'Things Only Somerville Locals Know' Article Ripped Apart By Actual Somerville Local

In just about any neighborhood that attracts a lot of college students, like Somerville, there’s going to be a cultural clash between the locals and the yearly influx of wide-eyed transients.

Those clashes usually aren’t as funny as the one surrounding a recent Bustle article.

A few days ago, Bustle posted a list dubbed “21 Things Only Somerville Locals Understand, Because This City Is So Much More Than ‘The Brooklyn Of Boston.’” - penned by a former Tufts student. It’s a perfectly fine article, but it should’ve been titled “21 Things I Learned From Living in Somerville for 4 Years In College.”

“It was definitely written by someone who’s not from Somerville,” says YouTube user Boston Dan in the below video, in which he points out numerous inaccuracies and misconceptions in Bustle’s article.

“[The writer] said they lived here for four years. That does not qualify you as a local. If you’re going to call yourself a local, and give people a list of local things, you should know what you’re talking about.”

In the video, Boston Dan offers his own version of ”21 Things Only Somerville Locals Understand.” Chunks of knowledge include “Locals have been to tons of Tufts parties, but we’ve never been invited,” and “Locals would never call us the Brooklyn of Boston, or anything that associates us with New York in any type of nature, let’s get that clear.”

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