I have to say this past month living in Boston has been really challenging on so many levels. Tension from difficulties getting to work, playing chicken on the narrow roadways, inability to get out of the house with the kids, finding baby sitters to cover when school is cancelled and the never ending shoveling. I love Boston, but I would not be able to take many more winters like this one.
If I had to narrow things down to one primary issue, though, I would have to say it is the total failure of the public transit system, the MBTA. Things wouldn't be nearly as bad if the T was running smoothly, but even now the commuter rail is running on a reduced schedule (which results in completely packed trains that are often late) and various subways trains break down on a daily basis.
Given the rarity of such an event, wouldn't the wisest course of action be to simply shut everything down for awhile? The nation of Sweden pretty much shuts down for a month every single year, I don't see why Boston couldn't handle doing it once every few thousands years.
If I had to narrow things down to one primary issue, though, I would have to say it is the total failure of the public transit system, the MBTA. Things wouldn't be nearly as bad if the T was running smoothly, but even now the commuter rail is running on a reduced schedule (which results in completely packed trains that are often late) and various subways trains break down on a daily basis.
Not fun.