I swore to myself I was who I was for living in Saint Augustine, FL, the nation's oldest continuing city, that it made me me. It is preserved and old-fashioned. We lived downtown, technically, and closest of 2 houses to the center mark of the city downtown. Most people, including old friends, live across the bay on an island. We were also closest to the bay, where the fort made of shell and rock is.
The reason it was so important was it made me more European, if you understand that.