Boston Massachusetts – Favorite City

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There may be cities with a broader mix of diversions and there are, without a doubt, plenty of cities with more charm but speaking as a person who covers a lot of ground in the U.S. I can say with authority that there are precious few cities in America with a better balance than Boston, Massachusetts.

Having been born and raised in an isolated town in central California where our historical claim to fame is the first sub-franchised McDonald’s, what immediately struck me on my first trip to Boston was how difficult it is to walk through some parts of the city without tripping over a piece of architecture somehow directly related to the birth of the nation. You can literally stumble out of The Green Dragon Tavern (also known as the “Headquarters of the Revolution”), steady yourself on Paul Revere’s house and totter past the Old North Church (where two lanterns were hung to inform Charlestown the British were coming by sea) to make your way to the oldest continually operating restaurant in America (The Union Oyster House) for a sobering late night snack.

Quite a step up from the bronze plaque hidden away at the McDonald’s on Blackstone and Shields in Fresno, CA.

Also known as “The Walking City,” Boston feels more like a “town” than a comparably sized metropolis. Between the surprising density and the unparalleled public transportation system it is not only convenient but often preferable to explore the city without personal transportation. Granted, my definition of “walking distance” is slightly skewed from most people’s reasonable standards but for the most part, if you’re not within walking distance from your next destination then you are at the very least within walking distance of a “T” stop which will get you within blocks of where you’re headed.

The transit system is so ubiquitous that it provides the perfect setting to spark conversations with the locals. It would not be unusual for an outgoing traveler to end up playing pub trivia one evening with a group of locals met in passing aboard the subway.

I account a great deal of the general friendliness to the huge student population, which year after year, brings in “new locals” eager to make connections. As a stranger wandering into the city for the first time just over a year ago it was still only a matter of hours before I was in the midst of a personal tour of the North End, offered a delicious authentic cannoli and claiming VIP tickets to the next Red Sox game…all with locals I would now count amongst some of my best friends.

I’m done.

This is an entry for January’s Your Favorite City – Blog Contest. Brett is the author of the amtrekker blog.