Is Boston A Second-Tier City?

By Meghna Chakrabarti
Nov 2, 2011, 3:50 PM
49 Comments

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told a crowd at Stanford University over the weekend that if he had to do it all over again, he would have "just stayed in Boston." AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Scott Kirsner is the Innovation Economy columnist at The Boston Globe, and as such, he’s a man in the know.

We had him on the program when BusinessWeek published its list of the 10 best cities for tech start-ups. Cambridge ranked sixth. Boston didn’t even make the list.

That made Kirsner think Boston has a public relations problem, because as he put it, Massachusetts is top-notch at a number of things. As he told Radio Boston:

We take this nascent technology that’s developed in an MIT lab or one of the great schools around here, and we commercialize it and get it out of the lab and turn it into a new product, whether that’s a new drug or whether it’s a new lithium ion battery, like A123 systems — they were the biggest IPO of 2009, a Massachusetts company. Or, the governor was just talking about all sorts of clean tech or energy related innovation. So we’re really good at that. It’s just that we don’t have that Steve Jobs gene of marketing it along the way.

So that was Scott Kirsner last year. Imagine our surprise when this week, Kirsner blogged that Boston doesn’t have a PR problem. He wrote:

We’re a second-tier financial services town. Second-tier technology town. Second-tier retail town. Second-tier defense contracting town.

And then he twisted the knife, writing: “We’re number two, but our sense of entitlement keeps us from trying harder.”

Is Boston a second-tier city? In tech, finance, retail? If you think so, how come? Or do you think this is missing the forest for the trees — that Boston’s rich mix of businesses in a variety of sectors gives it the edge that other cities don’t have. And considering that Boston isn’t competing against just New York, Silicon Valley, Chicago or Austin, but also against global players like Shanghai and Bangalore, what would you do to make Boston a top-tier world city?

Guests:

Scott Kirsner, correspondent, The Boston Globe and Innovation Economy blogger
Saul Kaplan, founder, Business Innovation Factory
Bill Warner, founder, Avid Technology and Wildfire Communications
Dave Porter, senior vice president for economic development, Austin Chamber of Commerce

Anonymous

We are losing young people because the rent is too damn high.

Steve

You are entirely correct john. I am currently in the greater Boston area as an engineering co-op living in a comfortable apartment and making the equivalent of 44k a year, and I am saving NOTHING. Not for poor money management, as some might accuse, but rather the cost of rent, food, and any semblance of a social life literally saps my bank account dry.

Young people like me can go practically anywhere else in the country and get much much more for their money.
Anonymous

Rent’s high in every major city. I’ve been looking for places in DC and they’re comparable to Boston.

What is expensive in Boston is public transportation. I commute 140 miles a day in MD for less money that I used to pay in MA to commute 70 miles. So it’s more than twice as expensive to commute in MA.

redsox_girl

You’ve missed the point Missouri. I’m happy to know you don’t live in MA with that attitude and perspective.

Anonymous

What point would that be precisely?

John said that you’re losing people because the rent is too high. It was a pretty short post.
ex-Boston person

You are inadvertently proving the original point of this article. If the attitude of folks living in Boston is basically, “if you complain about stuff here, just move away,” then Boston will stay 2nd tier. The observation I made living 9 years in Boston is that way too many people have the attitude summed up by redsox_girl.

If you even wish to improve the city you live in, you need to be willing to hear these complaints and criticisms and at least make a real attempt at assessing their validity.

Here’s my own assessment:

- finance: 2nd tier (Fidelity bailing a big example)

- high tech: almost 1st tier if you count the entire metro area, including Cambridge (lots of small to mid size companies, but no Apples, Googles, FB’s)

- health care: 1st tier (obvious)

- biotech: 1st tier (Genzyme, Millenium, etc etc)

- arts scene: 2nd tier (outside of Boston, no one’s heard of the Lyric Opera, MFA is stale, Berkelee grads all leave once they graduate)

- tourism: 1st tier

- food: almost 1st tier (almost entirely due to Barbara Lynch…)

- education: 1st tier

- professional sports: 1st tier

lanes

Out of your 9 categories, you rank two 2nd-tiers and seven 1st-tiers for Boston. Wouldn’t that make Boston a little like 1.2-th tier?

Sirrag

First of all, people, perspective. Boston is a great city by any measure. Not first tier (in anything), but greater nevertheless.

