Er... well, in part, it's innate, which makes me a bad person to answer this question. I'm highly irrational about cities. My mother claims she knew I was a city girl even when I was little. How about you... why do you like sex? Why do you like food?
Here are some of the easier to explain reasons I like cities, in no particular order. * The anonymity is nice. It's good to go out on the street and not be surrounded by people who know me and are watching me. * City courtesy is also more to my taste than small-town in-your-face friendliness. (This may apply more to eastern cities) * Urban areas tend to be more socially liberal. * Density. You can walk to more places, see more neat things side-by-side,and in the really good cities you can even get by without a car. * Convenience. This is related to density. * Palpable feeling of energy... cities don't sleep. This gives me energy when I feel energetic and gives me permission to rest when I don't. I can hear and see all around me that the world isn't ending if I'm not productive. * Much better selection of restaurants and bookstores, usually. And museums and concerts and all that culture-y stuff. * Inspiration. Just looking around and seeing all the amazing things that people have built. * It's much more okay to be a little weird in the city. There's a much wider variety of people (again, usually) so there's a much broader band of what constitutes normal and acceptable. * I think they are beautiful, and they are always changing so there's always something to watch. And there's always more to explore, even if you know a place intimately.
Having said all that, NYC is the city of cities, at least as far as North America goes. I admit it scares me a little. There is some crime, of course, and if I lived there I probably couldn't have such a nice apartment, because I couldn't afford one. But the same things could be said about Boston, compared to where I'm from, and I've never looked back, so I could probably adjust. :)
It's good to remember that there is an alternate point of view.
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branchandroot
Re: my only question is, why?
Date: 2005-10-21 05:22 am (UTC)Here are some of the easier to explain reasons I like cities, in no particular order.
* The anonymity is nice. It's good to go out on the street and not be surrounded by people who know me and are watching me.
* City courtesy is also more to my taste than small-town in-your-face friendliness. (This may apply more to eastern cities)
* Urban areas tend to be more socially liberal.
* Density. You can walk to more places, see more neat things side-by-side,and in the really good cities you can even get by without a car.
* Convenience. This is related to density.
* Palpable feeling of energy... cities don't sleep. This gives me energy when I feel energetic and gives me permission to rest when I don't. I can hear and see all around me that the world isn't ending if I'm not productive.
* Much better selection of restaurants and bookstores, usually. And museums and concerts and all that culture-y stuff.
* Inspiration. Just looking around and seeing all the amazing things that people have built.
* It's much more okay to be a little weird in the city. There's a much wider variety of people (again, usually) so there's a much broader band of what constitutes normal and acceptable.
* I think they are beautiful, and they are always changing so there's always something to watch. And there's always more to explore, even if you know a place intimately.
Having said all that, NYC is the city of cities, at least as far as North America goes. I admit it scares me a little. There is some crime, of course, and if I lived there I probably couldn't have such a nice apartment, because I couldn't afford one. But the same things could be said about Boston, compared to where I'm from, and I've never looked back, so I could probably adjust. :)
It's good to remember that there is an alternate point of view.