Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Of course not all are, many are probably intruiged by them.
Ive been browsing alot of forums here for rural areas, and like ive seen in person, it seems like a significant population of people born and raised in rural areas are scared of the city.
I read one post where the user was stating how things may be bad where they live, but they would never move to a big city because there are so many gangbangers, drugs, and murders in big cities.
Don't these people realize that areas where those activities occur constitute very small sections of each city? The majority of people who live in LA don't live in Compton.
One of the reasons is because some folks living in small towns could feel intimidated by big city life, they can easily feel inferior. Most city folks are more trendy and sophisticated in the way they dress, in their life style, in their exotic taste of everything, and most of all the higher cost of everything.
Don't these people realize that areas where those activities occur constitute very small sections of each city? The majority of people who live in LA don't live in Compton.
Well no or at least not always. I think many small town people know that some areas are worse than others but may think that it probably or must "spill out" in some way. When I went to DC as a kid I was perplexed because it didn't. Instead it seemed some areas were like cordoned off and "nobody goes there", or at least visitors don't go there, while others lived affluent safe lives. My little town has "bad parts" but the idea of affluent safe people living relatively near poor endangered people, with neither interacting much, was kind of weird to me. Later I realized that some cities are even more extreme that way. I've heard of people from Manhattan who have traveled the world, but never went to the Bronx or Staten Island or whatever it was.
And although I dislike the word "inferior" being used I think small town people do sometimes find cities "overwhelming." So many people, so many kinds of people, and so many large buildings. That being said in my experience small town people can adjust to big-city life, but big city people almost never adjust to a real small town. They may go to a college town or suburb of 80,000 and feel they "adjusted to small town living" but adjusting to a truly small town (A non-suburb of less than 10,000 people) rarely happens.
Although maybe part of that is a matter of age. I think people under 40 often want excitement and new experiences to challenge or define themselves. So for them a big city might be preferable or an easier adjustment. Possibly an elderly person from a city could adjust to a small town easier. I do have a retired Uncle who mostly lived in Kansas City, but now lives in a little lakefront settlement.
In some ways, I think the opposite may be true. I had a friend many years ago who was from Chicago. His girlfriend was from rural Iowa. The first day she arrived in Chicago, she got mugged and had her engagement ring stolen. My friend told me that she is way too trusting and believes everything is like rural Iowa. She was in an area of Chicago that she didn't belong in.
I knew a women from a very small town in a largely rural state, whose husband was transferred to Houston. She was completely terrified even though they lived in a very nice upscale area. She would watch the local news and see stories about drive bys and such in the "hood", probably 30 miles from where she lived, and she would freak out. In her mind, if it happened in Houston, it was in her backyard. The whole concept of how large an area it was to her was unimaginable even after she lived there. I don't think her poor son was ever allowed to see the light of day. She kept him locked in the house the whole time they lived there. She was so scared, that she kept a loaded shotgun by her front door, and if she wasn't expecting you, she would answer the door with the gun in hand. I can only imagine the reaction of the poor Boy Scout that came to sell her popcorn!
I think the media has a lot to do with it and even when crime occurs in a city, it seems like the whole city gets stereotyped for it. People don't put things into perspective and realize that cities vary in terms of neighborhood safety. So, what may happen in one part of town is non existant in another part of town and even within the rough parts of town, much of the crime is based more on lifestyle and is more personal than people realize.
Or their perceptions of cities is 20 years out of date. Most inner-cities today are very different than the were in the 70s and 80s. There are a few obvious exceptions (like Detroit) and every city has its bad areas, but in general, cities are far safer than they were 20 years ago.
Also, geography is often symbolic. It represents an idea rather than a reality.
Heh I think it is suburban/city minded also. Just the other day this guy was parked in Gold Coast here (in a secured parking lot) and wanted to go back and check on his car b/c he thought it might get broken into.
That being said in my experience small town people can adjust to big-city life, but big city people almost never adjust to a real small town. They may go to a college town or suburb of 80,000 and feel they "adjusted to small town living" but adjusting to a truly small town (A non-suburb of less than 10,000 people) rarely happens.
^
I am one of those persons.
I live in a city of 60,000, which is a 2-hour drive or less from Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi. I've been here for 3.5 years, and I haven't been to any of those cities yet . I have absolutely no reason to go to any of those cities, so why in hell would I ever want to live in one of them? I'm not scared of them, they are just completely useless to me. I would need to learn new coping skills to navigate in one of them, which would be more stress than fun, and I would look at that prospect with apprehension. But not fear.
I think the media has a lot to do with it and even when crime occurs in a city, it seems like the whole city gets stereotyped for it. People don't put things into perspective and realize that cities vary in terms of neighborhood safety. So, what may happen in one part of town is non existant in another part of town and even within the rough parts of town, much of the crime is based more on lifestyle and is more personal than people realize.
I think this is the best answer. I know people from rural Indiana and Illinois who are scared to death to enter Indianapolis and Chicago because all they know about those cities is what they see on the news.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
