Growing up urban beaches held no interest for me.  I went to Coney Island once as a kid, once as an adult.  The time as an adult was cut short abruptly when a hurricane blew through.  Not a rainstorm.  An actual honest to god hurricane.

Urban beaches have coarse sand and shells and cold water.  They are overcrowded and they kind of smell bad.

When I went to Revere Beach, my point of view changed.  Yeah, it isn’t a Caribbean beach with silky sand and cold water.  But it has charm.  Tons of it.  You get those gritty city photos of people enjoying summer, city style.  Different, but still pretty good: