New England → Re: [All] Blizzard of '13

My daughter is finding out that Boston doesn't quite react to a couple of feet of snow like we do. They wanted to go sightseeing yesterday (reminder they are at a motel in Wakefield) as they had an extra day because the concert was pushed back a day. They wanted to go to Salem but couldn't get much further than a mile or so from the motel so they turned back. I believe they have their Netflix account smoking by now. Fortunately I installed a Tonido Pulg2 back last summer so they can access all the files from the motel.

Edit - the pic is their rental car. We (Syracuse) only picked up about 8" so it's just another day.

From what I can tell they are very happy to be there and everyone they have met has been helpful and kind so a big thank you from me to all of you!

Nothing like a paralyzing snow storm to bring out the best in everybody. Unlike other forms of storm the disaster factor is low to non-existent, it's beautiful to look at, and everybody is stuck whereever they are (very egalitarian). Even the most stubborn control freaks decide it's bigger than them and best to just give-in and relax and be kind for once. Especially pronounced in high-density neighborhoods: first introductions to those people you've lived amongst for ten years occur and it blows the mind a little.

Then right back to being inexplicably frenetic assholes.

If there is one constant is it's the same regardless of your address

. LOL And how is it handled wherever you are?

It's a lot easier to handle large snowfalls when you're in a city that gets it regularly and was built for it. Wider streets, people that park in garages and driveways rather than directly on the narrow streets, etc. Plus when you get this kind of thing more often, the city has more resources to handle it. It doesn't make sense to pay for a ton more snow resources in Boston, so we just have to make do during a storm like this.

The driveway/parking lot to my apartment building is so narrow they can't get a plow down it with this much snow... our city is not designed around the once-every-ten-year snowfall and it was not designed for cars, either. Just the way it is.

I used to live on Green St. near Bay and would have just as soon voted to make a big chunk of Cambridgeport a no car zone. Great neighborhood! (at least in the '80s) and charm factor would go through the roof if it was blocked-off to cars. I never would have left.

Oh, that would be blissful! I can never understand why so many of my neighbors want cars, anyway. Why pay all that money when you don't really need to?

I live in Syracuse, NY where we usually win the coveted "Snowiest City In The US" prize which is a bronzed truss

Because of our proximity to Lake Ontario (and hence the lake effect snow) we get dumped on fairly regularly but nowhere near as much as they do about 20 miles north on the Tug Hill plateau. Like Sarah said we're built to handle lots of snow.

Not an overly snowy year... so far.