Boston vs Portland

USA · North America

Boston

is Jamaica Plain
USA · North America

Portland

is Alberta Arts District

Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood with a main street; Alberta is a main street with a neighborhood attached. In Boston, Centre Street runs from the Latin bodegas of Hyde Square down to Jamaica Pond, with 281 acres of Olmsted's Arboretum open free every day of the year. The bars are old and small - the Midway Café takes cash and caps at ninety-nine people. Alberta is thirty blocks of murals and food - Indian spice one door, Basque pintxos the next - and on summer Last Thursdays the city shuts fifteen blocks to traffic for the art walk. Go to Boston if you want to live somewhere for a week. Go to Portland if you want to walk one street and never run out of things to look at.

The Brooklyn of

Boston is Jamaica Plain.

Jamaica Plain stretches along Centre Street from Hyde Square, the state-designated Latin Cultural Quarter, down to the pond Olmsted folded into the Emerald Necklace. Tuesday afternoon means construction workers and doctors at the same café counter, then trivia night at the Brendan Behan Pub. Saturday night, ninety-nine people squeeze into the Midway Café on Washington Street for the band, cash in hand. You won't find many chain stores here.

The Arnold Arboretum covers 281 acres of Jamaica Plain, paths laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the gates stay open every day of the year at no charge.
The Brooklyn of

Portland is Alberta Arts District.

Alberta is a thirty-block stretch where murals cover every other building and everyone takes their time. The street fills with artists and fire dancers on summer Thursday nights. You'll smell Indian spices from one door, Basque pintxos from the next. This is the PDX of the airport-carpet t-shirts: the creative heart of the city, minus the downtown tourist drag.

On summer Last Thursdays, 15 blocks of NE Alberta Street, from NE 15th to NE 30th Avenues, close to traffic so the community art walk can spill across the pavement.
The numbers

At a glance.

Boston Portland
Region North America North America
Country USA USA
Neighborhood Jamaica Plain Alberta Arts District
Currency USD USD
Language English English
Cost level $$$$ Expensive $$$ Moderate to expensive
Best months September to early October, then late May September, plus July and August
Local time UTC-4 UTC-7
Plug US plug US plug
Emergency 911 911
Vibe overlap

What they share, and what they don't.

Both

MulticulturalLive musicLaid-back

Boston only

LGBTQ-friendlyWalkableCoffee culture

Portland only

Street artGalleriesStreet food
The verdict

It depends on the weekend.

Boston Green space and old bars: 281 free acres of Olmsted parkland, a Latin main street, and cash-only shows in a ninety-nine-capacity room.

Portland Street art and eating on foot: thirty blocks of murals, Indian and Basque food side by side, and car-free Last Thursdays all summer.

Read Boston in full → Read Portland in full →
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