Inman Square

I live in a charming Cambridge, MA neighborhood called Inman Square. Like most neighborhoods in this area, the "square" is in fact a collection of streets that run into each other as death defying angles that cause major traffic jams, inappropriate language, honking, and generally taking one's life into one's hand.

And even though these quaint street configurations can be quite annoying, they do help contribute to a nice neighborhood feel. Inman Square is a prime example of this. Cambridge Street constitutes the main drag, and then a few other key streets converge and commingle in order to create this neighborhood full of funky coffee shops, used bookstores, ethnic and high-end restaurants, and the occasional hipster boutique.

A coffee shop, firehouse, classic deli, bank, and small grocery store anchor the area of Inman that is mostly closely identified as the true "square."

And even though it creates some increased adrenaline in my body when I try to cross the street there, I do appreciate the charming craziness that this meeting of the streets creates: Hipsters and methadone clinic clients mingle together at the coffee house, fire men and women take breaks from the wait for the next big fire out on the street and smile at passing kids, local merchants do their business, and the buses come and go bringing people up and down Cambridge Street.

There was a point in my life (not so long ago) when I thought Massachusetts was boring and provincial. It may be still. But I don't mind anymore. I now know that all I have to do to remind myself that there is life here, all I have to do is stick my head out my front door.