Burlingame. This is where I live and I really enjoy it.

When I moved to the Bay Area, Burlingame was recommended to me by several people. If you’re not looking for nightclubs or a very active social scene, Burlingame is just about perfect. The weather is superb, and when you want to go to San Jose or San Francisco, freeways and public transport (BART via Millbrae or Caltrain) will get you there quickly.

It is indeed the City of Trees with areas reminiscent of my hometown: Kaliningrad, Russia. It’s safe and the schools are good. Burlingame is the coolest city on the Peninsula. Many of the houses are super cute and date from the 1920s. It has not one, but two cute shopping districts: Broadway shopping district, where the storefronts look like they’ve been there forever, and Burlingame Avenue, where there are so many upscale stores and restaurants I wish I could live next to it.

On top of all that there is a nice old train station, the Pez Museum, the beautiful Orthodox Church of All Russian Saints on El Camino Real, BALCO (home of the Barry Bonds steroid scandal), California Drive with its rows of eucalyptus, and the crazy chain restaurants and hotels out on Bayshore Highway.

Not only that but the amazing smell of brownies floats up from the Guittard chocolate factory to the Millbrae BART station all the way to the center of Millbrae. One could only imagine the entire town of Burlingame might be inundated with brownie smell. It goes without saying that I want to live in a city that smells nice and fudge-y.

Image provided by Pascal Vuylsteker