"midtown"

[Steve K.]

On Sun, 10 Sep 2000, Philip E. Cleary wrote:

> The Boston one is a new one for me too. I (a life-long Bostonian) don't
> recall ever having heard of "mid-town Boston" and, if I had, wouldn't know
> what section of the city was being referred to. There is a section of the
> city in the Back Bay that was sometimes called "uptown," at least in the
> 50's and early 60's.

Boston directionals are scary. I spent my first year totally disoriented,
because I thought, like the subway schematic, that the orange line south
of downtown was due south, when in fact, it's southwesterly.

I know that the North End is south of East Boston.

Giving and getting directions in Boston is insane. In Chicago, I'd just
ask for the Cartesian coordinate (like 3200 N 1600 W, or the corner of
Belmont and Ashland) and I'd just go there.

My friends from Boston were amazed that in Chicago, say, 1200 E 49th
Street is the same distance east as 1200 E 47th street; I never understood
why Manhattan had this nice grid, but insisted on starting every
northish/southish avenue at 1, so that a given address on an avenue isn't
always between the same two streets.

Of course, having grown up in a 6x6 square mile township in Michigan, I
thought the whole country was basically on a square mile grid until
college.

--- Steve K.