s/o Big Cities - wish you could live in one?

[MEmama]

I grew up in a what I considered a small town, around 80,000 when I left (much larger now). Then I lived in SF and loved it. Since then, I've lived in numerous cities and towns of varying sizes. I used to be very much an urban person and the stint we did in rural Canada just about killed me; there was no preparing for the shock of moving from a vibrant city to a place where literally the only reason to leave the house was to go to the grocery store. Even though we are in a small town now, it's a totally different experience. Like other small towns we've lived in, there is a college and it's near enough to a big city (Boston, in this case) to benefit from the urban influence. We live right in town, so I can walk everywhere and there's enough here that I never have to leave town for any needs. Bigger towns are an easy drive away, and Boston can be a day trip. But we can also bike to the countryside and to the ocean in minutes, so it's a really great balance for us.

 

I can't imagine leaving here for just any city, although I can honestly imagine living somewhere like Copenhagen which is urban but on a very human scale. Culturally the city would have to be a good fit to want to give this up. But I can definitely see leaving the house behind and living in a small flat. I think the key for me is to live in the core of a city or town--limit the commute, limit the stuff, simplify. I've moved around enough to know that there are a variety of places where I can make that happen.

[chocolatechip]

A little unsure of what I should have answered on the poll. I live in a 20-25K city, but am about 30-45 min. from a 600K city. I don't consider where I live to be in the big city, but it probably is considered part of the metro area. I don't like the big city and never want to live there. 

[AngelaNYC]

We live in NYC and we love it. 

 

I can understand the country life when you have small children, but when my kids were tweens, teens, and older, they were so thankful to have endless options and resources at their disposal to follow their passions.  We have the best of the best of everything here.  We live in Queens which has more of a suburban feel.  We have a front yard, backyard, and garage.  We have 5 playgrounds, 2 libraries, 4 supermarkets, and a huge farmer's market all within less than a quarter-mile radius.  We really don't even need a car.  The kids ride the buses and subways all the time and hang out all over Manhattan for awesome homeschool classes, theater, restaurants, museums, parks, etc.  The homeschool community is gigantic, too.

 

I've lived in the country.  I've also spent entire summers at our beach bungalow into my adulthood.  But when the summer is over, boy is the country so excruciatingly boring.  I could never live there.  

 

Thankfully my dh and kids feel the same way I do.  So often I hear all of them saying how lucky and grateful they are to live in NYC (I swear they do) - especially after visiting someone outside the city.   

 

So, no country life for me.  Ever.

[MistyMountain]

I can see myself living in a big city if we had the money but it would have to be a well planned denser one with lots of transportation options not a suburb city. I did not answer yes because I could not commit to living a city permantely until I had the experience. I tend to like change after a while. I lived in suburbs or suburban like cities my whole life and I do not really love the suburbs. It requires so much driving and neighborhoods are all the same and separated from everything else. There is less things to do and they all require driving but it is still busy and has a lot if traffic.

Edited December 17, 2015 by MistyMountain

[creekland]

A little unsure of what I should have answered on the poll. I live in a 20-25K city, but am about 30-45 min. from a 600K city. I don't consider where I live to be in the big city, but it probably is considered part of the metro area. I don't like the big city and never want to live there. 

 

I'd think "no" to living in a larger city with what you describe.  If anything, it might be a suburb?

 

Metro areas I'm thinking of are essentially divided cities where one only knows they changed location due to a small sign announcing it (or maybe a river or something).  Anyone who missed the sign would think they are still in Major City.

[Laura Corin]

I've lived in London, Taipei, Beijing, Kunming and Hong Kong.  I enjoyed what they had to offer, but living in a small village (100 houses) near a small town (17,000) suits me better.

[frogger]

I don't mind the city lifestyle(walking everywhere, not having your own land, lots of interesting people and shared spaces) and I love living in the real woods by that I mean neighbors are miles away and it is even better if you can't get there by road but what I dislike is the effort it takes to keep house in Suburbia. Somehow I'm stuck here for the moment. There are things I like about the area. It is slightly separated from the main city so it has a small town feel and you do get to know people which I guess would be harder in the other extremes I mentioned but it costs so much.

