My Love For Boston

There is no city in the world that means more to me than Boston.   It all started at Northeastern University back in the early 1990s.   I was only one of two people in my high school class at Cranston High School  East in Rhode Island that made the move to that big city 50 miles to the north to begin my journey into the world of college and eventually the professional world.  I remembered my first week in Boston, meeting new people, walking around my new city and attending orientation when Northeastern President Ryder mentioned "Look to Your Left, then Look to Your Right speech" where chances are, the people you are next to, may not make the vigorous life of college.   His statement held true considering that none of my roommates in my first semester graduated college with me.   However, what I remembered most, was those walks around this great city.

Boston is one of the most walkable cities in America, but for a former Rhode Islander, it is an overwhelming place with the hustle and bustle, the subway, the diversity, and the taxicabs all over the place.  Now that I have lived here for over 20 years I realize that it is a small city.  Take me anywhere in Boston, and I cannot get lost, unless it is in the maze of the financial district.    Don't get me wrong, some of the larger cities I have been to like New York, Chicago, LA and overseas in London, Paris and Munich are great cities with similar qualities of Boston, but I would not live in any of these cities since they do not have the charm or skills of its sports teams.

This past winter really tested my willingness to stay in Boston.  With my sudden career change, the brutal winter weather and a trip to sunny Florida, I was almost convinced to pack it up and head south.   I thought about it for a while and then came to my senses.   After the tragedy of the Marathon Bombing and seeing how this city came together.  After the Red Sox came from nowhere and won the World Series.  Most of all, after all the new people I have met and the great friends I have, I could never leave this city.  The weather is still a little shaky but think about it, if everyone moved to that perfect weather place, San Diego would be the biggest city in America.   Of course it is expensive to live here, but again think about it, there is a reason.  Of course, you can buy a house in Cleveland or Detroit for under $100k, but would you want to live there?

I'll take Boston any day.   Sports, history, diversity, smart people, pubs, scenery and my friends.    I am not going anywhere.