Certainly, though, Boston stands out in one area: the cost of living is outrageously out of line. People would be raving about how amazing Boston is if its cost of living were in line with its reality. Whatever it’s tier status, Boston has first tier expenses, especially for families looking for real estate in its top tier suburbs. I mean, average home costs are often HIGHER in Boston’s top suburbs than New York City’s top suburbs, and THAT’s seriously messed up… I, as a young professional, also found it MUCH easier to find affordable condos in desirable areas of Manhattan than downtown Boston. The true first tier cities (NY, Chicago, SF, LA etc) seem to have a far greater and more acceptable price range than the Boston area, which seems to just start off at “expensive.” I know two families, in fact, who moves to homes in NYC and Chicago suburbs because they couldn’t find affordable housing in comparable Boston neighborhoods.If Boston’s prices were more in line with other second-tier but also very desirable cities (Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle, etc), it would be the hottest city in the country. Make no mistake, in my mind, cost may be THE thing actually keeping Boston developing the human and material capital it needs to attain first tier status, actually…

lanes

What determines “cost of living”? It’s the people. Boston is expensive because people are willing to pay a premium to live here. Do you have an explanation?

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=530642827 Dave Palmacci

What I notice about Boston isn’t just the geographical problem; why have an expo or business here when people can do it in New York City? But also Boston tries to be this great progressive city but still has this Puritan, old-fashioned conservative leash on itself. Too much regulation, fear of change, and unwillingness to “color outside the lines”. Everyone gets their education here, but they don’t feel welcomed to stay after they get that education (partly because the cost of living here is crazy).

lanes

The cost of living is high here because there’s a demand of people who want to live here.

Also, the city that first supports gay marriage years ahead of every other place in US does not seem to be “unwilling to color outside the lines.” Plus, we’re not kindergarteners.

bob

Kirsner is nuts. Boston has the highest concentration of top quality universities in the world. Boston also has the best hospitals on earth.

Anonymous

Except Johns Hopkins, right?

http://twitter.com/drphilxr Philip Kousoubris

thankyou for mentioning JHU! :)

lanes

Wait, Baltimore. The city of The Wire. Is that what you call community development?

MJM

Yes, and everyone gets their top-quality education and in four to six years, if they haven’t gotten killed in a biking accident, they move to another city.
http://twitter.com/ScottKirsner Scott Kirsner

Bob – you and I agree. (Maybe we’re both nuts.) We’re a global hub of education and healthcare innovation. Everyone knows the former, but we could do a much better job promoting the latter.
http://twitter.com/drphilxr Philip Kousoubris

be careful throwing around that term “best” – hospitals here are not much different from othere 1st and 2nd tier cities. however the community – the spirit of the place – is what seems lacking, confirmed by many of the commentary here. great, you are a VC angel or philanthropist or nobel prize winning PhD with a startup. But what have you done for the community? Too often its an all for one mentality.

Anonymous

Having moved away from Boston to Maryland, I agree Boston is a second tier city.
�
To start with… Ya’ll r snots. ;) If people are leaving it’s because they’d like to live someplace where people are nice, friendly, and down to earth… It’s easier to make friends with people everywhere else in the world.

Your music and night club scene is not even second tier… And Berklee is keeps it from being comparable to places like Kansas.

Your work scene is also not even second tier. It’s lame and insane at the same time. HINT: All speed + no thinking = huge train wreck and that is life at a typical Massachusetts company. And a lot of the companies in MA aren’t doing anything that young people would think is meaningful.

Why would a young person stay there? It’s Cold, the people are cold, the work is meaningless, and there’s nothing fun to do.

K. Lee

The fact of the matter is people are choosing not to leave Boston.

As a native, I am a bit surprised (and concerned) to see that people find Boston unwelcoming, monotone, homogeneous etc. I happen to think the city is very diverse, interesting, and welcoming.

Yes we tend to dress alike — it’s cold and we all want to be warm. YES we do seem to be suffering from some lingering Puritanical mores – we have a lot f young people and we need to find new ways of inspiring them. And YES are trains are out of date — we really need to remedy that.

However, I’d say we are top-tier in trying to preserve our environment (i.e. creating a sustainable ecosystem), education (investing in the future innovators), and protecting human rights.

Sure we could use some modernizing, and we could accomplish that if people would become more involved in community development and entrepreneurship.

I’ve been to NYC and L.A. and lived in London (which I
found similar in many ways). Yet, there is no place I’d rather live. Rather than remarking on what needs to done you could “be the change!”
lanes

You have a chip on your shoulder. Seek therapy.

Loveforlife Jj

I moved here from silicon valley. Boston is not a welcoming place. If you don’t have uncle to pull strings nothing happens. When Boston runs its biz transparently the first class talent might want to do setup shop here.

KPO

I am originally from Minnesota and I have found people more than welcoming here. I think it really depends on how people/students are getting involved on campus or in their industry. In my experience it’s n0t just Boston that you need a connection to get a job, its anywhere in the country in this kind of economy.

steve

I have tried boston a bunch of times but I keep having to move away to make a living. rents are high and there are students willing to do work for half my rate.
steve
MPlante

Seriously? Asking Texas how to get business is like checking in with China (low pay, no regulations—and the tired old right wing no taxes bs).

Texas has the largest # of high school dropouts.
Tone

Having moved to Boston from Chicago and then San Francisco, I was shocked and very disappointed by Boston. From the poor quality of local cuisine to the insular, provincial character of Boston’s neighborhoods to is dismal race relations; Boston is nothing like what I imagined before coming here. Add to that the coldness and rudeness of its inhabitants and you “second tier” starts to sound optimistic…

lanes

So Chicago and SF have better “local cuisine”? In terms of SF, Asian cuisine seems to dominate, and that’s not local. I agree Chicago has food, most of it from other cultures, so NOT local.

I still wonder if you’re so disappointed, why did you come here and why are you still here?

104J

Like Bill Warner I am an angel investor. I think that Scott needs to write a few checks to support some of the awesome start-ups in Boston. Then instead of telling everyone how bad it is – he will see … there are resources in Boston and Cambridge that help start-ups … a great VP of marketing here and the best optimizer of web advertising there and the mobile team that rocks. Yes we don’t have as many big fast growing companies as the valley .. but we have an ecosystem to support innovation that 99% of the country including Austin would die for.
Fe3586

I agree with Scott in many aspects. I think it’s correct to state that Boston has a large pool of smart people, but I feel that the psychology of Boston is still very conservative. What many people do is get an education here and go and create some where else why because as soon as they see Boston as the place where they got an education the doors to being creative and taking risks are open. When it comes to being creative here is extremely difficult. Boston is very traditionalist in its way of doing business. Many of my friends have moved outside of Boston because of this factor. Not only creative people, but people from diverse backgrounds.
Amy @Abazyme

Interesting program, but I regret that there was no mention of “Mass Challenge”. This accelerator program attracted over 800 applicant teams; 120 of which spent the summer getting all manner of mentoring, resources and training to turn great ideas into businesses; and its right here in Boston.

Some of the companies, like Artaic, have a shot at become great employers in the near future. Mass Challenge has become a model that others want to copy, both here in the states and abroad. This years finalists, and I am one of them, were extremely diverse in terms of business sector, age and nationality. Many came to Mass Challenge because Boston is such an attractive place to start a business.

In just two years, founders John Harthorne and Akhil Nigam, they have reached a stunningly large audience including our Governor, Mayor and Scott Case of the Startup/America Partnership. Don’t count Boston out, we may be late to the entrepreneurship table, but we have all the right things to be successful at it.
Fadila Reda

I second Tone in this. Although Boston boasts great natural and material gifts, its weakness lies in its lack of a HEART & SOUL. I lived in other major cities with my husband and two children, but since we moved to Boston our personal life has been snatched away from us. We have been plain miserable. After, almost 8 years living here, and despite the great career prospects we are enjoying here; we are now seriously considering moving to a town with a heart and soul. I hope we can do so soon, before we have major breakdowns and to save our family from breaking apart!
Beez

