Posted on 10/22/2007 4:43:10 AM PDT by xtinct
Looking for good ethnic food? Sample San Antonio. Attractive people? Head to Minneapolis. A romantic escape? Try Santa Fe.
They may not be the most obvious choices, but lately they have all out-ranked Boston.
Once deemed the most European city in America and routinely ranked as a top travel destination, Boston's place in the minds of travelers has been eclipsed by up-and-coming cities in recent years. When Travel + Leisure rated the best cities in North America earlier this year, Boston wasn't even on the list.
Condé Nast Traveler's "Reader's Choice Award" this week put Boston at No. 10, a hard fall after reigning at the top of the list with cities like New York and San Francisco during the 1990s. Now, it comes in behind cities like Charleston, S.C., Santa Fe, and Savannah, Ga.
It's not that tourists aren't coming to Boston. In fact, more come each year, with 18.8 million visiting in 2006, according to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. But around the country, it seems that some of the luster has worn off.
"Boston's had an image problem," said Linda L. Lowry, an associate professor of tourism and hospitality at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "The Big Dig hasn't helped. . . . Hotel prices have gone up and up."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Thanks.
I meant to park at the Reservoir by BC, but I forked right after getting off at exit 18 instead of left. The Reservoir has always had lots of free street parking with the T station nearby.
Three years ago, while driving to the airport to fly home to California, I stopped in South Boston, a community that doesn’t seem to attract many tourists. Here, I had no trouble finding parking, and I found an Italian sandwich at a local delicatessen that was superior to most of those available in Los Angeles eateries.
“Once deemed the most European city in America”
Well, that must have been decades ago.
I’ve been in both The Twin Cities and Boston in the 1990s.
As my brother phrased it, The Twin Cities is simply the most westerly
part of Socialist Germany and Scandanavia.
It’s a nice place that is even survivable in horrid winters...
but still a city that seems as European as a city in the USA can get.
But now it’s adding a Muslim flavor with all the “skinnies” from Somalia.
The school I went to for under grad had a major in hotel management. I never thought a thing of it.
I thought people just sent in the matchbook cover for those things.
One of my Sibs went to ZooMass, but took real subjects.
But Boston is the Hub Of The Universe
How could anyone not want to go to Boston to soak in the moral superiority of the learned people there?
And how could anyone avoid seeing liberal politics first hand in Boston, and experience the joy of paying excessive taxes -- on hotel rooms, rental cars, and restaurant meals??
I’m tired of the Boston bashing. I’ve lived in Massachusetts my entire life and now currently live in Boston. Mentioning crime in Roxbury and Mattapan is a joke. Give me a break, people don’t come to boston to see these areas. Every city has some high-crime areas. Do people skip visiting New York because of Harlem?!
The smoking thing is petty too. Tons of cities are going smoke-free. In my personal experience (coming from a family with many smokers) most people enjoy the smoke-free restaurants and bars. This is a minor issue at most. Boston is a tremendous walking city. You can smoke all you want along the Freedom Trail.
I won’t argue about hotel prices. They are expensive, but that’s the market for you. People must be paying if the hotels are staying in business. The sports scene in Boston is also second to none, especially now.
The Liberal tag is a fair one, but Boston is nothing compared to San Francisco. I’ve lived in both cities and it’s not even close. The pan-handling is epidemic in San Fran, I would say Boston is about average. I have two toddlers and we are always out and about in the city, on the train, in public parks, I’ve never had a pan-handling issue.
The City is much cleaner than it used to be too. It has tons of attractions for every interest. It helps if you know some locals to tell you the best way to get around and the best places to eat etc.
There’s 65,000 college kids in and around Boston. The clubs and social scene must bnot be too bad or these kids wouldn’t come. A perfect example is the Head of the Charles Regatta that was just held over the weekend. This is a huge attraction for college kids and tourists alike. A great time in a beautiful setting.
Boston is and will remain a top American city. Put your pre-conceived notions aside and come visit.
Hello, muddah, hello faddah......how are things in Camp Grenader......
Leni
GO ROCKIES!!
I wouldn't want to live there, but I did enjoy the visit.
Good luck to the Rockies. It’s nice to see some new blood in the Series. I still like my chances. If Boston takes both games at Fenway it’s over and you know it.
IIRC it is only the Union soldiers who died in the War Between the States who are memorialized in Mem Hall.
Tourism and hospitality (hotel/restaurant mgmt) are major components of many state economies with billions of dollars at play. Areas of focus within formalized educational programs are quite diverse and range from marketing and business mgmt to hands on food prep, sourcing, etc.
All in all, it’s an wide-reaching and impactful industry with an odd tangle of government and private investments, low tech and high tech, mom and pops and massive bureaucracies all standing shoulder to shoulder.
If anything, tourism and hospitality degrees have more real world relevance than most of the degrees you’ll find 4 year schools offering.
I have never met anyone from Boston who wasn't a complete and utter a**hole.
I once had an accident in downtown Boston while carrying a briefcase, laptop and some other stuff. I slipped on a patch of ice and cracked my head, momentarily blacking out. When I woke up, there was a group of about ten people all trying to help, one of whom was a nurse. I was pretty much dazed and out of it. Bottom line was the people stopped the bleeding, hailed and paid for a cab, put me, all my stuff and one of the good samaritans in the cab and got me to Mass General to get stitched up. I was later told by the people at the hospital that the cab was much faster and cheaper than the ambulance. For that and other reasons, my impression of the city is not unfavorable by comparison with other larger cities.
North End?
(jeesh you guys are picky)
We love you, though.
Give me a break dude. Would you hate me and the 160 Bostonians in my unit that just did 15 months in Iraq? Don’t be a dueche bag.
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