I love where I live

I've never been able to say this before. I've loved parts of the cities I've lived in, but have never before lived somewhere where all the fun was within walking distance. My definition of "within walking distance" allows for a great deal more walking than do most, but even I will attest to the fact that Hyde Park, Chicago, is not within walking or running distance of downtown, and I have walked and run this route several times. On the Upper East Side, there was plenty within walking distance, but very little, with the exception of museum admission, that I could afford, or would even want in the first place. In Paris, the really good flan was a commuter train and a metro ride away.

Now, within walking distance, there are: a farmers' market comparable to the one at Union Square; a gazillion places selling iced coffee and iced cappuccinos; bars cheaper and with better atmospheres than those in the East Village; people who, though often attractive, are not aspiring model-actors; a bunch of useful subway lines; multiracial hippie families; multiracial yuppie families; legitimately nice and cheap vintage clothing; a park, in which, in theory, I will go running; a small dog that has been dyed bright blue. And so much more. A blue-state paradise, without the insularity of the Upper West Side.