December 8, 2006
Boston trying to become more of a movie tourism destination
Here's an interesting article (though I found it when it was over a month old) about how cities are trying to attract tourism dollars by offering tours of movie scenes. Boston, for example, is getting in on the act:
Pop quiz: Name a movie or TV show shot or set in Boston. "Ah ... 'Mystic River'?" answers Matt Lambek of Cambridge, Mass., settling into his seat before a showing of "The Departed," the new Martin Scorsese juggernaut partially filmed here. " 'Good Will Hunting,' " adds his date, Alex Wenger.Boston has a ways to go before it catches up with New Zealand though:Other movie patrons round up the usual suspects: "Boston Legal," "Ally McBeal," and that stranded-in- syndication favorite, "Cheers."
"You can argue that 'Lord of the Rings' was the best unpaid advertisement that New Zealand has ever had," remarks Bruce Lahood, US and Canada regional manager for Tourism New Zealand. "In the last decade New Zealand has been the most successful country to benefit from movie tourism. We've been looked at and case-studied from many angles."Posted by James Trotta at December 8, 2006 11:26 PM | TrackBack
lived in and around Boston my whole life. What they need to fix...
- paint lines so lanes on the roads are clearly marked, it is now like whitewater rafting.
- I know of only one public bathroom in Boston (not telling you where it is).
- fix broken sidewalks
- make meters free after 6:00. Got a $25 ticket at the 'Garden the other night when meeting friends for a quick one at Sullies Tap.
- finish the Dig. Too many almost done jobs... a pallet of bricks sitting for 2 years at the entry to they Teddy.
- fill potholes completely. If not done right, make them do it over for free on their day off.
- steam clean the sidewalks in Chinatown
- make an effort to preserve a few of the old time places. I don't need to spend $7 for a beer.
- fumigate and steam clean the subways. Smells like urine and popcorn.
- repair lighting
- set lights to permit driving at the speed limit from one end of the city to the other. Enough already.
- Light 1A south just before Logan at the "temporary" crash barrier, 90 degree turn, 45 mph hazard. Finish this work. Move barrier.
- field test your signs. Some are quite ambiguous. also, put real maps on a web site somewhere with realtime status of roads.