Boston occupies a strange place in my heart. I grew up in and around Boston, but am now a New Yorker, and I don't think I could ever move back. There are defi

Boston occupies a strange place in my heart. I grew up in and around Boston, but am now a New Yorker, and I don't think I could ever move back. There are definitely worse places to live, but Boston has always felt more like a really big small town than a city to me, and the amount of close-mindedness and racism I've found in Boston has always been surprising to me. I just often don't feel comfortable in Boston. While Manhattan might feel crammed, it's part of the appeal for us. Everything is always open, everything you need is within a couple blocks, you can get anywhere anytime in the city via 24 hour public transit. You walk down the street and hear tons of different languages constantly. The diversity in ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, and experiences is mind-blowing. It's one of the world's cultural centers. Art and music is everywhere all the time. We have enormous, beautiful parks all over the place, Central Park only being one of them. Gorgeous brownstone neighborhoods with tree lined blocks. Old factory neighborhoods repurposed into everything imaginable. Is there trash on the ground? Yes, everywhere. That fades from your perception into the landscape within weeks of living here. Maybe Brooklyn would be more your thing (it is for me) -- it's more laid back here and less crowded, but gives you easy access to all the amazing parts of being in NYC. 'No beauty' really is hard for me to swallow -- I look around me here all the time and am always amazed at how beautiful and diverse this city is.