I guess I will react in real life in the future with a shrug and an “OK” and move on 
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I definitely feel welcome and I am actually more amused by the requirements of specificity by some posters.
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c’mon. i used the smiley shruggie. 
for example, walking from hojoko, which actually is in the fenway, to select oyster in the back bay can take 15-20 minutes.
he’s got a big starting list for a great city.
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Huh? I don’t think associating ICOB with Fenway and Select with Back Bay are stretches at all. I don’t get it. Isn’t Select firmly in Back Bay? And I would tell an out-of-towner that ICOB is near Fenway.
I was commenting on the use of Fenway in the list to describe the locations of both ICOB and Select.
It’s great to hear you experienced our public transport as “much better.” We are spoiled in many ways, and so hard-boiled so to speak in other ways, and we sure don’t get local asparagus and strawberries in February, and we adore our local corn and tomatoes when they come in August.
You are sure getting lots of info on what Boston “is” culturally, and the neighborhood names matter…we are a small, insular town in many ways. And we are for sure opinionated. If you are inclined to read, Common Ground by Anthony Lukas is a wonderful book. Our food is so much better than when I came back here from SF bay area in 1989…welcome to your family, and hoping your daughter, especially, likes it here. Such a big change from San Diego.
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woops! lineage is actually closing on 8/1. sorry.
What’s the problem with 15-20 minute walk ?
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Boston is a very European city and reminds me a lot on my hometown of Hamburg in Germany (including the good public transportation).
I don’t think it will be very difficult for our daughter to adapt including the weather which will be tougher for her parents to “accept”. I think we will most miss the produce (just walked this morning over a Farmer’s Market here in SD and had amazing local strawberries, mulberries, okra, zucchini, peaches, heirloom tomatoes and carrots, corn, plums to name a few) and the beer scene (tried quite a few local beers on our recent trip to Boston and they are OK but it feels like SD 10 years ago in terms of quality and refinement).(And than there 3-4 restaurants which are like our “second living room” (chefs and FOH know us by name, some we even know private) which we will miss).
for me, most times, nothing. but there may be occasions one is trying to catch a game, movie or a show so thinking select and hojoko are rubbing shoulders might be a problem. other people do have mobility issues or might be pushing a stroller.
eventually, if this site takes off and grows, this thread will be read by many others visiting and transplanting.
I have three joint replacements and some days I can’t walk that far. Some other people are also handicapped. It’s not laziness.
i was inferring nothing of the kind and mentioned mobility issues as a deterrent to a longish walk, not as a slam. i have a number of friends who need canes or wheelchairs. sorry if i phrased that wrong.
You’ll quickly learn the local seasons for all of these and more. A short time for local strawberries (and one year, it was maybe two weeks, because of lots of early rains which drowned out the fields - and the strawbs were rather tasteless that year as well). And just because farmers market vendors have carrots, plums, nectarines, heirloom tomatoes does NOT mean it’s theirs. Definitely ask and learn the availability time frames - most good vendors put a sign out that says “Our Heirloom Tomatoes”, etc. There’s also a great Hmong vendor at many local farmers market called Flats Mentor Farm. Here’s the list of farmers markets they participate in:
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It is an interesting question - and really depends on perspective. When I first moved here everyone kept talking about “squares” but as a real tourist (or transplant) God only knows where those squares are. I always had to ask “is that in Cambridge?” (Etc). I’ve been here a year and I still have to google where some of the squares are that people keep referencing.
is it confusing because it breaks cities and towns down to smaller parcels? “(x) town square” as a locator has been in use for thousands of years… am not being snarky, genuinely asking…
even though the historical open-air space may be gone many “squares” are also the name of t stops so when i moved here in the 80s i had no issue with it.
It’s confusing for tourists and transplants because it becomes information overload. Now you’re not only trying to remember where all the towns are - now you have to remember which squares are in which towns.
I get the system, it is just a lot to remember and parse. Maybe it is different if you’re only dealing within one town. But when I moved to Waltham - all of a sudden I needed to know squares across all the towns. I can’t imagine trying to figure Boston out without google maps.
i learned my way around boston as a broke student, so mostly walking with very little mbta, but back then harvard square was the last stop on the red line, lol. perhaps it’s that you’re learning as a driver? then again, people process information differently too.
at this point, most people are relying on google maps and gps and it is changing how our brains navigate anyway.
Thanks so much for compiling this list, and for your patience as we try and help fine-tune it. This will be a terrific resource for visitors and seasoned Boston HO’s alike.
Teatro is really downtown, overlooking Boston Common, and not in Chinatown.
For cheese, I’d add the Concord Cheese Shop in Concord, MA to the list. Good sandwiches too. It’s a good place to grab some picnic supplies and a bottle of wine and find a nice little spot in this scenic town or in nearby Lexington. They are very accommodating as far as tastes and samples as you decide what you want.
There is an Il Casale in Lexington as well as Belmont.
For Lebanese, Cafe Barada is a sweet, humble little place outside of Porter Sq. in Cambridge. The food is simple and comforting and the people are always gracious and warm. Along with their tasty mujedarra and ful lmudammas they always have another vegetarian option from a rotating list. We haven’t tried the kebabs.
For Indian, Shanti just opened another location in Kendall Sq., Cambridge.
But the goal of any posts is not to cover all bases for all different types of persons. Everybody reading any post has the responsibility to do his/her own follow up reading.
(And I doubt this site or FTC will be come well known in the future)
Describing seasons is already a huge difference - we have for example about 3-4 “seasons” for strawberries every year
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