Honestly the downtown/Back Bay core of Boston is more similar to a small European city than most other places in the US. Maybe the same could be said of downtown Philly, but even it's grown in a less constrained way.
Years ago I remember a professor (I think quoting someone) saying that Boston is not an American city. It’s a European city. I always thought that was an interesting notion.
Totally. Boston was just shy of 150 years old when the US declared its independence. How greater Boston developed and urbanized, though, is where the American influence really comes in.
If you look at a city of similar size in the UK like Bristol, you can see the resemblance in the urban core. Highways are shoehorned in, there's no concept of a grid, and density is high. However I'd argue that Cambridge (outside of Harvard, maybe) developed more like a US streetcar suburb that you'd see elsewhere in the northeast. Highways are also given more prominence in the Boston metro with less emphasis on the train network, and of course there's a desire seen to reimpose a grid on newer landfill areas, whether recent (Seaport) or less recent (Back Bay).
I think you are thinking of Old City, not downtown, but even then not really. It has cobblestone streets and older buildings, but it's a grid pattern, an idea invented in philadelphia.
Good Ol’ Copley. Everyday I’d sit on a bench and eat lunch there last summer. There was never a boring lunch lol.
Ever see the crack heads fight each other there? That's always something
Yes. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was eating a harvest salad from trader joe’s. I looked up and saw two gentlemen in a heated intellectual debate. After about 5 minutes of pushing and rebuttals they actually started throwing hands, but also not landing anything either. Then this hero suburban mom, who was with her under armor children and aloof husband, tried to break up the fight. The mom was kinda standing over them trying to pull them back but really wasn’t making progress, and then for whatever reason she takes her phone out and takes a video of them with the flash on lol.
It was a good lunch break.
wow this photo made me realize how much I’ve missed wandering around the city these past few months
i used to do acid and walk around that area looking at the buildings
Still do, but used to too
Like a still from a Disney movie or something.
Links to high-res version?
This looks like it'd be such a cool level for call of duty or battlefield. No idea why that's where my mind went with this photo...
looks similar to piccadilly square in the night and the rain
Beautiful photo!
You should x-post this to /r/cityporn!
Great shot! Reminds me of how lovely our city is.
Wow, stunning shot. What lens are you using?
Thank you, I used a Canon RF 24-70mm lens.
I'll be moving here in a little over a month. I am so incredibly excited.
I miss Boston!
Used to hang out there like every day as a teenager.
Gorgeous
Great work! It would also make an excellent picture for a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.
This is absolutely gorgeous...
The most beautiful I’ve ever seen it. Great pic!
Amazing!
Holy shit this looks like a painting
I’d love a print of this, if you’re interested
Interested, I am
Great pic
Wow, that is such a beautiful shot of a beautiful city. ❤
Great photo!
Looks like Europe. Without the signs and such I could have guessed that this was somewhere like Belgium or Germany!