Cost of living, weather, bigotry, lack of culture are all major problems in Boston. Just because we have The MFA and BSO doesn’t mean we have culture. Like Fadila said we there is no soul! When I travel I realize how lame it really is here. But like the article alludes to we seem to have an inflated view of our city and ourselves. The entire culture and society of Boston is catered to white anglos, and is very unwelcoming to diverse populations. Go 20 minutes outside of the city (or some establishments in the city) and people look at you like they’ve never seen a non-white person before! It’s actually funny sometimes, they get tight, and look constipated. Globalization is reality…and globally you are the minority. Get over yourselves. We’re all people.
However, I think another aspect not being touched upon is the physical size of the city. If Boston were most major cities, the urban core of metro Boston would all be in city limits; Cambridge, Somerville, etc would all be part of Boston. We should annex these outlying cities similar to what Montreal did. It would not only save money but would help develop the city and create more diverse, vibrant neighborhoods, as well as affordable housing. Of course we’d have to improve the public transportation system as well. But this highlights the major problems of corruption and nepotism and things like that which keep power and money in the hands of the few (sound familiar?). Recently I read about a mixed-use development being built downtown and the “affordable” housing for young professionals was something like 4k a month.
A beautiful new home in Charlotte could be bought in the 200′s while here that would get you a fixer- upper in Lowell. Sure, Charlotte is not exactly a cultural mecca, but at least it’s warm and the people are nice.
Most people I know are either leaving or want to leave Boston. Students come here to get an education but then leave.When I finish grad school….I’m outta here!!
http://www.forentrepreneurs.com David Skok

Somehow or another this discussion has not touched on the great startup community that has appeared in Boston over the last four years. Scott himself has helped create this community. To see what I mean you only need to head over to Tech Stars and see all the experienced mentors that are willing to help the new startups. They do this out of love for startups and entrepreneurs, and a selfless desire to make others successful. There is no pay. And that is just one example of the many similar programs that exist in town.

Scott, I just think you got out of bed the wrong side, and decided to see the town with the glass half full. I moved to Boston from England twice, and although I hate February, I love this town, and I love the help that it gave me as an entrepreneur.

I had the choice to locate my startup business in Silicon Valley when I moved here on both occassions, and I chose Boston for the great talent pool, the experienced executives, and the hard working loyal attitude that Bostonian’s bring to work.

http://twitter.com/ScottKirsner Scott Kirsner

David -

I wish it was only a wrong-side-of-the-bed problem.

There are two issues here, I think: how we make the Boston ecosystem more supportive of tech (and other) entrepreneurs… and, how we communicate to the rest of the world what Boston is about, and make the city more of a talent magnet.

Over the past four years (I moved back to Boston from San Francisco in 2007), I give Boston a B+ on the first issue.

I give us a D- on the second issue. Communication and brand was really what the column I wrote was about:

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2011/10/hollywood_nashville_new_york_a.html

http://www.forentrepreneurs.com David Skok

I agree, we have work to do on the second issue. Boston is good at under-promising and over-delivering. We are less good at the promotion part.
Goldman

Scott,�
You are correct. Its interesting to read how many that dislike your position don’t understand the economic dynamics of Boston. The higher costs of living in Boston can be attributed to the huge amount of Government Money that flows into Boston area through Universities, Healthcare, and Government jobs. Two – the cost of food will forever rise faster in Boston because the Trains have evolved and Train crossing in most of Massachusetts cannot accommodate a modern Frieight train as a result everything must come into New England via Trucks. There was a time (a long time ago) when Mile long trains would pull right into Charlestown-MA How can a World class city be lacking in a Modern Train system infrastructure. Three – the Golden age for Massachusetts and Technology was the 1980s and 1990s – this grew out of the Intellectual brain trust that flowed from Digital Equipment Corp and the Universities. The home runs of Tech that thrived in the 1990s grew out a massive Tech bubble and lost of talented folks trained at DEC. Waiting for the 1990s Tech boom to return to Boston may be like waiting for Worcester to one again become the Mecca for Textiles and Mechanics.

Most importantly, very little Money has been made on investing in early stage tech in the last 7-8 years. Meanwhile, the tech company that are starting in Massachusetts are primarily Energy plays that take advantage of Tax Credits from the Federal Government to Fund them selves.

Boston is a terrific area and I hope one day the economic cycles will play to this regions advantages.
Thank you

Nicolekk

It’s not correct or appropriate to capitalize words that are not proper nouns. You’ve inappropriately capitalized “money”, “government”, “trucks”, “energy”, “mile”, “world”, “modern”, “train”, “universities”, “health care”, “mecca”, “intellectual”, “tech”, “textiles”, and “mechanics” – none of which should be capitalized. You make great points but this glaring grammar mistake detracts from them.

