April 9, 2008
Lucky Magazine Thinks Somerville is Part of Boston
Bostonist generally likes Lucky Magazine. They feature clothing and beauty products at a variety of price points and helpfully give you little stickers saying Yes! and Maybe? to remind you which products you want to conspicuously consume.
But the "Shopping Report" section of their May 2008 issue made us wonder whether Lucky's laser-like focus on fashion has blinded them to basic geography. Hip new housewares boutique Grand is listed under "Boston," which we could forgive, but the first sentence of the write-up reads, "Grand is a pioneer in the not-yet-gentrified neighborhood of Somerville and is the kind of store that's strong enough to draw others to the area."
Oh, Lucky. Somerville is not part of Boston! It has its own seal and everything! In fact, Union Square, The actual neighborhood where Grand is located, has its own Wikipedia page. And the wiki even includes a section on gentrification, because, shockingly enough, Grand is not the first upscale business to discover that Somerville isn't exactly a war zone.
While we're on the subject, Lucky, Brookline and Cambridge aren't neighborhoods of Boston either.
Image of this month's Lucky from the magazine's website
| 
Eh - the only people who care that Somerville isn't actually in Boston are people living in the Boston area or people who once lived here. The use of "Boston" to describe the store's location is sufficient. Really.
I know someone who says brookline and cambridge are more part of boston than areas such as southie, dorchester, etc. because people actually live in brrokline as opposed to southie etc.
Wait, I live in Southie. And there seem to be quite a few other people who do too, but...no one lives here? What?
I'm as outraged as you are, LyetteAnn. I can't imagine why a national magazine, written for a national audience, would make the decision to lump Somerville into Boston.
And let's be honest, Southie isn't really a part of Boston because no one lives there. Anyone who is anyone lives in the South End.
What? Nobody lives in Southie or Dorchester? News to me.
wow never knew these places were so empty with no one living in them. southie is hardly 'empty' but i don't think that cambridge should be considered part of boston. i constantly have to explain to out of town friends that boston HAS tons of suburbs but they are not considered BOSTON. i lived out of the area for awhile before returning and people from ALL OVER mass will tell you they are from boston until you question them and it turns out they are from 25 miles away. funny stuff. maybe we are just territorial :)
You'd think that parking in Southie would be easier if there was no one who lived there.
When I'm talking to people unfamiliar with the metro area (outsiders, ack!), I say that I'm from the Boston area. But with folks in the know, I'm all up for pointing out that I'm a proud Somervillain.
This is where the phrase "Greater Boston" comes in handy.
i love that wikipedia says, "Union Square still offered ten dollar Brazilian haircuts as of 2005." what is a brazilian haircut, anyway? if it's related to a brazilian wax, i don't think i want one...
$10 Brazilian haircuts is a reference to a $10 men's haircut at Brazilian salon. It was pretty awesome, though dicey getting your haircut if you don't speak Portuguese. They were open on Sundays (which might be one of the only places for a men's haircut on a Sunday) and even washed your hair, too. The salon is there, still, but the haircuts are now $15.