Bostonian

AIA was in Boston this weekend so the city was flooded with people from coast to coast; including a former boss of mine from LA. I went and met with her and gave her the grand tour of Boston since this was here first time to the east coast. Walking the city with her and seeing all the other members of AIA walking I noticed how different the cultures were from the different parts of the country. For example she was amazed how how the buildings were situated on the sites and how they played off one another. Boston is a dense city, especially compared to that of LA which is very spread out. The ornamentation of buildings and the diversity also was something that she was not used to. She said that the buildings are all mixed in with one another, there is no system to which style goes where. Buildings new and old modern or classical would be touching one another and influencing one perception of both buildings. As the day went on we meandered through half the city walking from the fens down the charles to Copley and the commons. The entire time walking she was making observations which she found strange and that seemed perfectly normal to me. She was asking about the randomness of the streets and how there are no grids or how the roads angle and turn. Also, Boston is very much a walkers city so she was dumbfounded at how many people actually walked [and walked wherever they wanted]. I found it very comical when she was asking why people were not waiting for the crossing signs and why people were not crossing in the cross walks; people in most other parts of the country only cross in the designated areas and they only go when the lights say they can. So my Saturday was spent being a tour guide to the great and new appreciated city of Boston. She learned many things about the ways of life in the northeast and i got a good laugh at things that she found strange.