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There is just something different about Newburyport. Picture the feeling you have sitting on the front porch of an antique Colonial, in a rocking chair reading your Kindle. That’s Newburyport, a blend of old and new people, places and things.
Take it from someone who lives here. Picture your neighbor that takes in your garbage cans for you, just because. My neighbors Ray and Marcia, for example, once showed up at my door with a toddler sized G-Mello vest for my son who loves to peek out the windows on Monday morning to watch the trucks.
People say they would love to live here, I hear it all the time. Newcomers say it. Townies say it. Families who came for the schools and ended up staying for the community say it too. The folks who moved here for a quieter life and somehow found a loud sense of belonging say it most of all. If you spend any time here, you begin to understand that the reason Newburyport feels the way it does is not only the brick sidewalks or the waterfront or the history.
It’s the people.
The city has grown, and yes, it truly is a city these days. Yet it still carries the heartbeat of a small town. You see it in the small gestures that happen quietly.
It is not only the neighbors. It is the people who cross our paths every single day.
The mail carriers who stop to chat with the folks waiting at their mailboxes, often because they can tell the person standing there just needs another human to talk to. These tiny interactions create an invisible net around the community. It is a soft and steady kind of care that reveals itself once you live here long enough.
It’s hard to feel lonely in NBPT.
Natural wine, pizza, and a friendly face behind the counter
Tony is not only tossing dough, or perfecting his pizza specials, he’s holding down a true neighborhood corner. Epicureo Pizza has the kind of energy where everyone is welcomed with a smile, a handshake, and a genuine question about how their life is going. Whether you have lived here 20 years or 20 minutes, you are treated the same. You’ll go for the pizza, you’ll come back for the sense of belonging.
A short walk away, Abbie at Joppa Fine Foods is building her own version of community. She has curated a world of natural wines, fresh foods and items you can’t find at Market Basket. It’s the kind of shop that quietly elevates an entire neighborhood. It’s the place you stop on your way to a party because you know she will make the perfect recommendation, and because she truly cares about feeding the community well.
This is how Newburyport works. Each small business owner shapes a corner of the city’s identity. Now that Newburyport has become one of the most desirable suburban cities in the state, these corners matter even more than ever.
The people you see everywhere…and are actually happy to see
Take a short walk through town and you will likely bump into Norbert, or as people close to him like to call him, Norbie. He is my neighbor and he’s a sweetheart. He worked for the city his whole life and is as true and blue to Newburyport as it gets. He’s part of the fabric of this place. He is a steady presence, always warm and always ready with a hello. There is comfort in that. In a world that moves faster every year, towns need people like Norbie who remind us that community is built on footsteps, waves, and familiar faces.
Then there’s Miss Allison at the Newburyport Library. She might be the busiest person in town. Children flood her section all day, especially during her Thursday music classes. Yet she always remembers my son Harrison’s name, and asks about his little two-year milestones and what he’s been up to, and she does it with genuine care. If you want to understand the soul of a community, look at the people who pour their hearts into it everyday. Miss Allison is one of those people.
Live here long enough and you will hear countless stories of neighbors who step up quietly. People raise money when someone is going through something hard. They drop meals on porches. They lend tools. They shovel out their neighbors. They show up. None of it is loud. None of it is performed. None of it is on Yelp. It simply happens.
A city with the heart of a small town
Newburyport today is a blend of everything. Upscale dining. Families on evening walks with dogs or strollers. People who moved from Boston seeking steadiness. Lifelong locals who still feel deep pride. You can enjoy the best italian dinner at Carmine or La Rosa’s, grab a top tier cocktail at Bar 25, wander through Jabberwocky, or spend a Saturday by the beautifully-maintained waterfront.
You can also move through the parks that outline the city. Perkins Playground, Moseley Woods and Maudslay are filled with kids, dog walkers, and families throughout the year. The seasons feel like they announce themselves in those spaces.
The once blue-collar port town has grown into a vibrant hub filled with doctors, lawyers, creatives, teachers, and the two moms next door who wanted a safe and welcoming place to raise their kids. People choose to plant roots here rather than pass through.
And despite the growth, Newburyport has not lost the one thing that matters most: the feeling of being seen, known, and welcomed.
And that’s what makes this place what it is.
If you live here, you already know the people who make it feel like home.
If you are new, welcome.
You will know them soon.
Steve Wallace
Newburyport resident
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