Tidy, my ass

As an obsessive reader of TrueHoop, ESPN's fine basketball blog, I was somewhat dismayed by author Henry Abbott's initial response to Boston:

Anyone who has lived in New York, I suspect, finds Boston to be unbelievably ... tidy. New York is a city where respectable upper class people have favorite graffiti artists. It's also a place where you can hardly go a block without hearing an epithet or two. It's salty. It's grimey. (I once heard some comedian say that New York is the only city in the world where you have to say "Hey, that's mine. Don't pee on that.") I'm sure Boston is like that to some degree too ... it's still life ... but I have been here about 24 hours, but I drove around a little last night, through a dozen different neighborhoods. In every one of them everything seemed so tidy. I guess you'd call it gentrifed, but I'm not sure it was ever not like this. Just about everyone I saw seemed to have on something plaid, or something khaki, or most likely both. Here's some video I shot out the car window of a typical Boston street scene.

Okay, the video thing is pretty funny. But it seems pretty clear that Abbott needs to expand his horizons while he's in town for the NBA finals. (Also, the video reminds me a whole lot of Manhattan, but that's another topic.)

I've already told Abbott he should head to Roxbury for a Speed's hot dog. I'd also suggest grabbing a beer at Sligo in Davis Square, or JJ Foley's in the South End, and maybe just hanging around Boston Common after dark.

Now, though, I'm looking for a few more destinations that'll broaden Abbott's mind and preserve Boston's honor. So, readers: what other destinations should be on Abbott's list?