Within a two week span this summer, Boston was honored by GQ Magazine as being first in “The 40 Worst-Dressed Cities in America” and by two Michigan psychiatrists as “The Least Friendly City” in the country. So, what’s up Boston? And, is it causal?

Let me start by saying that having excellent sports teams is one of the greatest things about Boston. The downside is that a large swath of the male population does not seem to comprehend that what one wears to see the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots (hats, tee-shirts with stains, shorts, and sneakers with white socks) is not acceptable couture for other occasions. As GQ humorously summarized, Boston is a “Jurassic Park for fashion troglodytes.”

But what about the “least friendly” designation? Mayor Menino, for one, disagrees: “I go to all the events in the city of Boston. People say, ‘gee what a friendly city.’ Ask the cab drivers. They think we have a friendly city also. I don’t know who did this poll. I never heard of it. It’s one of those polls that some people I don’t think there’s
any credibility in it at all.”

Others agreed with the mayor, including Ayla Rosen, a Merchandising Major at Marist College and summer intern at Bostinnovation. In her blog post
Last Week it was Worst Dressed, Now Boston Ranked the Least Friendly City in America, she notes: “Just like the lovely people at GQ, the people filling out the survey might just be jealous that they do not live in Boston. If they think people from Boston they should think about getting out more and perhaps paying a visit to GQ in New York to learn about what it means to be unfriendly.”

Still others mentioned the history of discrimination in Boston as a cause for the “Least Friendly” accommodation.

Having grown up in Westchester NY, and having lived here for more than 30 years, I understand the perception that Boston is unfriendly. The truth is that Boston is both tribal (I think this sums it up much more accurately then ‘discriminatory’ does) and much more conservative and cautious then NYC. It can take years to meet your neighbors, but, once you do – they’ve got your back. And, if you’ve ever driven in Boston, you’ll know that Boston drivers don’t give you the warm and fuzzies.

So – can being the ‘worst dressed’ city actually result in Boston being the ‘least friendly’ too? Perhaps. As I identified in my 5th grade paper on what kind of mother I wanted to be “Looking nice helps because people are more likely to be attracted to nice, neat looking people. Then if you have a nice personality, they will like you. They probably wouldn’t have found out if you didn’t look nice.”

There you go Boston, words of wisdom from an 11 year old New Yorker. And Boston, as badly dressed and unfriendly as you may be, you’re still my home, and the rest of you are just plain jealous!

Anne Weiskopf lives in the Boston area, and has spent many years in the tech media and B2B market. She provides sales and business development services to agencies and companies who are utilizing social media strategies and tools, and will be launching a blog called “Rip Off The Roof” in the near future.
You can find her on Twitter @AnneWeiskopf 

Image - freefotouk

Overall you would think that it was the end of the world in the Northeastern quadrant of the United States. This white stuff that falls from the sky was ruining everything. Funny thing is that EVERYONE has missed the point.

If you live in the Northeast from New Jersey to Maine, you can expect to see snow in the winter. It is a fact of life, it is cold and it happens. Kind of like heading to the Jersey Shore and seeing meatheads coming out of the woodwork.

Sure it sucks, but it is not the end of the world.

Yeah, it’s a new year, but no changes happen in the winter. Everything is dead and uninspiring, not to mention cold. I have some things that I am going to try to change, how about you?

A six pack of Boston Beer Works' Fenway Ale

On one of my first trips up to Boston to visit my wife four years ago, I was introduced to Boston Beer Works, a microbrew pub with two locations in Boston. They are also home of the best chicken tenders in the city as well. Couple that with my love for craft beers and you have a very happy Jeff.

One of the things that always struck me about Beer Works was that their advertising was always bleh at best, but the locations always had people in them. Their Facebook group was also created by customers not the staff. Seasonally they have the Red Sox (across the street from Fenway Park), Bruins and Celtics (Canal Street location) to thank for putting fannies in the seats, while word of mouth and the previously mentioned lackluster ads take care of the rest of the year.

Being a fan of the restaurant, I was ecstatic for them when it was announced that they were expanding with two locations in Logan Airport. All signs pointed to business being good and that my belly would continue to be filled with chicken tenders. On Saturday afternoon, I made a purchase that made my weekend – a six-pack of their beer from the local liquor store. Granted you could have purchased the beer in Growlers or in a sixer at one of the pubs, but this meant that I could now pick it up on my time and without having to head into the restaurant. It goes to show you that reputation goes a long way. In the case of BBW it overcomes any marketing shortcomings.

So at that I will end my rant on how excited I am for the Boston Beer Works company and that I can get their beers without having to jump on a T. Cheers!

Cold aside, the day was beautiful, seas calm – until we were half way through Boston harbor. That was when we experienced five to 10 foot seas, needless to say half of the boat was not feeling to well. I had the benefit of a jug of Cape Codders to keep me sane. When we entered the ocean, the seas were calm and we saw a whole bunch of whales. Below is the video that I grabbed of the whales coming close to the boat to say hi.

After ripping through all of the books I had in the house, I heard author, Michael Connelly on the morning

Image courtest Motorbooks.com

show on WEEI talking about his new book Rebound! Basketball, Busing, Bird and the rebirth of Boston. At first it sounded like just another sports book, but then the author went into details about how the book not only chronicled the Celtics glory days and the rise of Bird’s team, but also the tumultuous time in the city of Boston during the busing fiasco.

Figuring it sounded like an appealing read I picked up the book and started away and quickly couldn’t put it down.

Not only was the jumping between stories seamless, but the racial unrest in Boston actually seemed to parallel the falling from grace of the NBA’s most storied franchise.

Originally coming from Jersey, I had heard stories of how the city was racist and how there was a scandal around busing, but never really understood it.

Chapter after chapter, I was shocked that some of the happenings of the book were something happening in one of the country’s oldest most revered cities and not in the pages of Mississippi Burning.

With the emphasis put on the history of the city, I almost think that it should be added to the curriculum of the Boston Public School System in an effort to educate less history repeat itself.

Connelly’s most powerful image in the book is the culmination celebration in Government Center of the Celts championship, almost washing away the racial unrest that consumed the city less than three years earlier.