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This was a slightly silly essay that seems to essentially be more "places PG likes" than any sort of objective analysis... Great cities certainly do have a vib

This was a slightly silly essay that seems to essentially be more "places PG likes" than any sort of objective analysis... Great cities certainly do have a vibe, but Cambridge (MA), although it's a very nice place to live and obviously has tons of smart people, is actually a pretty sleepy place in general; for all it's charms, it isn't a "great city." The "density of the unfamiliar" which I think tends to characterize great cities isn't really so evident in Cambridge (the presence of MIT / Harvard / etc does generate some of this, but universities tend to be somewhat closed societies).

secstate 13y ago
Toss in a healthy dose of MIT becoming a shell of its former hacker-self, and Harvard being, well, Harvard, and I'd say Cambridge is the least exciting aspect of the greater Boston area. Besides the fact that Bostonians are most definitely infatuated with pop culture and hipness. Maybe across the bridge things get more intellectual, but not so you'd notice. I will say in PG's defense that I've never seen a city more excited about selling you a master's degree as the key to your new future life ; - ) So I suppose they do value education (an brick-for-brick there's probably more post-secondary schools in the area around Boston than almost anywhere else in the U.S. or even the world.).
fjabre 13y ago
Completely agree with you about the universities being akin to closed societies. I've lived in Boston most of my life and if you aren't currently attending said universities and are not a gushing alum constantly attending university sponsored events then you will find Boston and surrounding areas to be very sleepy indeed. The puritan spirit is still very much alive and kicking in the bay state.