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Old 06-19-2022, 01:05 PM
 
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Absolutely, yes. Maybe you work with a diverse group every day. Maybe you have diverse friends. Unless you stay at home all day, that's what life is in cities.



That's in addition to the diversity you see on every bus, in every store, etc.
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Old 06-19-2022, 02:57 PM
 
7,108 posts, read 8,970,936 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays25 View Post
Absolutely, yes. Maybe you work with a diverse group every day. Maybe you have diverse friends. Unless you stay at home all day, that's what life is in cities.



That's in addition to the diversity you see on every bus, in every store, etc
That's the thing. Not every bus or every work place is diverse in big cities. I know this is what my experience has been.
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Old 06-19-2022, 04:02 PM
 
Location: North Idaho
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Originally Posted by mkwensky View Post
.........One can hardly spend all their lives living in New York and not know about the different Jewish holidays, or in Houston and not know what banh mi is. ..........

I live out in the middle of nowhere. Another 60 miles and I'd be out of the USA entirely, and I know about different Jewish holidays and I know what banh mi is, even though I've never been to Houston. It doesn't involve some sophisticated secret handshake. It's not secret knowledge only people in big cities can discover.



I wonder if all those dark skinned folks riding around on the city bus with you know they are only there to lend some diversity to the color palette that you have to look at every day. Their job is to be there for urban decorating for your visual enjoyment. Myself, I'd find that attitude to be offensive.
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Old 06-19-2022, 05:26 PM
 
Location: Buffalo, NY
3,576 posts, read 3,078,446 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
I live out in the middle of nowhere. Another 60 miles and I'd be out of the USA entirely, and I know about different Jewish holidays and I know what banh mi is, even though I've never been to Houston. It doesn't involve some sophisticated secret handshake. It's not secret knowledge only people in big cities can discover.



I wonder if all those dark skinned folks riding around on the city bus with you know they are only there to lend some diversity to the color palette that you have to look at every day. Their job is to be there for urban decorating for your visual enjoyment. Myself, I'd find that attitude to be offensive.
I think if you did live in a diverse area you would understand that it is not just all about you, but about living in a place where everyone can find others to relate to, and everyone can feel comfortable not being considered an outsider.

I am well aware of people who don't live in diverse areas who avoid going into cities out of fear. That includes current and former family, friends, associates, co-workers, etc. Seeing people who don't look like themselves make them very uncomfortable, to say the least. I did not want my children growing up afraid of people who didn't look or live like they did, and as adults they still thank us for giving them that opportunity.

Isolation breeds ignorance. Ignorance breeds fear.
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Old 06-19-2022, 05:28 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
2,858 posts, read 2,172,880 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
I live out in the middle of nowhere. Another 60 miles and I'd be out of the USA entirely, and I know about different Jewish holidays and I know what banh mi is, even though I've never been to Houston. It doesn't involve some sophisticated secret handshake. It's not secret knowledge only people in big cities can discover.

I wonder if all those dark skinned folks riding around on the city bus with you know they are only there to lend some diversity to the color palette that you have to look at every day. Their job is to be there for urban decorating for your visual enjoyment. Myself, I'd find that attitude to be offensive.
Are most people in your middle of nowhere small town like you? My point is, take the most boring person you know in your small town, put him in a major city and he will likely have more at least superficial knowledge about other cultures.

Anyone who worked in a big city will likely work and live with the 'diversity' you mentioned so it's ridiculous to say it's all just color palette. It's true that many people in big cities don't have diverse friend groups but some do.
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Old 06-19-2022, 06:29 PM
 
1,050 posts, read 571,445 times
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Originally Posted by RocketSci View Post
I think if you did live in a diverse area you would understand that it is not just all about you, but about living in a place where everyone can find others to relate to, and everyone can feel comfortable not being considered an outsider.

I am well aware of people who don't live in diverse areas who avoid going into cities out of fear. That includes current and former family, friends, associates, co-workers, etc. Seeing people who don't look like themselves make them very uncomfortable, to say the least. I did not want my children growing up afraid of people who didn't look or live like they did, and as adults they still thank us for giving them that opportunity.

