I’ve been living in Boston for about 2 years. At first we left here “just to see”. And eventually we’ll stay two more years. These past 2 years went by really fast: I can still picture myself going out of the airport completely freezing at the beginning of January 2012. We haven’t been back to France yet, and it would maybe be time to visit our friends and family (not to mention eat stuff like roquefort while drinking red wine – cliché, but so true). Anyway, we’ve got new visas, we’ll stay here. It was time for me to ask to myself: what do I like about living in Boston?
1 – The 4 seasons. Whaaaat ? People warned us: Boston winter is awful, you won’t last long. It’s true, it was hard. But the good thing in Boston, it’s that there are actually 3 other seasons, and each one is very specific: cute spring with trees blossoming, hot and humid summer, and gorgeous fall. And then, winter. Snow storms, temperatures below zero (even zero Fahrenheit). The wind makes me cry, the cold makes me want to take bath every nights.
2 – The city is small (but with 6 millions of inhabitants in Greater Boston). Boston seems like a cute and small regional town. You can use a bike, the metro or simply walk to go to most of the parts of the city. And in fact, we don’t even have a car. Sometimes I find Boston too quiet – specially compared to the bustling New York.
3 – Good restaurants. I was scared that living in the US means eating only corn and burgers. But Boston has tons of awesome restaurants. And burgers are actually awesome.
4 – The city belongs to the students. (well, only from September to May). Students have a bipolar style: very comfy during the day, and kind of slutty at nights. Which makes things easy when I want to go out: there’s no fashion nor trend to follow. I can wear anything. Even yoga pants to go shopping. Nobody cares. Boston is regularly rank #1 in worst fashionable city (because of the students? Or maybe the cold… but try to look cool or chic when it’s freezing!).
5 – People are nice, but not too much. I’m trying to get used to the enthusiasm of American people (or at least some of them). Every detail seems to be a good reason to “awwww”, or be really happy and say That’s aaaawesome! Boston is like that too, but has also the reputation of being rude. Nice, but not too much, I like that.
6 – Bostonians like Boston. People seem proud of their city: on shirts, caps or whatever clothes, you can read the name of a team of the city – Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, Bruins – or the name of an university. Besides, people like their accent, they are proud of their past (see this: Dirty Old Boston) and their origins. After the bombing in April, I was surprised by the “Boston strong” movement that took place to support the city. All this love makes me love it too.
7 – It’s in the middle of a gorgeous region: New England. 6 small states with a strong cultural identity, terrific landscapes, and good food. Ocean, mountains or country, you name it, and we leave for the weekend.
8 – It’s the capital of a liberal State: Massachusetts. (sigh of relief)
9 – It’s in the States. Okay, it’s super obvious, but remember that I’m French, and it’s the first time I’m living outside of Europe, so everything is fun, new and different from me: from camping to going to the supermarket, ordering food in a restaurant, meeting people, etc. Boston is often named the most European city of the US. Maybe… I like that’s it’s a mixed.
10 – An easy city. I just find it easy to live here, I feel that I’m always in vacation.
If you live in Boston, or if you came here for a few days, what would be your 11th reason to like Boston?
