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I grew up in a small town surrounded by lots of lakes, rivers, woods, etc. It's all the same no matter where you go, never changes, and gets boring real fast. A city on the other hand is always moving, always changing and always interesting. There is always something to do and people to see.
I live in Philadelphia and am in New York City on a weekly basis. Every vacation I've taken since becoming an adult has been to one major city or another. While I grew up in nature, I'm a city boy at heart and that will probably never change.
That being said, spending a few days amongst the peace and quiet is is always a nice change of pace. When I go back home to visit, it's nice having a place to sit outside where it's quiet and you aren't being stared out by everyone passing by on the streets. It's nice paying $5 instead of $12 for a drink at the bar, not having to wait in line for everything, and not smelling the stank of the city in the dead of summer. Eventually though, the "peace and quiet" drives me to boredom and I crave going back to my crazy, hectic life in civilization.
I was born in a small town, but grew up in the suburbs of Denver with a population of 2+ million then moved to a large town a few years ago. I'll always like the city more. There's more amenities, such as restaurants, museums, places to shop, music venues, etc.
I was born and raised in the third biggest city in California. I lived there 38 years. I moved to rural Wyoming. Within a week of moving to Wyoming I knew I was home at last. Give me nature over traffic, smog, rude people, and overcrowding any day. I'll happily enjoy my mountains, deer that wander my country roads, fresh air, rivers, and so much more.
Agree...lived in Marin—my favorite place in 33 years of CA living....beautiful natural setting (mountains, forest, beach, deer, on the bay) just 15 minutes outside a world class cosmopolitan and sophisticated city.
Given a binary choice between nature and city life, I choose city every time given that I relate more with humans than inanimate objects (as scenic as they may be).
Mellow Marin, where development is lmited because they want it that way. It appears that Marin’s decision to bail out of being part of the new BART system was a good choice..ven with a monstrous comute to SF on 101. BART would have meant more development, more construction
On the mainland perhaps, but you can make an argument for Los Angeles and San Diego as well. Oahu is actually the best example in the US. Town=Honolulu/Waikiki and Country=North Shore.
I can’t argue about the great natural settins of SF, LA, or SD. Of course you are right.
But SF I think is the best in this regard
LA has views of hills within city limits, the largest range of elevation of any lower 48 city. And the views from the SMM/Hollywood Hills is spectacular. But much of LA...basin, valley is flat
San Diego, like SF, has a bay, but that bay is much, much smaller
The Bay Area. Is set up like an amphitheatre. The huge bay in the middle is the stage. The “seats are the rise ng lands that surround the bay...the hills and mountains like Mt Tamalphais in Marin, the Berkeley Hills in East Bay, behind them rising Mt Diabalo, the ridge of high hills/mini mts that run through SF’s geographic cener and the continuation of these on The Peninsula, dividing bayside and seaside
All the amphitheatre reaches its creshendo where it breaks open the land as water flows from bay to Golden Gate to Pacific. Sure it is a judgement call, but to me, nothing compares with this
I find that I end up spending more of my time outside than I do visiting attractions and amenities unique to big cities, so I voted for nature. People have differing interests and personalities, but I think if a person was raised as a child outside more, they have a propensity to spend more time outside as an adult.
You can make the argument to travel to natural attraction vs travelling to big city attractions, but there's a lot to be said for that 30 minutes bite sized moments outside. It seems like in a big metro, your times in nature are limited to weekends only.
Most people want to live with the basic amenities that you can't get in rural areas, but smaller cities usually have easier accessed and less congested outdoor amenities than larger metros.
We'll have to see how the demographic trends play out in the next 20 years, but my guess is smaller cities will grow at a faster rate than the larger ones, due in large part to retirees increasingly making up a larger section of the population as time goes by. Retirees have a lot more money than immigrants or college grads, so I think they'll drive more development per capita.
A case in point would be Colorado Springs, which has managed to grow at the same rate, if not faster than Denver, despite having a much weaker economy and urban setting; the natural setting and outdoor recreation options are a whole tier better than Denver's and people value that. I myself prefer CO Springs.
Just checked back into this thread of mine. Right now it’s 50/50, which surprises me. I didn’t vote on my own poll, but I did, I’d vote for city. I love escaping to nature, but I’d rather have an amazing city than beautiful mountains or coasts nearby, but it doesn’t hurt to have both.
The smallest place I have ever lived was Tucson at 1 million. I love Tucson, it’s a quirky place with a lot of unique characteristics, and frankly some of the best nature access in the US for the places I’ve visited so far. But the city of Tucson, despite its unique culture, is a terrible city. The traffic is bad, you need a car to get anywhere that isn’t 2 inches from the U of A campus. Lots of Tucson is run down, with all money and interests moving to the foothills and the burbs making most of Tucson a pit. Tucson did feel small to me, having grown up in Phoenix my whole life.
Sometimes I wonder where life will take me next, but I imagine a big, walkable city.
Nature more so, but have lived in larger cities too and it can be fun. Where I am now doesn't fall that much into either category, but if you get further west in the state, there is significantly more interesting nature (maybe 1.5 hours west and beyond).
I grew up in a small town surrounded by lots of lakes, rivers, woods, etc. It's all the same no matter where you go, never changes, and gets boring real fast. A city on the other hand is always moving, always changing and always interesting. There is always something to do and people to see.
I live in Philadelphia and am in New York City on a weekly basis. Every vacation I've taken since becoming an adult has been to one major city or another. While I grew up in nature, I'm a city boy at heart and that will probably never change.
That being said, spending a few days amongst the peace and quiet is is always a nice change of pace. When I go back home to visit, it's nice having a place to sit outside where it's quiet and you aren't being stared out by everyone passing by on the streets. It's nice paying $5 instead of $12 for a drink at the bar, not having to wait in line for everything, and not smelling the stank of the city in the dead of summer. Eventually though, the "peace and quiet" drives me to boredom and I crave going back to my crazy, hectic life in civilization.
I'm out in the 'burbs waiting for the fireflies. Every year when I see the first one, I call my sister who lives near Seattle.
I like visiting cities, but I'd never want to live in one. There's too much pavement.
I prefer to live in a city that has successfully embodied both. Duluth and Portland are primary examples of that.
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