Isolation breeds ignorance. Ignorance breeds fear.
Spot on. Just repped you.

Nobody should be made feel like an outsider.

I don’t think “cultured†or “worldliness†necessarily means having an encyclopedia knowledge of opera, classical music and exotic cuisine. I see it as an attitude to be welcoming, to be curious or at least positively acknowledge those who are not of the same background as you, be it racially, socially, culturally or geographically. Many people travel, domestically or internationally, or study abroad. They can still stick to their own kind and stay mostly to their own socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

Devil’s advocate, as far as American cities/suburbs are concerned, they have been becoming very homogeneous with many chain stores and generic suburbs. How do we really tell one city/suburb apart from the next? Any subtle difference could be laying the ground work for children to be exposed to the “cultureâ€. Reading, traveling abroad, visiting local landmarks/museums, understanding the histories in each city/suburb….etc. The world can’t be just Target, Walgreen, Chase Manhattan Bank, Pink Berry, and Five Below, urban, suburban or rural.
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Old 06-19-2022, 06:39 PM
 
Location: Baltimore
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I'm really not sure how much more "cultured" some folks are just because they've traveled more extensively than others. At the end of the day, most of these "cultured" folks seems to visit the same cities/attractions/tourist traps as all the other "cultured" people out there. Not many people really venture far beyond the beaten track.
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Old 06-19-2022, 07:19 PM
 
Location: A Yankee in northeast TN
16,075 posts, read 21,148,356 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RocketSci View Post
I think if you did live in a diverse area you would understand that it is not just all about you, but about living in a place where everyone can find others to relate to, and everyone can feel comfortable not being considered an outsider.

I am well aware of people who don't live in diverse areas who avoid going into cities out of fear. That includes current and former family, friends, associates, co-workers, etc. Seeing people who don't look like themselves make them very uncomfortable, to say the least. I did not want my children growing up afraid of people who didn't look or live like they did, and as adults they still thank us for giving them that opportunity.

Isolation breeds ignorance. Ignorance breeds fear.
Except there are threads here on CD by city people who fear going into rural areas, complete with references to deliverance, simply because it's unfamiliar. Your reasons don't hold water.
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Old 06-19-2022, 10:02 PM
 
Location: Buffalo, NY
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Originally Posted by DubbleT View Post
Except there are threads here on CD by city people who fear going into rural areas, complete with references to deliverance, simply because it's unfamiliar. Your reasons don't hold water.
I did a search looking for threads referencing Deliverance and rural areas, and at least as far back as 2018 every one mentioning Deliverance was written by a person living in the rural area, basically saying "we are not like Deliverance" but usually referring more to the lack of development in the movie rather than the violence. There was one, however, who lived mostly off the grid that said where they lived WAS like in Deliverance!

So, send a link to those threads about scared city people - I would be interested to understand the context.

That said, it seems as if rural people themselves recognize there are risks and dangers of living and traveling in rural areas. Gun culture is strong in rural areas likely because the isolation of living in the country, far apart from other who could hear or respond to calls for help. I knew some very rural people who always kept loaded weapons by their front doors - I thought they and their neighbors were all a little crazy, but I wouldn't want to be walking onto their property at night if I had a car breakdown, thats for sure. I know many many more that would no more leave their home without a gun than without their pants on.

That is the complete opposite of the city - where the presence of people and "eyes on the street" brings a level of protection as there is no anonymity, and immediate response in the event of any issues. Crimes, when they occur, are usually among people who know each other, or places with an absence of people. I have more concern being alone on an empty street, an empty park, etc than on any city street in a moderately busy city.
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Old 06-20-2022, 05:57 AM
 
Location: A Yankee in northeast TN
16,075 posts, read 21,148,356 times
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https://www.city-data.com/forum/gene...r-country.html
https://www.city-data.com/forum/city...-towns-24.html
These are older but there have been others in various state forums too, though I am not taking the time to search those.
Fear of 'others' goes both ways, rural and urban.
I won't argue this because I realize that that people who only have a one sided experience rarely change their opinions until they also experience it from the other side.
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