Boston: #2 City for Singles
07-03-2010, 12:04 PM
OK, here's the rundown on Boston. If you want more detail or are actually coming here, just shoot me a PM or something. Like I said, I've lived here for 6-7 years, know most of the big promoters in town and have the hook ups in most places. So if you're one of the main posters/players on the travel board (you know who you are), don't hesitate to hit me up.
Boston in General: In general, I find think the quality in Boston is decent (above other B-list US cities like DC, Chicago, Orlando, SF, but below Miami, NYC, LA), but the ease of hook up is pretty high. There are a number of reasons for this:
1) Single women to single men ratio: for whatever reason, the east coast has a higher ratio of single women and the west coast has a higher ratio of single men. This is particularly pronounced in the northeast and peaks in the Boston/NYC/Phile/Baltimore corridor. No idea why this is. But it's true and if you travel around the states, it's noticeable.
2) In general Boston men are notorious for being emotionally closed-off, dry and having nothing interesting to talk about. It's the Irish and Puritan heritages I think. I see fewer random guys approaching girls up here than almost anywhere. Your competition is almost nothing. Guys up here just like to drink and get in fights with each other, not talk to girls. The women up here CONSTANTLY complain about this. The fact that an attractive girl here can actually complain about not getting approached enough (and many do) should be enough reason on it's own to check the town out.
3) Speaking of drinking. People in Boston drink... a fucking lot.
4) Women here tend to be liberal and more educated. This is a plus for me, but may not be for everybody. But I just tend to find college-educated chicks easier, probably because they're easier to talk to. And also probably because I'm a smart dude and they find that attractive, whereas your drop-out cocktail waitress doesn't.
5) As has been pointed out, men have NO fashion sense up here whatsoever. I'm regularly dumbfounded by the lack of any style when I go out. Shitty polo shirt and a Red Sox cap is pretty standard for most men here. At the VERY most you'll get a guy in a button down and cheap jeans. You throw on top of that the fact that the college educated, liberal women here see themselves as super cosmopolitan and are basically all Carrie from Sex in the City wannabes, then you can get a lot of props for dressing well. I regularly get complimented and even asked if I'm a model up here. And I'm not even that good-looking. It's just because I'm dressed so stylish compared to every other guy. That and everyone assumes I'm gay.
6) Proximity of venues. Also mentioned. There are clusters of venues in the city that are all walking distance from one another. You throw in a subway system and plentiful cabs and you have pretty good logistics working for you.
Boston Venues:
Clubs: Clubs up here are very hit and miss and seasonal. When they miss, it's like Jersey Shore 2.0. Bunch of guidos and chubby Italian chicks. Bad news bears. When it hits, you get tons of hot girls in a packed venue that actually has cool people in it. Typically, the new "hot" venues are overflowing and you need to know someone to get in, depending on what time of year it is.
Lounges: I actually think Boston has some of the best lounges and upscale bars out of anywhere. I think it's because there's so many young-professionals here. Similar to NYC, you run into a lot of women in their mid to late 20's who are stuck working 50-60 hour weeks and like to unwind with expensive cocktails in a nice hotel bar. These bars usually only have pathetic 40-year-old divorcees hitting on them, so they're RIDICULOUSLY easily swoops.
Bars: As Mixx said, Boston's Bar/Pub scene is a shitload of fun. Especially if one of the Boston sports teams is doing well that season. I don't care where you're from, you have to leave the US to see a city as crazy about their sports teams as Boston is. We're fucking fanatical up here. These dive bars can be tons of fun. Especially when you get the local townies named Murph and Sully downing 13 beers in one sitting and threatening the safety of the TV and anyone within 10 feet in a thick Boston accent.
But as far as women goes, they're pretty low in quality. You get a diamond-in-the-rough every once in a while (I snagged a gorgeous runway model in a dingy dive on a Thursday night once), but for the most part, you're not going to find more than 1-2 girls worth your time in any given bar.
Other things to know:
Boston is VERY seasonal. The best time of year to come here BY FAR is September-November with April-May being almost as good. The city completely empties out in summer-time because of the colleges and can be pretty dead. And the winter gets so fucking cold that nobody goes out January-March. I've shown up to clubs in January to literally only 30-40 people and maybe 10 girls total in the whole place. And honestly, I don't blame them. This is why I go to South America in the winter.
But I digress. The fall is amazing here. The weather is perfect. All of the college kids are back and excited to party. There are still a lot of tourists around. All the girls are tanned and in-shape from the summer and still wearing their tiny skirts.
Specific venues/areas:
Boylston Street: Nice series of bars running 1-2 miles all the way downtown with a few bars on each block. The further away from downtown you get, the divier they are. But they're fun. McGreevy's, Lir, Whiskey's, Pour House are good dives with lots of college kids. Further down, Vox and Lenox Hotel are good but very hit and miss. Down by the common you get Gypsy, which is always a pretty solid club, as well as Estate, and Liquor Store. Estate and Liquor Store are pretty fucking weak these days. I'd avoid.
Theatre District: Has the best clubs right now. Roxy, Felt, Splash, Umbria, Rumor, Venu. Rumor and Venu are pretty trashy these days. Umbria was sick last fall before I left, but I went there last night and it was very mediocre.
Fanuiel Hall: Very touristy and lots of college kids. Wide variety of venues, but most of them are shittier bar-type places.
Allston: Only good when school is in. The college scene in Boston. This is where I learned my tricks of the trade when I was finishing up school so Allston will always has a soft-spot in my heart. But don't bother unless you're under 25.
Cambridge: Don't bother.
Recommended places to stay:
Either stay downtown in the Financial District near Fanuiel or stay in/near Copley Plaza. Plenty of nice hotels in both areas. If you stay further out than that (Brookline or Cambridge), you'll be kicking yourself, trust me.