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Why are some cities boring and other cities fun?
A good bit of it is because some cities are walkable and some aren’t. I generally find that those cities I can explore on foot are more enjoyable to visit than those I have to drive around.
I definitely agree with this! My city is not walkable at all, and many do consider it pretty boring. There's not a whole lot to do. One does have to pretty much drive everywhere. There are no streets like, for example, Newbury St (Boston) where it's a large, walkable shopping district with good restaurants that have outdoor/patio seating etc. Then of course one can just hop on the T and go to North End or something for an entirely different shopping/dining experience. Here in boring Raleigh you can well...drive from Crabtree Valley Mall to North Hills? Just not the same.
I think it also depends on where you live in the city limits. It’s a nice sunny Sunday here in Raleigh, and all the snow has finally melted. I was going to walk over to Cameron Village for lunch, and either walk or take a scooter over to Glenwood South to watch some games, and if I’m feeling ambitious I might wander over to the Capitol building and down Fayetteville Street downtown. I’ll likely then take a Lyft the 2 miles or so back home. I was stuck home with the kids earlier in the week with the schools out, so my wife has “given me the day off.” That sounds like fun to me. It’s 39 degrees and raining in Boston’s Back Bay today.
Why are some cities boring and other cities fun?
A good bit of it is because some cities are walkable and some aren’t. I generally find that those cities I can explore on foot are more enjoyable to visit than those I have to drive around.
This exactly! The only reason I would find a city boring is if it were unpleasant and difficult to walk through.
I briefly noticed this post this morning and am coming back to it after just now reading an article in the NYT titled The Urban Pedestrian Strikes Back about some cities reassessing infrastructure planning based solely on car movement efficiency. It looks at different cities around the world finally investing money in better sidewalks and the spaces around them to get more people walking and to make the city just better overall because of that design philosophy. Interestingly it mentions Raleigh’s Walk Your City movement started in 2012 as one of the catalysts of this trend so maybe it is only modestly successful in certain areas despite its goals.
When we travel as we do often, we specifically choose every place we go to based on how interesting and easy it will be to walk in and through. Which is why (rightly or wrongly) I have no burning desire to visit places like Houston or Dallas or most sunbelt cities in the South known for their sprawl and lack of pedestrian amenities and requiring a car to get around despite their other qualities and attractions which would appeal to nearly everyone including us.
The less autocentric, the more fun in my experience. My favorite city neighborhoods are the ones in the NYC and Philly neighborhoods whose development predates automobiles
Car owners probably do not prefer housing with no off street parking, but I really think the lack of is part of what makes the aforementioned NYC neighborhoods so special. And the demand is there (whether in spite of or because of), brownstones go for millions of dollars and they rarely have parking spots. Neighborhoods like this also tend to be very walkable, and are fun to just walk around, people watch, and check out businesses of all sorts.
True. Non-boring people adapt and find ways to entertain themselves, like overdosing on opioids and fentanyl, or harrassing homeless people and putting it on YouTube.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jakebarnes
A couple thoughts -
Boring is subjective, and some people want it.
Most people looking for city excitement (which is what I perceive you are referring to here) move to one of the big cities (for example, Brooklyn). Therefore the people that would make a city interesting often leave for a city that already is interesting (in their minds).
Exactly. Our city, for example, has only two small strip malls, no downtown. There are no big box stores, no movie theaters, only a few restaurants. The parks are mostly playgrounds and hiking trails.
Our population has grown from 45,000 in 2010 to 65,000 today, with more new homes being built. Why?
There is very little crime, the schools are highly rated, it's dead quiet at night, and you can see the stars.
Anything we need is available 6-12 miles away in the cities at either end of ours, and major employers are 5-25 miles away, a relatively decent commute. The high school kids (there are 3 high schools within a mile or so) are the only ones complaining of it being boring, the adults like it that way.
Exactly. Our city, for example, has only two small strip malls, no downtown. There are no big box stores, no movie theaters, only a few restaurants. The parks are mostly playgrounds and hiking trails.
Our population has grown from 45,000 in 2010 to 65,000 today, with more new homes being built. Why?
There is very little crime, the schools are highly rated, it's dead quiet at night, and you can see the stars.
Anything we need is available 6-12 miles away in the cities at either end of ours, and major employers are 5-25 miles away, a relatively decent commute. The high school kids (there are 3 high schools within a mile or so) are the only ones complaining of it being boring, the adults like it that way.
I bet all the young people are doing lots of drugs. Boring towns and meth go together like PB and J
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