 

Yes, housing in the city is expensive but you can live comfortably in less. You don't have to have a yard-you go to the park. You don't have to have space for a hundred books- you go to the library. You don't have to even have a vehicle- much less a garage.

 

In the country housing is cheap. Plus you aren't required to keep the lawn mowed (you wouldn't have one) the exterior painted pretty or anything else that your neighbors might want but transportation costs more.

 

Suburbia tries to have it all and turns into an overwhelming, expensive and time consuming place to live.

[DawnM]

I lived in large cities for 20 years (Seattle and then Los Angeles).  I now live in what I call a small city of only 2.4 million.  

 

Well, right now we are in the suburbs, but we are moving in to the city proper.

 

I am a city girl.

[Mama Geek]

I didn't vote because it wouldn't let me just answer 1 part.  I would rather not live in a large city.  I have lived in 4 in the past and there was good at bad about it, but it is really not my first choice

[Rebecca in KY]

I despise cities. I've lived in Miami, LA, St. Louis, Seattle, Tucson, DFW, Austin, and Louisville. Don't like any of them. My nightmare vacation is a city vacation. Give me the mountains of Colorado, the Tetons, the Oregon Cascades! I need green grass, blue sky, space to plant flowers, peace and quiet. I have no interest in the cultural stuff offered by cities - it's just not for me. I'm much happier camping and canoeing on a placid lake.

 

That said, I've lived in cities my entire adult life. I've learned to deal. I don't like it, but I don't see it changing any time soon.

[rebcoola]

I have lived in a variety of places my favorite has been the small college town it had a ton to do but without the hassles of a larger city.  

[Guest]

I abhor big cities and no matter how depressed I am, I can always cheer myself up by thinking about how grateful I am to have gotten out of one before I was too old to pack up and move hundreds of miles away to a place where I didn't know a living soul.

 

dd26 went back. I don't understand why she likes it, but whatever. ds23 likes to travel and gets to do it on Uncle Sam's dime because National Guard, but his cat and his car still live here.

 

I went to a homeschooling conference in a big city 13 years ago, but I never left the hotel and other than that I haven't looked back.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Guest

[Pen]

I loved living in big cities for the most part, especially New York. But I got very sick/disabled while living in NYC and cannot handle them any longer.

 

I put "maybe" as to would I live in them if I could afford to comfortable, but the comfortably would have to include health not just money. 

[Guest]

Green acres is the life for me.... :)

 

No, I have never been tempted to live in a city such as Baltimore or D.C., let alone larger than that, although it was fun to work in the city before I had kids. I do often think it would be nice now to live in a town, such as Mt. Airy or Westminster, where I could reno an 1800s home and walk to the library. :)

 

 

 

ETA: typo

Edited December 17, 2015 by Quill

[JenneinCA]

I don't think I have ever lived in anything other than a big city. That is where my parents' jobs were when I was young and where my husband's job is now. I might like to try something smaller, but I would have no clue how to go about doing that.

[creekland]

I didn't vote because it wouldn't let me just answer 1 part.  I would rather not live in a large city.  I have lived in 4 in the past and there was good at bad about it, but it is really not my first choice

 

The "Yes - it was ok but there are better options" doesn't work for you considering you said there was good and bad about it?

 

The second question was put there mainly because I was wondering how many of us have some sort of "city" experience (living in one), not just theoretical thoughts about living in one.  I thought about just putting the basic "yes" and "no," but then thought it'd be nice to have some thoughts with those answers.

[creekland]

As always, I enjoy seeing the depth of the Hive's thoughts and experiences.  I believe we cover a lot with our likes/dislikes and backgrounds.  That makes the Hive a great resource for info (and online friendship) IMO.

