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Citizen complaint of the day: Our drab and dreary so-called holiday decorations
By adamg on Sat, 12/02/2023 - 6:16pm
A put out citizen files a 311 complaint about Boston's less than world-class public Christmas decorations:
Boston is very disappointing when it comes to holiday decorations. I have traveled all over Europe only because I want to see their beautiful holiday decorations. Germany. Prague. Romania. To name a few. I’m asking Michelle Wu to make Boston a more holiday friendly and wonderful place for people as a December destination. Maybe next year. I would be glad to head up a committee.
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Comments
Another case of someone
Another case of someone trying to shove their holiday down our throats.
Boston has too may Xmas
Boston has too may Xmas decorations. Tone it down.
Do you complain about other
Do you complain about other holidays or just your own?
They should be thankful for
They should be thankful for not being mugged.
Shut the f up
Your posts on here are useless drivel. You contribute nothing meaningful here. Why don't you find a better hobby?
.
I mean the same could be said for magoo.
Perhaps
But I don't detect any malicious intent to Magoo, just silliness that I can easily scroll past.
You can scroll past this
You can scroll past this person just as quickly. They’re both insufferable.
It’s the internet, not real life. Just ignore it. If someone were speaking like Magoo in real life, he’d be sectioned. If someone were saying whatever this other guy’s internet name was saying in real life you’d give it no consideration.
People like him, Magoo, swirly, are only significant voices in the comment sections of the internet. All saying different things, but similar in their “real life” insignificance.
Insufferable? Yes. But it's not that which catches my ire
They post these brief, often non-sequitorial comments that are highly disingenuous, conveying with innuendo that there is an issue here that is far more routine or common than reality. It is a common disinformation tactic; to those unfamiliar, seeing a comment like "They should be thankful for not being mugged" would suggest that there is some major issue with muggings in Boston. I know of no statistical evidence that would support such a belief, sure we have crime in Boston, but not in such a way that a discussion about one person's perception of a lack of holiday decorations in December should instead be focused on crime.
Real life people read information posted on the internet and internalize that information, whether or not it is real or true information. From that information, people develop real life beliefs and make real life decisions. UHub is a source of news and information, people do read this website in the pursuit of gaining knowledge about the local area so it is a place that is at risk of being used for spreading disinformation.
Control freak much? Tis’ the season.
There is lots of drivel between the gems in the comment section. Do your own personal censorship by just scrolling past any name you don’t like or moving on from any post that irks you.
Then everything will be just nice and dandy for you.
Rich
.
I prefer nothing. Go to bed.
I prefer nothing. Go to bed. Lights out. The last mechanically deficient train stops in a few hours.
Comm Ave
The lights on the trees on Comm Ave in Back Bay are lovely. Check them out.
Suburbs
There are some really over the top displays on houses out in the suburbs. Complainer should get a car and drive around Billerica or Acton.
No need for a car
Somerville Illuminations involves a lot of light displays this time of year. You can walk or bike mapped self-guided tour routes, join an organized ride, or take a trolley tour! https://somervilleartscouncil.org/illuminationstour
A bit further out, Lynn Fells Parkway in Melrose/Saugus between Main Street, Melrose and Route 1 is now visible from space.
If you are up to a two-mile round trip walk or bring your bike on the train, you can get there using the Orange Line to Oak Grove and take a 137 Bus. It is pretty intensely surreal on a bike or outside of a vehicle.
Somerville Illuminations Tour
No Somerville trolley tours any longer, unfortunately - follow the link that you posted. It's too bad. I used to enjoy the trolley tour a lot, but first covid hit and now apparently the cost of trolley rentals has become prohibitive.
Even when we were taking the tour, my husband and I started a tradition of booking a Zipcar for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve and revisiting our favorite spots. The Somerville Arts Council posts updated maps every year.
Also, Somerville has fewer brightly illuminated houses
than it used to back when the trolley tours started. It's still a good place to tour on bicycle or foot.
I have a nomination for the most over the top display
There's a house in Southboro that is way, way, WAY over the top and I nominate it for the biggest/gaudiest display around. It's at 150 Parkerville Rd, just south of rte 9. There is a long driveway that is lit up the whole way. Here's a brief article about it
Ridiculous
If this person really wanted to head up a committee they would take the trouble to do it, not just compain on an app.
