Boston Globe Lists The Best of the Local Web

The Boston Globe lists 64 of the best websites on Boston life  “that you should know.”

You want to know what’s happening: the singer who’s coming, the show that’s leaving, the news that’s breaking, the gossip that’s everywhere, the store that’s opening, the restaurant that’s closing, the blog everyone’s reading. Alas, surfing the Web for information about our town is a little like walking our streets — varied, vibrant, and oftentimes impossible to navigate.

So we’re here to help. After consulting with scores of locals and checking out hundreds of websites, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite destinations we think you should know about.

Under politics:

The blood sport of Boston offers a multitude of sites to choose from, starting with the best known, bluemassgroup.com, an active lefty community that you could think of as the unofficial voice of majority opinion (here, anyway). Its three founders make endorsements, have access to Governor Deval Patrick, and are so secure in their beliefs that they once posted to Republicans, asking them to join in the discussion.

The answer to that plea, at least in spirit, is the rightist redmassgroup.com, run by Patrick Johnson and a couple of partners. They host a vigorous community of posters who focus their efforts on the evils of taxation and cronyism (hello, Sal DiMasi) while still devoting space to mock Barack Obama and wonder whether Fox News’s Morton Kondracke got Botox.

An ideological cousin is hubpolitics.com, run snarkily by Beverly-bred brothers Matt and Aaron Margolis (Matt’s now in western New York). Both keep a sharp eye on the state’s political and moral fiber, such as when Aaron backed the Beverly Farms girls who poked fun at Gloucester’s spike in pregnancies, and they both stayed on top of the Jim Marzilli mess.

Back on the left, the otherwise anonymous Outraged Liberal, who writes the “Massachusetts Liberal” blog at baystateliberal.blogspot.com, doesn’t seem quite as liberal as all of his three names would suggest. He clearly hails from the left, but refreshingly also rides Treasurer Tim Cahill, a Democrat, whenever he gets the chance.

Snarkily?

Aaron Margolis is a life long resident of the Bay State, and works at an architectural firm north of Boston. Aaron has a Master of Architecture Degree from Boston Architectural College and is currently in the process of becoming of a Registered Architect.