It wasn’t only the balmy spring weather that gave us a boost last week. There are signs that the quality of life in Boston is improving in unexpected ways.

Taxis are more comfortable now that so many Toyota hybrids are on the streets. The back seats have more room than the Ford Crown Victorias that the taxi companies used to favor. It may be an urban myth that the Fords are police cars that have been put out to pasture. But there is no question that once you are inside one, you feel imprisoned, so we’ll be well rid of them if we can totally phase them out.

It is possible the hybrids will have working air conditioning in the summer, something the Fords have often lacked. For sure the new cars have credit card machines, and the ones I’ve tried actually work. It’s easy to figure the tip, and any taxi driver who shows up in a clean hybrid and stays off his cell phone for most of the trip gets the full 20 percent from me.

I may be imagining things, but the drivers seem more courteous. Those I’ve had recently have come from Haiti, several African countries and Eastern Europe. You still have to help them get around, but since we know the best ways to get from here to there, it’s not much of a burden. One driver I recently talked with was a Muslim from Bosnia. He said he had moved to Boston because he knew the city’s residents were well educated and would be tolerant of someone of his religion. What a change: from the racist Boston of the 1970s to a reputation we apparently have in some quarters as a tolerant city.

Another benefit for Beacon Hillers is the growing number of flower shops with oodles of varieties. Top Shelf at Charles Circle and Fresco on Cambridge Street have over the past couple of years moved more of their flowers out around their tree pits and onto the sidewalk, and it’s all to our benefit. A mostly regular florist sets up a stand in the Charles/MGH station. Twig is a welcome new addition on Charles Street. Last week passers-by snapped photos of the flowers at Top Shelf and seem joyful at this important sign that winter was ending. Top Shelf didn’t start out to be a florist, but now they are the brightest sight at Charles Circle. Now if we could only get CVS to do a better job on their boring windows.

We’ve also got good things going on in our front yard. We’ll soon have a new plaza around the refurbished Brewer Fountain near the Park Street Station, possibly wider sidewalks around the Shaw Memorial and, eventually, a handsome allée extending from the fountain to the State House. All this has taken place at a time of severe cutbacks in all government services, but private fundraising through the Friends of the Public Garden and others is taking up the slack.

Another situation that should make us happy is that throughout the recession Charles Street has held up—better actually than Newbury Street. Our one-off shops, many with owners who are residents of the Hill, may not have to meet inflexible revenue targets dictated by remote corporations that those on a more commercial street must face. Or perhaps our small shops can muddle through a downturn successfully because their customer base is varied and balanced—destination shoppers, tourists, and neighborhood workers and residents—a tri-partite combo that gets them through the rough times.

Charles Street is unusual in that its businesses are successful despite the fact that the sidewalks are treacherous and the gutters are filthy. This has been one of the most frequent complaints I’ve heard from readers. The city should tackle the bricks, but it is not going to do any more cleaning. But we’re in luck—Charles Street Supply carries old-fashioned tools called a broom and a dustpan. The more shopkeepers learn to use these tools, the better the street will look.