[TravelingChris]

I live in a small city and I like it.  It is big enough to have a lot of cultural things going on all the time but small enough that there is no problem getting to events (no traffic to speak of).   I have lived in Washington DC area, Los Angeles, and CHicago.  We were so thrilled when the AIr Force moved us here and we like it so much that my dh retired and got another job here.  I like visiting cities but prefer to live in a less crowded place.  We found the traffic in DC and Los Angeles to be so bad as to really affect our lifestyles.  The gentler pace of life here is worth it.

[Laura in CA]

I voted with (what turned out to be) the majority on both questions -- "No, no, and no!" and "Yes, I have, and enjoyed it." Key is the past tense. And perhaps the fact that every big city I have lived in has been in Europe. And maybe that I was young (20s and 30s).

 

I lived outside NYC (an easy train ride in) for 5 years, and loved the easy access to NYC and all it offers, but it was also a relief coming back to my small, quiet village after a day trip in. Same now -- we are within 1h of SF (in fact I went to an art exhibit in SF yesterday), but our small town is surrounded by ranches and horse farms ... I can take a bike ride (with serious elevation gains -- thousands of feet -- among the rolling hills/mountains that surround our valley) from my front door and literally see more cattle, horses, and sheep than cars. The best of both worlds! I don't think I could live in a very remote, isolated place, although I am definitely a "country girl" -- I like access to world-class opera, ballet, symphony, etc., and the dizzying variety of events. My thing is dance, and there are multiple opportunities to dance every single day, from Scottish country dance to ballroom to blues to Indian dance to Mexican folklórico to swing to ... Bulgarian folk dance every week in San Jose. Who knew? but we just got back from Eastern Europe and I found out there is a Bulgarian Cultural Center (several, actually) in the Bay Area.

 

In Europe I lived in a German city (100k), Swiss city (250k), and Vienna (1.5m) ... and loved all three. I wish more U.S. cities had pedestrian zones. Modesto (!) has a nice one ...

 

Edited December 17, 2015 by Laura in CA

[Momling]

Cities were great to live in when I was younger, but once I had kids, the idea of city living wasn't so great. I love living in a small semi-rural college town! I love visiting cities, but living there now would just not make me happy.

[Lolly]

Considering that I think my neighbors are too close now...I don't think city would work well for me. I don't like people enough for that type of living.

[Guest]

I don't mind the city lifestyle(walking everywhere, not having your own land, lots of interesting people and shared spaces) and I love living in the real woods by that I mean neighbors are miles away and it is even better if you can't get there by road but what I dislike is the effort it takes to keep house in Suburbia. Somehow I'm stuck here for the moment. There are things I like about the area. It is slightly separated from the main city so it has a small town feel and you do get to know people which I guess would be harder in the other extremes I mentioned but it costs so much.

 

Yes, housing in the city is expensive but you can live comfortably in less. You don't have to have a yard-you go to the park. You don't have to have space for a hundred books- you go to the library. You don't have to even have a vehicle- much less a garage.

 

In the country housing is cheap. Plus you aren't required to keep the lawn mowed (you wouldn't have one) the exterior painted pretty or anything else that your neighbors might want but transportation costs more.

 

Suburbia tries to have it all and turns into an overwhelming, expensive and time consuming place to live.

SACRILEGE! :D

[JFSinIL]

Grew up suburban, Orange (city) in Orange County, CA. Lived also in L.A. (west side, UCLA then Venice Beach), San Francisco and Chicago. Now back in suburbs :-(

Edited December 17, 2015 by JFSinIL

[Amber in SJ]

I grew up in a tiny rural town in Northern CA and couldn't get out fast enough.  My freshman class at University was twice the size of my hometown.  My parents still live there and we visit, but I would never consider going back.  When the paper mill closed almost everyone I knew was out of work.  Drugs, drinking & sex were the only thing for teenagers to do in our little town.  The teenage pregnancy rate was so high there was a satellite high school for girls who found themselves in a family way.  Yes, I grew up with animals; pigs, chicken, sheep, horses, cows, etc.  I don't miss them at all.  My in-laws live out in the country with cows for neighbors & after a few days there I go a little bit stir-crazy.

