A column like this generates comments, criticism and, once in awhile, threats, especially when I criticize the right wing or praise tall buildings. Sometimes the reactions get published as letters to the editor. Sometimes not.

In any case, you might like to know the aftermath of a few items that have appeared in this space.

In the fall, I wrote about my fondness for cold weather, storms and snow. Zero degrees is unfairly maligned since it kills the rats and fights back the bad bugs that migrate up from the south to eat our trees. For winter lovers, this winter has been a bust. It turns out I am not the only Bostonian longing for good single-digit temperatures and a few serious weather events. One reader said he loved the “happy anarchy of a blizzard,” which I thought said it well. “I do get away for a couple of weeks every winter and the worst seems to happen,” he wrote. “Boston gets hit with a big storm, and I’m then glued to the news for every detail on depth and road closings, wishing I was walking down the street to the Common. It seems to happen every year. I wait all winter for a big storm and the minute I leave . . .” This guy nailed it.

Last summer I criticized several businesses, including the CVS at Charles Circle, for the poor condition of their tree pits and the cleanliness of their sidewalks. CVS officials and the manager claimed it was the owner who was responsible for sweeping up and taking care of the trees. Tom McGuire, the owner of the building, called to say he was in charge of removing snow from the sidewalks, but the lease was unclear on the other points.

For many years a neighbor swept the sidewalk in front of CVS and tidied up, but he is getting older and hasn’t been able to do it as often as he once did. Tom himself planted a few plants in the tree pits, he said, but those didn’t do well.

A new tree now occupies one of the pits, but the sidewalks are still full of blowing trash. My criticism is still valid. A proud business that cared about its neighborhood and its customers would be taking care of the sidewalk in front of its store and taking care of the trees. CVS proves the suspicion that national chains harm neighborhood business districts, partly because they don’t give a fig about those neighborhoods.

Speaking of tree pits, local merchants too would do well to put in some effort and dollars toward the tree in front of their business, planting that tree pit and fencing it in so the dogs don’t trample the plants. Spring is right around the corner, so it will soon become obvious who is taking care of their front yard and who is not. Tree guards cost less than $1,000. A business eager to bring in customers would make sure its tree was looking good.

I asked readers what they would do if they were mayor. One surprising answer came from a woman from Russia who had been here four months and was still learning English. She liked Boston and thought it had a chance to be one of the prettiest cities in America. But she hoped a mayor would do something about the “ugly concrete buildings like City Hall and West End’s terribly looking buildings, including Government Center.” I had actually thought the West End was looking better these days.

She also wrote that the U.S. was sloppiest country she had ever seen—shopkeepers don’t wash their windows, rats are everywhere, and streets need cleaning.  “It is beyond my ken to understand how wealthy people living in expensive houses could walk, drive and live in this wasty [sic] surroundings,” she wrote.  Personally, I think we should add  ‘wasty’ to the American vocabulary. It seemed an appropriate word, given the context

The Russian newcomer continued with a cause of all this wastiness that I hadn’t encountered before. “I know it [wastiness] has historical roots people here almost do not care about aesthetic side of their life but maybe it is right time to change something in this way, ah?” she wrote.

So tolerance of the dirt and grime of Boston was part of John Winthop’s legacy? Or maybe the Irish? And yet Ireland is quite clean.

No matter. It is instructive to learn about Boston through a newcomer’s eyes. And this woman says she’s willing to help with the problems. Good for her.

A woman from the North End was also eager say what she would do as mayor. She would base a fee for resident parking stickers on the length of the car—rather sensible when you think about it. She also suggested that if the casino goes in at Suffolk Downs, the developer should be required to contribute to the operation of the Blue Line, the entrance should be at the train station, and the casino should be marketed at the nation’s only casino reachable by public transit.

Finally, I said the Bulfinch Triangle was also known as Downtown North, but I got push-back. A woman living in the West End (which used to be known as Charles River Park after it was known as the Old West End) said the Bulfinch Triangle is part of the West End.

But on at least one old map it was labeled the North End. Boston neighborhood boundaries are often in dispute. Where does the South End begin and the Back Bay end? How far into the Back Bay does Kenmore Square intrude?

The boundaries of Charlestown are clear, but will they be so when North Point is fully developed? The North End’s boundaries seem easy—from the harbor to the footprint of the old Central Artery. Every Beacon Hiller knows the outline of their neighborhood—Cambridge Street, Bowdoin Street, Beacon Street and David Mugar Way.

But as small changes occur at the edge of every neighborhood, those boundaries can ebb and flow.