What attracts people to urbanized cities? (largest, downtown, architect, houses)
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I am one who is in love with the urban experience of living in a diverse walkable transit friendly neighborhood.
What are some of the things that makes the urban experience so special? I know its different for different people. Some just wanted to be close to work. Others like the sophistication of the big city lifestyle.
Just wanting to read about different experiences.
I can walk( or pub trans it) to world class restaurants, music, art, museums, and dance institutions. It's as simple as that.
Ha. Most folks are not interested in living in an amusement park - it's a place you visit, not live.
"Encourages isolation" is maybe the way a socialist would try to mischaracterize an environment where they can't intrude into the lives of others. Perhaps "discourages intrusion" is the way homeowners would see it. The homeowner in suburbia isn't limited to hamster-style housing.
The "maximize the use of space" for pedestrians tends to mean small living space and legal quagmires like condominium residential housing. The latter in particular is very unappealing to anyone who experienced it or those sophisticated enough to understand they are nothing but liabilities. The former (regardless of legal entanglement) is less appealing to those with families or who have experienced something more appealing like a house and a yard. Space from neighbors is desirable.
Wrong. I lived in a house with a yard for years. Hated it. I am so much happier in "hamster-style" living in a city. It's fine if you and others prefer a house and a yard, but you're wrong to speak for others. A house and a yard might be more appealing for many, but not for all.
I am one who is in love with the urban experience of living in a diverse walkable transit friendly neighborhood.
What are some of the things that makes the urban experience so special? I know its different for different people. Some just wanted to be close to work. Others like the sophistication of the big city lifestyle.
Just wanting to read about different experiences.
No way many people love that. My only problem with the city where I lived was crime. It is not worth the extra stress, if you could push criminals out of the urban areas, they would be great. In many cities there are too many criminals and mentally ill people who can reduce my quality of life. Speaking from my experience visiting and living on the US east and west coasts.
I'd honestly rather take the slightly higher likelihood of property crime or assault if it meant I wouldn't have to live in a McMansion or McApartment, feel completely disconnected from my neighbors, and gain like 50 pounds from having to drive everywhere. :P
I've lived in both an urban environment (New York City) and a suburban environment (Round Rock, Texas), so i can comment on both. Unless you live in a truly remote exurb (and even then, people who live in the country ride horses and do lots of local, outdoorsy stuff), I really doubt that you will be "stuck at home" due to needing to drive. What nonsense. My suburb has lots of things to do/activities so we don't need to go into "the city" in order to enjoy a night out. And if I do want to go into the city to do something, it's a fifteen minute drive. Fifteen minutes. Big deal.
In my neighborhood, we received brownies and cookies from the neighbors and people often wave to you. Kids still play in the cul-de-sacs and there's lots of people walking. But of course, it's easy to just stereotype everyone as being an overweight, SUV driving, soccer mom, right?
Driving is simply convenient. I don't want to walk around outside in 100 degrees and I really don't care about driving ten minutes to a place. It's a way of life, no big deal. And since we keep our driving to primarily local driving, the wear factor isn't that bad either.
In an urbanized, dense city you have a wider collection of people and personalities. In a small town or the suburbs you're really just stuck with whoever happens to live in the area. You basically have to settle when making friends.
You and the guy next door both like watching football and working on cars? Cool, but you'll just have to put up with him being a 9/11 "Truther." The only comic shop/game shop in town is full of stinky, non-bathing geeks? Well, too bad because it's the only choice you've got for your hobby. Etc
World class cities attract world class amenities, especially when it comes to the arts, theater, restaurants, nonstop flights to other world class cities, etc.
I also love the energy, the diversity, and the way people tend to embrace new ideas. There's less of this attitude of: Well, we've always done it this way and change is bad and if newcomers don't like it, they should leave. Cities are constantly changing.
Plus, yes, walking! Walking is so good for my health and well-being, both mental and physical. I love being car free for days at a time. I even don't mind living in small, efficient spaces. It's less to maintain and everything you need is right out your front door. (Feeling cooped up? Go to the park or coffee shop down the block. Run out of paper-towels? Head to the bodega next door.)
Perfect post and sums it up for me also. I am living for the day my lease in suburbia is up so I can move into the city.
Think of an idealized yuppie weekend-day: you wake up, head over to the local hipster coffee-shop a few blocks over, meetup with some friends, argue where to have brunch, checkout yelp results for places in the neighborhood, walk over another few blocks to chosen brunch place, have bottomless mimosas and breakfast food, walk a bit and spend some time in a museum or a park, then you walk again to a new restaurant for dinner and then walk a few more blocks to the neighborhood where all the clubs/bars are and go barhopping until 3 am, drunkenly walk back to your apartment and fall asleep.
That day sounds extremely expensive. Also it didn't sound like you actually did enough between brunch and dinner to get hungry...
I'd come up with nice, quality answers that would sound like the next 23 year old guy, but truth be told I can be happy anywhere as long as I like where I live. I love the city of 90k I live in now, but having grown up here, it's just time for a change of scenery.
The huge draw for me to a large urban area is, as a gay dude, a larger gay culture. There ain't much going on in terms of that in little ol' Central Oregon
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