 

I currently live in the city.  I love it.  I don't drive so I love having 2 grocery stores, our dentist, the library, a farmers market and a hub for the light rail all within a 30 minute walk.  Across the street is a 290 acre county park with trails that wind through orchards and agricultural areas.  There are 5 city parks including one with a creek all around us.  As for wildlife?  My backyard has been home to raccoons, possum, squirrel, red tail hawks, skunks, toads, salamanders and a myriad of other critters.  The park has coyote, foxes & the night cameras have shown a mountain lion.  The years that I choose to, I have a good sized garden.  I have even grown corn.  My yard has 8 fruit trees.  We can go to the ballet, major sporting events (Go Sharks,) shopping, theater, museums and almost anything else you can think of.  I can be at the beach in 40 minutes, and I can be in the mountains in the same amount of time.   When I had an under 4lb preemie, the hospital at which I delivered had a state of the art NICU to take care of her.  When my dad had a heart attack he had to be life flighted to a hospital with a cardiac center.  My mom & several of us kids had to stay in an unfamiliar city before, during & after his surgeries.  I enjoy the diversity where I live.  My children have friends of all different ethnicities and religions.  The only thing I would change is cost of living here and light pollution at night.  I do miss seeing so many stars.

 

I love my adopted city and wouldn't want to raise my children anywhere else.

 

Amber in San Jose since 1988

[EmseB]

We are moving again soon and have the option of living in the city in a smallish place (1200-1500sqft) with no garage, street parking, little storage, public transport for dh to work.. or the option of the opposite end of the spectrum with huge house and lot for the same money, but a 30 minute commute. I lean towards the latter, but I also think city life would be an awesome experience for the kids. And I've never done it.

 

One problem is that right now we just have...so much stuff. And what do people in the city do about move ins? We can't exactly have the moving truck parked in front of our house for a while day blocking traffic, right?

[Tap]

I would live in Portland Oregon in a heartbeat.  I would want it to be in a house or an apartment with a decent amount of noise insulation. I currently live about 20 minutes away, so I am happy where I am, but once the kids leave home and I don't need the space, I would definitely consider it.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Tap

[Zinnia]

We live in a big city, but we're in an inner ring suburb.  We have the yards and outside space (though my friends in the city center also have this mostly; it's not a city of condos and high rises).   It's an odd mix of city and not.  My friends and family from other places definitely feel like we live in the big city, and we're more like, "eh, not so much."

 

I would LOVE to live somewhere like Brooklyn or DC (oh, DC) or anywhere that feels very, very city like.

[Roadrunner]

Yes, but location matters. I do not like driving in cities so I need to live in a place where I don't have to. I also don't like suburbia or anything like unto it in a metro area.

 

I loved living in Salt Lake City when we were downtown. I HATE to live in most of its metro area (and not just because of the driving). I loved Seattle where we lived in a great, diverse neighborhood where I could walk, bike, or bus anywhere I wanted to go. I wished we could have lived closer to downtown Guadalajara or my son's school but mostly it was okay. If I'd been able to choose our housing there we'd have lived in very different neighborhood. Bishkek has nearly a million people now but it doesn't feel that big and there are lots of pleasant neighborhoods and I love living there. There are some good reasons why we are living where we currently are in the DC metro area but if it were up to me, we'd be in the District. But we're near a metro stop and I zip into the city 3-4 times a week and I never have to drive anywhere. I'm looking forward to moving to Riyadh soon and won't have to worry about driving there ;).

 

I have no interest in living in many cities in China, but I'd be happy to try just about any city for a while. Quito, Lima, Montevideo, Harare, Istanbul, Chennai, Tashkent, Mexico City, Tokyo, Kashgar, Cairo, Fez, Cape Town, Chiang Mai, Yangon, so many cities to explore.

I just have to say how much I want your life!