Magoo sez
Happy Life Day. Magoo is so happy to celebrate life day once again, now that that Sith controlled galactic empire has been overthrown Magoo can express his joy-fullness to the greatest extent possible. Magoo.
I'd suggest that the major
I'd suggest that the major parts of Boston that tourists go to are sufficiently decorated and are quite lovely.
Regarding all the neighborhoods, Boston is decentralized but supportive in those spaces. My recommendation to anyone looking for "more" to join their local Main Street , civic group or business district group. They are often tasked with decorating the neighborhoods. If the complainer wants to head a committee they could go to one of their local groups and offer to help. In my experience they always need support and people.
I'd also point out that the city of Boston goes crazy with things like tree lightings. In Dorchester you can barely walk ten feet without wandering into a tree lighting ceremony a month before Christmas. The Mayors office sets out on a trolley all weekend trying to make sure the Mayor and others can make it to the numerous lightings.
Every city does it differently but I've always felt like Boston has done just about the right amount when it comes to the holiday decorating season and I do enjoy that the neighborhoods are given some independence to do it their own way. It makes for a unique feel to the different parts of the city.
I agree.
The holiday decorations are the least of my worries about Boston and they suit me just fine as they are. That the lighting on the Common has not changed much since I was a little child makes me happy. No reindeer anymore, but plenty of dogs and people with reindeer horns. It may be a bit staid and sparse or hokey for some, but isn’t that what Boston style is? So many constant changes elsewhere especially with ugly new buildings and loss of local business. I like the continuity from year to year.
It’s reassuring that the Common and individual neighborhood traditions continue as people remember them from the past or form new memories of their new lives in this old city.
I hope there will be some caroling at the Parkman Bandstand.
Boston's longstanding tradition of banning Christmas displays
The Puritans more than frowned on such things as they were practiced in Europe - they were banned outright!
I also don't get what the poster is complaining about. The city doesn't need to be hyperbright at any time of year and the lights we have seem designed to be enjoyable to those on foot/human scale wheels. There are many local displays with quirks and charm throughout the city, like all that inflatable Charlestown silliness that takes over a little park.
Following the Mayor's
Following the Mayor's Enchanted Trolley Tour sounds like a good cure for this person.
Lighting up Christmas trees is like a full time job for the mayor at this time of the year -last weekend Michelle Wu and her entourage were already spreading the enchantment in every square in Dorchester. For someone on the curmudgeon spectrum like me, this sounds like the most insufferable job!
https://www.boston.gov/departments/tourism-sports-and-entertainment/mayo...
That was my reaction as well.
That was my reaction as well. I've never been to Europe during the holidays but I've been involved in planning holiday festivities in multiple neighborhoods and cities locally and the region does a decent job of decorating. Boston (and Dorchester in particular) are among that group that always does a good job with Christmas aesthetics. The Dorchester holly trolley tour is the first thing that came to my mind too. There are so many trees being lit up , so close to each other, if time wasn't an issue you could easily walk past a half dozen city Christmas trees.
The Commitee
The key points in this post, which appears to have been posted from the State House, seem to be "I have traveled all over Europe" and "I would be glad to head up a committee". I think the author should be appointed chair of The Intersection of Joy Committee to Consider the Opinions and Experiences of the Chair of the Committee. Membership voluntary.
Case closed
"Invalid"
Guess 3-1-1 isn't for suggestions, just problems?
Traditionally in most places
Traditionally in most places 311 is for reporting mon emergency issues and distributing information. It is not a policy venue.
The information from 311 may be used to create policy but it is not designed for policy creation. The complaintent would be better off calling the mayors office directly or talking to their local elected officials.
It's not that different from the comment section of a blog. I could say what I want here and it might even turn into policy because someone liked what I said... But this is not the venue to put something down into and expect it to form into policy or reality.
Aw, makes me think of the
Aw, makes me think of the yearly holiday displays at “the castle” on the Jamaicaway many years ago…..
I thought we already
won the War on Christmas . . .
We did but it's not a thing
We did but it's not a thing anymore. It never really was a thing actually just a truly lame political ploy. An effective but still truly lame political ploy.