what I mean). They are also passionately dedicated to their traditions and institutions, such as the Boston Marathon, run to much fanfare on Patriot's Day (the third Monday in April), April), or the July 4th Boston Pops performances at the Hatchshell, culminating in the 1812 Overture and the firing of a real cannon.

Hope springs eternal in Boston, along with the inevitable complaint of waiting—endlessly waiting for the Red Sox to win (which finally, incredibly, came to pass last year); waiting for the arrival of spring; and, lately, waiting for the completion of the Big Dig. Don't be fooled by the folksy name: The Big Dig is among the most ambitious transportation projects ever undertaken in the U.S. The $14.6 billion project is rerouting traffic through new tunnels and over a new suspension bridge. It is now in its final cleanup stages, and visitors who use cars to get around the city no longer need to consult daily radio information for updates on changing roadways.

____________________________________

Nichole Bernier is a freelance writer who called Boston home for eight years. She now lives outside Washington, D.C. Email Nichole at editor@executivetravelmag.com.

Inside the Boston Guide

Explore and share advice on:

• Getting there, getting around
  
• What to see and do in Boston
  
• Recommended hotels in Boston
• Restaurants in Boston
  
• Entertaining clients in Boston