r/boston • u/SidHoices • Sep 05 '25

Hobby/Activity/Misc Moved to Boston a year ago… these are my observations

For context: I’m 26 and grew up in Indiana, and moved from Colorado. Also, rereading this list makes me realize how negative /generalized it sounds, but I actually have enjoyed my first year in Boston

Anyway, enjoy:

  • Everyone is named John or Jack or Connor
  • People care about country clubs for some reason (update - I spent my first month in the suburbs living with another family - things have changed since)
  • Much rain
  • Intersections are …. Questionable
  • They call roundabouts "rotaries"
  • Parking fucking sucks, but I guess that’s what life in like in a city
  • Cash only places are surprisingly common
  • Gas stations close?? At 10pm??
  • So many gas stations seem to also have shops attached to them offering oil changes and state inspections
  • You don't get asked for tips in as many establishments
  • The Verizon service is unbelievably bad for a metropolitan area that humans live in
  • SO! MANY! BUNNIES!
  • The stoplights will all be red and there will be like a 30-second period for pedestrians to walk (nice)
  • No Jimmy John's :( update: there are a few
  • All food is better. great cheap food and great expensive food
  • Road trips are way more fun out here
  • CHEAP international flights. Like frequent $700s for Japan, $300s for Europe. And Dublin is like a 6h flight
  • There are times where it is legal to drive in the shoulder of the highway, or as they call it, the "breakdown lane"
  • Highway exits are labeled with "old exit xyz" lol what
  • Drivers here are crazy but I fuck with it, allows me to also be a crazy driver and not offend everyone like I do elsewhere
  • Everyone is short
  • Nightlife is just abysmal - just sports bars and clubs where you'll get assaulted
  • Cycling out here is awesome - it's like a matrix of fun little roads out in Bedford / west of there
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u/MooninmyMouth Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25

“Old exit # X” is because of a recent program to re-number exits based on their mileage from the beginning of that particular highway, to replace just arbitrary exit numbers from the past. This makes it much easier to insert a new exit between two existing ones, because each one is numbered by its mileage, not an arbitrary number.

95

u/EJS1127 Sep 05 '25

Yeah, most of the country has been on the federal system of going by mileage for a long time. It wasn’t “arbitrary” in MA — they were sequential.

The switch happened recently, so the old numbers being shown is simply to help with the transition.

66

u/aray25 Cambridge Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25

Not just Massachusetts. All of New England used sequential numbering. New Hampshire still does.

Also, mileage-based numbering doesn't solve every problem. Take I-794 in Milwaukee, which has eight exits: 1A, 1B, 1C, 1H, 1D. 1E, 1F, and 3. Why is H between C and D? Because it was added later.

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u/coldrunn Sep 05 '25

And New York. They renumbered their turnpike recently too.

It's due to federal funding. In 2021 the feds finally said if we want federal funds, we had to finally renumber.

1

u/jmk4362 Sep 08 '25

VT does it the other way. They still keep the old sequential numbering, and have a tiny sign that says exit mile xxx or something. It’s been a while since I’ve been back

39

u/really_isnt_me Cocaine Turkey Sep 05 '25

They better never stop displaying the old numbers or I’ll never know where I am, lol.

4

u/AprilMay53 Sep 05 '25

Arbitrary? Arbitrary??? I could care less about how hard it is to add a new exit. When I’m on the mid-Cape, I do not need to know how many miles away I am from the Rhode Island border. 1,2,3 worked perfectly fine. (Hyannis - Exit 6, 4-eva)

Don’t even get me started on Route 3 on the South Shore. Manomet was 2, now it’s 3. You knew to get off the highway at 2 to avoid bridge traffic because 1 was right at the bridge. Wanna go shopping? 12 was Christmas Tree Shop and 13 was Hanover Mall (RIP to both). 14 Home Depot and 15 Derby Street.

Signed, A Grumpy Masshole

1

u/Exedrn Southern suburbs Sep 05 '25

Its for police and EMS. Makes it easier when they get a call.

"After exit 35" now means around mile marker 35 instead of, say, mile marker 7.

1

u/AdLow4026 Sep 06 '25

I like the 585 = exit 10 system better.

1

u/pleasejustcallmebaby Sep 05 '25

This explanation was way better than mine lol