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It is funny to see Cambridge labelled a 'Boston suburb'. That was clearly written by someone who has never visited Cambridge, MA or even the Boston area.
by cure 8y ago
It is funny to see Cambridge labelled a 'Boston suburb'. That was clearly written by someone who has never visited Cambridge, MA or even the Boston area.
- est31 8y agoNever been there, could you explain?
- sokoloff 8y agoI live in Cambridge, MA and would need it explained.
- psychometry 8y agoCambridge is a city of 100k people, not a suburb. For comparison, Boston has 600k.
- ummonk 8y agoI wouldn't describe Cambridge as a suburb, but plenty of suburbs have populations larger than 100k.
- CydeWeys 8y agoThe key distinction is that suburbs are largely residential and composed of lower density housing, which does not describe Cambridge accurately.
- ben7799 8y agoWaltham is further away too and has > 100k people. It's hard to say if these cities are suburbs or not. Waltham, Newton, Cambridge, etc.. are very dense. There is a clear delineation in density with a lot of these. Usually it's whether the town/city is inside 95, but Lexington is not very dense and is inside.. I think Lexington fits the mold of suburb where as Newton & Waltham feel urban.
- CydeWeys 8y agoWhat about Somerville? I've been there a few times and at least the parts I was in felt more like a small city than the suburbs. Everything was well-connected with mass transit and walking seemed to be a very popular mode of transportation (which it isn't in the 'true' suburbs I've been to).
- cure 8y agoIt's about density and available space. I don't think most people around here think of Cambridge as a suburb of Boston. I'd say Newton is a suburb of Boston. Lexington too. But not Cambridge or Somerville. Suburb evokes lots of single family homes with yards, and a fairly car-centric environment. That doesn't fit Cambridge, which is much more urban. That said, there are ultra-wealthy pockets of Cambridge that look and feel a little more like a suburb, but they are small. Like SF, Boston is somewhat unusual in that the city itself is pretty small both in surface area (48 sq miles) and population (~685k). The Greater Boston area is a different story, of course (cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Boston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Boston). But that includes Cambridge, and Somerville, and all the neighboring cities to Boston. Someone else in this thread said that Cambridge is to Boston like Oakland is to SF. That sounds about right, though Oakland is much bigger (both in population and surface area) than Cambridge.
- testvox 8y agoIts pretty urban (houses here don't have yards, Three-deckers are the norm) and usually considered part of the Boston metropolitan area, not a suburb of Boston.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoIt's a full blown city. It's basically Boston but with shorter buildings and slightly further left politics.
- Matticus_Rex 8y agohttps://www.cambridgeday.com/2014/02/02/this-isnt-the-most-exciting-u-s-suburb-because-cambridge-isnt-a-damn-suburb/ https://www.cambridgeday.com/2014/02/02/this-isnt-the-most-e...
- alistairSH 8y agoSlightly more direct answer than the others... If you look at the map, most of Cambridge is as close to downtown/historic Boston as much of Boston itself. Also, outside the immediate Boston-area, MIT and Harvard are usually thought of as being in Boston. But, they're actually in Cambridge. For most people, Cambridge is "the side of Boston to the north of the Charles River" - for many, it's just a neighborhood in Boston (no offense meant to any Cambridge natives). https://www.google.com/maps/place/Boston,+MA/@42.3145182,-71.1107115,11z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e3652d0d3d311b:0x787cbf240162e8a0!8m2!3d42.3600825!4d-71.0588801 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Boston,+MA/@42.3145182,-71...
- est31 8y agoMakes total sense. Thank you!
- ummonk 8y agoIf you're in the Bay Area, it's Boston's equivalent of Oakland (but with different socioeconomic demographics). More urban than suburban, and a city in its own right, but somewhat subsumed in the larger city's shadow.
- wool_gather 8y agoAs far as daily life of someone living in either city, they're effectively one metropolis. Many, many people live in one and work (and shop, and play) in the other.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- screye 8y agoYou have twin cities situation going on here. Although it is more akin to a left brain-right brain situation. 2 similar structures separated by one physical divide. It helps to think of Boston and Cambridge as one city. (Though I am sure many don't like that) The city of Boston itself is pretty small to begin with anyways.