anywhere but here
So I did the thing where I randomly burst into tears in the bathroom this morning because I'm so unhappy with my life and feel like a failure for no reason and shit like that, but I'm not going to write up a long emo post about that. Instead, I'm going to channel my energies into getting the hell out of DC in the next six months, because while I
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That said:
Boston's public transportation isn't *terrible.* It isn't New York or DC standards, but it's older and has a smaller city to deal with, so I think it's never been brought up to modern standards. Anyway, the first few years I lived in Boston, I didn't have a car, and that was totally fine. Boston's so small geographically that you can honestly walk to most things, given enough time. The last few years I lived in Boston, I did have a car that I used only on the weekend for going home to visit my family in Rhode Island. It's kind of a pain to have a car in Boston, honestly.
The city's small, but packs a lot into what it has, possibly largely due to the colleges all around, which inject a lot of youth into the city. When the schools are in session, the place feels young and vibrant and there's ALWAYS something going on. It's also a fairly liberal place. (Honestly, whenever I met a Republican in Boston, I was surprised.) It's also an old city, which I think is part of why it's got such a cultural infrastructure, because at one point, before it was New York, Boston was the cultural capital of the country. Its age makes it impossible to navigate. That either drives you crazy or charms you (or both). And it's an easy four hour drive to New York, which I used to love, because that's a nice day trip if you want something MORE, you know? We used to go to plays on Broadway at least once or twice a year.
I lived in DC for a little while, too, and much preferred Boston. DC's size intimidated me; I hated that it felt so sprawled out that it took me forever to get anywhere. The little pockets of the city felt very disconnected to me. Boston has neighborhoods but they fit into the whole of a bigger Boston identity more easily, I thought. (To be fair, I also don't care for politics, and I was sick to death of DC's obsession with them.)
As for the theater, I'm not the best rater of theaters, but, as someone now living in New Orleans, Boston comparatively is a theater mecca. (And it's funny, I went to the theater a *lot* more in Boston than I ever did in DC.) A lot of the theater might be college-connected? So maybe that interferes with jobs? But I know there are a ton of quality theaters putting on productions that I still get brochures for, not just in Boston but out in the very-near-basically-Boston suburbs, too. You probably know more about it than I do, but if you want to talk more about it offline, send me a PM. As for summer theater, Boston has less of that going on, because most people try to get out of Boston in favor of the seashore in the summertime. The Cape probably has some summer theater. Rhode Island has Theater-by-the-Sea, and I think Essex, CT, has another good summer theater company. (Plus, Rhode Island has one of the best theater companies in the country in Trinity Rep. <--Rhode Island pride)
Finally, people who live in Boston really tend to love Boston. They complain about it endlessly, because that's what Bostonians *do,* but they really love it, deep down, in all its irritatingness.
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I do have a car, but prefer not to use it to commute. And I've heard horror stories about driving in Boston. But, yeah, the cultural history of Boston is a bit part of what interests me there. If I can't work in theater, arts/cultural administration is my close second choice, so. But the lack of strong regional theater in the area does worry me a bit for employment purposes -- apart from the college theaters (and/including ACT) and the Broadway tour houses, there's not much theater in residence in Boston. :/ But Chicago & DC have kind of spoiled me in that regard.
Thank you for all this! I really appreciate all the info. :D
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I don't know much about theater classifications, I admit. A few of my favorite theater companies that I used to go to when I lived there: Huntington Theater Company http://www.huntingtontheatre.org SpeakEasy Stage Company http://www.speakeasystage.com/index.php American Repertory Theatre http://www.americanrepertorytheater.org/?gclid=CNel36Tgz60CFWZjTAodsUMhAQ NewRep http://www.newrep.org/ Publick Theatre http://www.publicktheatre.com Central Square Theatre http://www.centralsquaretheater.org And there's more general info on the Boston Theatre Scene here: http://www.bostontheatrescene.com/
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