✳flâneur — a map of the web's best reading

Two weeks in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline

kaiwenwang.com · 2,434 words · saved by 1 readers

Had this image of going around Boston on an ebike. I think it could work if I stayed in the Cambridge/Boston area, but it’s actually kind of dangerous. I’ve come to some conclusions about life. For a long time, I thought that moving from Massachusetts to Georgia was a serious mistake. But as I biked around the rich suburbs in Mass, I realized that future was never for me, no matter where I would’ve gone, for the sole reason that my family has limited taste and perception. If your choices are worse: obstinacy in using the latest electronic and digital technologies, a refusal to read in-depth knowledge, and a laziness and choosing consumption over work, there was no future where I would necessarily have a much better life because those factors are location-independent. Society is kind of the same everywhere, differing more by socioeconomic class rather than place and city. Of course, I would much rather be middle class in a major metro rather than upper class in an insignificant one. I t

Introduction Pros: People (if you run in the right circles) Streets are more “normal.” Highways are 2-3 lanes max rather than 8 lane monstrosities like Atlanta or Houston. Boston traffic not as bad as expected. Bike infrastructure is acceptable and decent. Pro/con: Walkability (walk more, but also feel the heat/cold, roadkill, and homeless beggars more personally) Historic neighborhoods/walkability/density. Houses look cool, but have antiquated elements like fireplaces, old bathrooms, and crowding. Historic architecture rules make it difficult to change things, but preserving history is also v

Explore this link on the map →

related reading