Lines, Lines, Lines
Sunna Kwan M'07
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| Boston's Famous "Green Line" |
Housing is pretty important. Where you live can help determine what specialty you’ll pick, what bars you’ll visit, how good you’ll smell (depending on how close the laundromat is), and whether you’ll get to school on days when you’ve slept in, and could potentially determine who you marry or whether you’ll marry at all. Trust me, it could happen. I mean, according to our FAO, a difference of $300 a month could end up being about $600 by the time it’s paid back. Multiply that by 12 months, then by three or more years and then we’ve got a big number on our hands.
So we ask ourselves, are we going to stay where we are or are we going to rouse ourselves from our safe little burrows to go explore the wonderful world beyond Posner? Do we dare live beyond the 25 minute walking radius to school? Can we depart the great and historic trolleys of the ancient and decrepit "It’s-All-I-Know Line?" Though I’m sure you can ask Mitesh to help you make the decision on whether to leave, (there’s got to be a Top Ten List on this, somewhere), once you do decide to move out, the next issue is, where is the all around best place to live? To help you, I’m here to give you the DL on some characteristics of the oh-so-familiar and reliable MBTA subway lines.
RED
Your fellow travelers: mostly business commuters,
crazies, nerdies, students, pit kids
Mentality: The red line has a particular flavor of people who have heard
that the world is a mean, mean place. People are really determined to not
make eye contact but to have their own way. In the mornings, people get
off at Downtown Crossing and engage in a silent but physical struggle to
get out of a single person exit. Look around, and you’ll see that
most people are determined to look down at their feet and deftly dodge,
cut, and weasel their way to exit a half second faster. You’ll see
Harvardites, MITers, grad students, lots of tourists, and one’s share
of pit kids (usually kids from more $$ towns who are, for some reason or
another, attracted to the pit around the Harvard stop). Big Red is hot line
to panhandle or ride rails if you’re crazy and/or homeless, so there’s
always opportunities to do your good deed.
Destination: Downtown Crossing. Around a seven to ten minute walk to The
Sack.
Origin: Alewife to Mattapan/Braintree.
Potential Areas to Shop: Alewife (North Cambridge) to JFK/Umass (Dorchester)
Tips: It’s the most frequent line. Master the morning “dodge,
cut and weasel” and avoiding eye contact.
ORANGE
Your fellow travelers: working class, minorities,
some business people making the jump to Back Bay
Mentality: The orange line is populated by people who know the world is
a mean, mean place and will tell you so. People will look you in the eye.
No matter how many drunk homeless that yell or try to sit on you, try to
hit on you or malevolently stare at you, with just with the right mentality,
you’ll be alright. For all the bad reputation it gets, people are
often too busy struggling to survive to really harass you for long. Just
don’t talk smack to anybody. You’ve got Franklin Park/Zoo around
the Green Street, the Arnold Arboretum around Forest Hills, a farmer’s
market and the North End in Haymarket, and Northeastern at Ruggles.
Destination: NEMC – right to the front door. Closest drop to The Sack
Origin: Oak Grove (Malden) to Forest Hills (Roslindale/Jamaica Plain)
Potential Areas to Shop: Oak Grove on down to Roslindale. Some people call
it a little hairy up by Malden and right by Ruggles/Roxbury Crossing.
Pros: Closest net commute from end to end
Tips: Master the “I’m harmless but not a push over” countenance
and avoiding looking too hard at anything.
GREEN
Your fellow travelers: Students, others
Mentality: This is the true Boston Line, and you’ll see a decent population
of Red Sox fans when season starts. This will lead to crowding and waiting.
Wait, you’ll also see extensive crowding during rush hour. And the
Boston Marathon. And weekends. You’ll see lots of students because
of BC and BU, and a fair bit of puzzled tourists. This is the oldest line
of the T system, and can take you around the greater Boston area, Brookline,
and to the world of suburbia. The G line also gets you to the Science Museum,
Symphony Hall, Fenway, BC, BU, Northeastern, The Pru, Copley, hospitals,
etc.
Destination: Park Street
Origin: Lechmere (a toe into Cambridge) to BC, Cleveland Circle, Riverside,
Heath (Boston and the western beyond)
Potential Areas to Shop: No restrictions really. The price ranges from expensive
to decent, though the commute has a potential to be a bit long.
Tips: Know how to squeeze in to small spaces and survive on used air. Patience
is also useful, as the trolley is deliberate and slow.
BLUE
Your fellow travelers: Quiet, quiet people.
Mentality: Sorry, I can’t help you much here. I don’t really
know anybody who lives on the Blue Line, but you’ll see people going
to the airport. They’re just really quiet. Maybe they’re scared.
You can go live out by Revere, where people have mad accents and my friend
Joe lives. Wonderland has a dog racing track and Revere Beach is where the
mob is supposed to dump bodies. You’ve also got the Aquarium, and
that’s supposed to be nice.
Destination: Government Center to State to transfer or walk.
Origin: Bowdoin (downtown Boston) to Wonderland (Revere)
Potential Areas to Shop: Hmm. Hmmm.
Tips: Not a very popular line. I’d follow the opinion of the masses.
SILVER
Your fellow travelers: I’ve never ridden this line. I don’t
know. It was supposed to be a T Line, but hasn’t quite reached it’s
potential.
Mentality: I can’t help you much here, either. It’s a Bus. It’s
good for Dudley Square, I guess, but if you think of anything more, be sure
to share.
Destination: NEMC- even closer to the front door.
Origin: Dudley to Downtown Boston
Potential Spots to Shop: Eeeee, ummm. Dudley Square?
Tips: This is definitely a Black Box, new, and mostly unexplored by the
student masses. You have the rest of Boston and Cambridge to shop, why bother
the poor, didn’t-quite-make-it-to-subway-hood Silver line?