Whenever I meet a new person and they ask where I'm from to which I respond "Framingham, MA" I get a look of despair and a laugh that usually follows with an "I'm sorry." Although with Framingham being large and populous enough to be considered a city, I never thought where I grew up was a bad place. I went to great schools, lived in a great neighborhood, and have met some great people. People often here about crime or the mass increase in diversity Framingham has experienced within the last few years and have therefore deemed it a not such a great place. However, growing up there myself and being away from it, there are so many gems hidden within the town that no one even considers when judging our massive town.
Cushing Park is one of the greatest places if you want to go on a peaceful walk or run and not be bothered. It has the perfect amount of trees for just the right amount of shade and sunlight in the warmer weather, is quiet, and if you're lucky enough you may even get to pet a dog. I used to ride my bike there and now take my dog for walks there.
Framingham contains my favorite breakfast place, J&M Diner which has the waitresses in there pajama bottoms and people willing to wait an hour for a table just for a serving of their wide variety of pancakes. When school get's out early on half-days, if the high school has an AM collaboration where they go in an hour late, or if seniors have a study period you will see students there indulging in one of their huge and delicious dishes.
I went to Framingham High School, which has a student body of over 2000 students and is infamous for it's diversity of students. The Friday night football games at Bowditch field were always well attended, no matter how cold it was. Mr. FHS, best described as a "male beauty pageant" always sold out within days so people could see their male friends roller skate in a crop top and sing "Santa Baby" in a rough and throaty old-lady voice. FHS has a big variety of clubs and organizations to get students involved, and lots of friends and people in my class found what they love to do and want to do for the rest of their life because FHS was resourceful enough to offer there opportunities to their students.
With Framingham having nine elementary schools, three middle schools, and one elephantine high school, there are always events, fairs, and events going on that have shaped some of my best childhood memories. The Pumpkin Fair, The Holiday Marketplace, and all of the concerts that showcase all the bands, choirs, and acapella groups and more, just to name a few events. Framingham is by no means a small town, but these type of gatherings always brought the community together. These annual events brought people from the north side to the south side together and reconnected everyone.
Even in the awkward middle school years, Framingham always offered us something to do. Whether it be going to the Natick Mall and then taking the ten minute walk across the town line to see a movie, to gallivanting around Shopper's World, to getting ice cream at Mad Willies and going to a Concert on the Green, there were things to keep us busy, and we were always safe doing it. I did these things when I was younger and now as I drive past the sidewalk that connects the Natick Mall to the movie theater or see the fifteen-year-olds sitting on the benches outside of Mad Willies, I am so glad they are getting to experience the greatness that Framingham really is before they get older and people plant the idea in their heads that Framingham is a bad place where there is nothing to do.
Framingham, Massachusetts is not perfect from any means, but with it being half an hour outside of Boston and an hour away from where I go to school and the place that instilled character into me today, it sure is home.
