Outgrowing the love for city life (largest, versus, suburbs, crime)
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I used to think that big cities were the most awesome places on earth. You have neat shops, cool restaurants and bars, efficient public transportation, and lots of diversity.
But there's two things that I am growing to hate, the older I get. It's the dirtiness and all of the freaks that roam around big cities.
Big cities are usually dirty. Buildings that are over a hundred years old that are infested with roaches and rats. Loads of old vomit stains on sidewalks. Drug needles and crack pipes in city parks. Pissed soaked chairs in public libraries, created by hobos. Chicken scratch graffiti everywhere.
And OMG there are so many weird and maladjusted people who fill up cities. Grown people who will bust out in front of your car to cross the street, instead of using crosswalks. Troubled young broads playing violins off-key on street corners for some change. Trannies robbing people. Used up prostitutes prostitutes prancing along the street smoking Menthols and wearing 5$ heels. People stinking up the train eating hot pickles and cheese puffs. Creepy old men jacking off in alley ways. And just a bunch of people who look, smell, and talk funny...in general.
Just give me a twenty year old condo, in the suburbs, with wall to wall carpeting...please! I want my neighbors to be non-threatening. I want to ride my bike around without worrying about attacks. Shopping at Target and Trader Joes is sufficient for me. If I want to get drunk with friends, I'll just invite them over to my spacious backyard or finished basement, or take a float trip.
I've always felt like the OP but you forgot the diseased people hacking and sneezing on public transportation. When I worked in DC I used to say, "I love the smell of urine in the morning" stealing the napalm line from Apocalypse Now.
I grew up in suburbia and didn't move to a big city until I was 28. I swore I would never move back to the suburbs or a smaller town but after nearly 20 years of urban living I have definitely had my fill. Some of the differences I appreciate are:
-The peace and quiet at night where I can open the windows and hear crickets/frogs versus traffic, horns, sirens, etc.
-Being able to see a sky full of stars
-Having a car again and the ability to go a grocery store or Target without having to plan an excursion.
-Clean air and very little if any litter
-Morning coffee on my patio watching birds and squirrels
I know they all sound simplistic to some but they're something probably taken for granted that urbanites don't really get to experience.
I miss the great restaurant/food scene I left behind but figure that's what vacations are for.
Or you can live in cities or parts of cities that single family homes, where you use your car or walk to a business district. There are such options in cities of various sizes. To be honest, major college towns may be the best option in terms of events, culture, food and walkability, along with being able to use a car and having at least solid schools to boot.
Not to sway anybody...but it's kind of funny when you think "all cities are dirty" and you have to make an excursion to get groceries, etc. Yes, some cities are definitely dirty, but there are clean cities out there with a minimal amount of dirt where you can live within close proximity of a grocery store. Perhaps I lucked out having a grocery store right across the street from me...
I can see why people want to live in suburbia, but if you've only lived in one big city..there are small cities or sections of bigger ones that are clean and not very dirty at all.
Not all cities are dirty, only the really large ones like NYC, Philly, Chicago, etc. and I realize not all cities are that way as I have traveled. The cleaner cities tend to be the mid-majors like Minneapolis, Denver, Charlotte or Columbus as well as scores of others. We all have our own perspectives to share and my comments were from my firsthand experiences in Philly in particular.
Why do people think that every inch of every big city is dirty and crime ridden. When I left my apt in the densly populated Capitol Hill area of Seattle I decided to purchase a single family home inside the city. I was within walking distance of nice parks, Lake Washington, two grocery stores, a library, post office, coffee shops and great restaurants and public transportation. I didn't smell urine or see homeless people outside my door or offered drugs. Cities have go parts and bad parts, just like there are good ones and bad ones. Every big city in the country, including the largest ones have nice parts.
Not all cities are dirty, only the really large ones like NYC, Philly, Chicago, etc. and I realize not all cities are that way as I have traveled.
The cleaner cities tend to be the mid-majors like Minneapolis, Denver, Charlotte or Columbus as well as scores of others. We all have our own perspectives to share and my comments were from my firsthand experiences in Philly in particular.
Except there are very clean areas in ALL of those cities. Yes, there's dirty parts of cities, but I can find you dirty, crap parts of even Des Moines, Minneapolis, Denver, etc. If you really think all these cities are dirty all over, you didn't explore enough and you weren't out enough.
I grew up in Minnesota and there are even a few parts of Chicago that remind me a lot of the clean, modern parts of the Minneapolis area (parts of the South Loop in particular). The residential north side and now some of the west and some of the south side areas are very, very clean. Here's some houses/condos in the Lakeview neighborhood. Not dirty in the least bit
Not all cities are dirty, only the really large ones like NYC, Philly, Chicago, etc. and I realize not all cities are that way as I have traveled. The cleaner cities tend to be the mid-majors like Minneapolis, Denver, Charlotte or Columbus as well as scores of others. We all have our own perspectives to share and my comments were from my firsthand experiences in Philly in particular.
There are clean sections in NYC and Chicago, I'm sure in Philly as well.
I lived in high-rises in big cities from age 25 until age 63. When I was 60 I started to feel it was time to move on but it took a few years. Now I am in a condo in the suburbs surounded by rolling hills, lush grass and beautiful trees and flowers with my car and a pool at the door and I love it. Within a few miles I have as much shopping and recreation as I ever had in the city.
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