I’m going to share something that nobody, much less a reporter, is ever supposed to reveal: When it comes to living independently in Boston, I have no idea what I’m doing.
Having lived in the city for nearly six years, I still wouldn’t trust myself to give an out-of-towner directions to the airport, much less anywhere else. I’ve never filled out my own Massachusetts tax return; I hand it over to an accountant, who is based in my native Maryland. Until quite recently, I would regularly save to-do list items — a six-month dental cleaning, a sweater in need of dry-cleaning — for my trips home, wary of trusting any unknown local professional.
My affliction, dear reader, goes a step beyond impostor syndrome — it’s more like 20-something transplant-itis. But the more I talked with similarly situated colleagues and friends, the more I came to realize how deep this feeling of incompetence runs — no matter your age or place of origin.
Enter: No Stupid Questions, a series of how-to guides from the Boston Globe on navigating adult life in the city, one step at a time. It launches this week.
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Make no mistake: No Stupid Questions isn’t only for the city’s sizable population of young adults — more than 200,000 strong in the 18-29 set, according to the Boston Planning & Development Agency. (Though we would be remiss if we didn’t admit that the reason we’re rolling this out in May is because it’s when tens of thousands of new graduates are loosed on the city.)
It’s also for the swath of new residents, many of them immigrants, who continually make their way to Massachusetts. It’s for the parents of the students at the dozens of colleges and universities in the state, eager to stay involved in their children’s goings-on. It’s even for the seasoned city-dweller who needs help with finding a new place to live or finding a new mechanic or dry cleaner, but has been too embarrassed to ask — until now.
The series will cover four topics, all of which I chose, selfishly, so I could understand them better myself: navigating the city’s labyrinthine traffic; saving money as a new Massachusetts taxpayer; choosing a neighborhood to call home; and locating trustworthy services even your mom would approve of. We also asked you, Globe readers, to share your advice, and we compiled some of the best responses.
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The Globe’s theater critic, Don Aucoin, once told me that the good thing about being a journalist is that you have to be an expert only for 800 words. Thankfully, these stories are filled with the insights and resources of a range of experts — a longtime helicopter traffic reporter, a tax professional, a consumer advocate — who actually know what they’re doing.
The end result, I hope, is a demystifying roadmap for navigating adult life in the Boston area. Or, at the very least, consider it a reassurance: We’re all still figuring it out.
Have a tip to add? Join the conversation through the No Stupid Questions newsletter on LinkedIn.
Explore the Globe’s No Stupid Questions series:
- Taxes are a pain. Here’s how to make them a less expensive pain if you live in Massachusetts.
- How to find a good mechanic, dentist, or dry-cleaner in the Boston area (Hint: it’s not just Google)
- A new driver’s guide to Boston traffic, from the Alewife Brook Parkway to the Zakim Bridge
- New to the Boston area? Here’s the best advice our readers have to share.
Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.