Guest

Yeah, pretty much. Bigoted, unsular, second tier
Alex

Part of the problem in the Boston metro, is many of the surrounding towns have “neighborhood conservation” groups which are conservative, and don’t let things move forward, a lot of NIMBY attitude.
Anonymous

first or second is enabled by the top shelf, health, financial, high tcch industries fed by some of the world’s great universities all connected by a very compact geographical and efficient transportation. The public school system in the surrounding areas have been severly watered down to Federal standards from what was not to long ago a shinning star of example for the rest of the nation to follow. 20 years of hard work to create tougher and tougher acadamic standards for k-12 and the beginning of breaking the mold of union control of teacher quality has now been successfully thrown out to enable educational gapologists to reach their watered down goals of equalization. Whether that changes the quality from first to second to 10th or 11th will only be thwarted by a super private school and charter school system that so far still survives.

lanes

Oh lord. It’s gonna take a SUPER private school education to correct your run-on sentences.

GettingOutofDodge.

I’ve been here 4.5 years, having come from Philly. I do think Boston has a lot to offer for a city of its size, but suffers from a massive Puritanical hangover. I was shocked to see how conservative people here are, and not in a political way necessarily. There is a mentality of frozenness, of no change, of colloquialness that was completely unexpected. I do think Menino is trying, but you can’t fight 350 years of static thinking.

On the arts scene, while Boston has decent enough institutionalized art/music scene, there is almost zero art and music of interest actually being made here. Artists don’t stay here; it’s too cold, too expensive, too boring (visually and culturally). It is not a stimulating town. Walking around, I feel like I’m always in the suburbs. Not to be mean (and overgeneralize), but people pretty much all look and dress the same here, in a very suburban way. And I think it’s indicative of the mentality underneath. This is a conservative place, for financial types who don’t care about art and culture, who want their Irish-themed bars bland and boring.

On the plus side, it’s a convenient city, walkable, safe. It does offer a lot for its size. The T needs to get into the 20th century (let alone the 21st), but it’s generally quite usable.

lanes

Wow, you have high expectations being from Philly. Seriously. MFA is probably the best museum in this country outside of the Met in NY. We have a world-class symphony. Our symphony hall is the best in the country. Many cities tried and failed to imitate its sound quality. We don’t have good opera or theater, that I admit.
We have excellent pro sports, which I don’t care about. We also have excellent food. We have proximity to the sea.

I’ll ignore your comment about Irish themed bars for now.

http://twitter.com/drphilxr Philip Kousoubris

(Disclaimer: I’m originally from Philadelphia too) Boston definitely has a “resting on its laurels” approach, due to former tech greatness, due to its famous institutions. Fame does not equal greatness. As a medical person, innovation is blunted outside of the private sector due to some draconian university policies downtown. There’s a lot more to discuss, just don’t have the time…great topic!
Tanya

We’re a first-tier education town and a first-tier historical town. Were are what we are. A lot of these comments below are insightful, some a little cranky. Its all good.
Dave

Having moved from NYC recently, I love it here in Boston. However as a magnificent city of international renown, why does the MBTA stop running around 1am? For that matter how do you hail a cab in this city when the light on top is no indication of if the cab is available or not?
MassExodus

Prosperous and first tier cities realize the importance of public transportation. The Big Dig is evidence of Boston’s backward thinking, lack of foresight, and misplaced priorities. Expanding the roadways is short-sighted and has already become obsolete after billions of dollars.

Invest in mass transit, increase train/subway services including hours of operation, extend the length of rail lines into the Boston metro area beyond their limited current scope, and especially look at simple ways to make commuting easier, like connecting North station to South Station, and make it a truly affordable and possible option for commuters. Taxis are also ridiculously expensive, unreliable, and would benefit from serious regulation. It’s a fundamental problem, that if solved will result in increased business and prosperity, decreased traffic and stress from having to drive everywhere in a hostile driving environment, and will affect everything else and pave the way towards first tier.
K.m.

I love Boston. It’s a very idiosyncratic and interesting city. True, it’s not bustling like Manhattan, but it is a better place to live in. It has way better architecture. New York City is filthy (soot everywhere) and ugly. Also, it’s also too materialistic. My friends who moved there only care about how much money they make, and that’s all they care to talk about— Boring. When I travel outside of the country, everyone shows admiration when I say I’m from Boston. I think once again we’re dealing with sour grapes.
104J

I finally figured it out. The reason that some people experience Boston as unfriendly is because we have a lot of folks who are here and hate being here since they have not gotten their act together to move all of the much better places. If they would just leave the rest of us who are having a great time and trying to think of ways to make it better here can find each other and get some work done, make some art together and support some start-ups. I saw hundreds of people at the unconference who are doing just that.

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