 

 

 

I grew up in a city and for twenty years I have lived without, I have felt sadness every day. I find quiet very depressing. Love, love, love the hustle and bustle of the big city. But I want to make a distinction between a real city and an urbanized area, which is how I would describe many American cities.

[catz]

I live in a biggish city - top 20 metro area.  We have a great parks and trail system.  I can hike woods from my house.  I can also walk to restaurants, a library, coffee shop, a corner grocer, etc.  Great access to transit.  I send my kids outside all the time.  I love Love LOVE it.  If we ever had to move for employment or whatever, I'd be fine with it if we could be in a well established city with museums, educational opportunities, theater, dance, diversity, etc.

Edited December 18, 2015 by WoolySocks

[BooksandBoys]

I grew up in the rural Midwest. The closest town (40,000) was 15 minutes away by car, and the closest city was 60 minutes away (this was a huge metro area, but we never went there, so it might as well have not existed in my childhood). My parents owned 2 acres surrounded by farm land (some else's). So, I grew up in the middle of nowhere.

 

I now live in a major metropolitan area, almost 3 million and growing rapidly. I love the climate here, but I don't enjoy city life. I miss the quiet and I'm still learning, after three years, how to calculate duration of commute (seriously, it takes 2 minutes to go 2 miles where I'm from; how does it take 20 minutes for 2 miles here?!). Mostly, it's the lack of quiet. I just don't enjoy hearing my neighbors and all the vehicles. I suspect that if my income were higher so I could enjoy the perks of a city (musicals, symphonies, art galleries and fancy restaurants), I'd feel slightly differently, but only slightly. I dream of buying a patch of land in the mountains and building a cabin. One day!

[Aelwydd]

Green acres is the life for me.... :)

 

No, I have never been tempted to live in a city such as Baltimore or D.C., let alone larger than that, although it was fun to work in the city before I had kids. I do often think it would be nice now to live in a town, such as Mt. Airy or Westminster, where I could reno an 1800s home and walk to the library. :)

 

 

 

ETA: typo

 

Yeah, but you know what's nice about a lot of cities, Quill...it's a lot easier to fit in as a secular/ non-affiliated person here than in Small Town, NC, where I grew up. It seems to me that small towns and rural communities tend to organize and form relationships around church related events and church groups than is the case in large metropolitan areas.  So, to my mind, one's religious affiliation and level of practice also does influence how content one would be in a large city, versus the country.

[Guest]

Yeah, but you know what's nice about a lot of cities, Quill...it's a lot easier to fit in as a secular/ non-affiliated person here than in Small Town, NC, where I grew up. It seems to me that small towns and rural communities tend to organize and form relationships around church related events and church groups than is the case in large metropolitan areas. So, to my mind, one's religious affiliation and level of practice also does influence how content one would be in a large city, versus the country.

Probably true for a lot of places. It's quite diverse in the counties adjacent to the one I live in, which are all convenient to D.C and Baltimore city. In those counties, I would not say church is a strong affiliation point.

[ScoutTN]

I live in suburbia, not in a city-city like NYC or SF, but my city has a population of over half a million and the metro area is well over a million.

 

I have lived in NYC and it was not for me. Fun to visit, though!

I would not choose to live in the northeast again. (I have lived in OH, VA, RI, NY, MS, PA and TN)

 

I like having my own house, a yard and lots of trees and relative quiet while still having high level hospitals, an excellent symphony, library system, several universities, lots of fine and performing arts, local and state parks, a decent airport etc. all less than 20 minutes away.

 

I like being 30 minutes from real farms where cows eat grass, chickens live outside and I know the farmers. I like having lots of these farms near my city and the impact they have. If I were younger, I might buy a hobby farm.

 

Dh thinks he would like to live in a small town, about 25,000. I would hate that unless it had a high level university and was near a real city.

 

I like 4 seasons with a mild winter.

 

I don't love traffic, but ours really isn't bad. I don't love being 2 hrs from real mountains and 7 from the ocean, but we do get there and I am glad not to have some of the hassles that go with those locations.

 

For me, really large cities like NYC or LA or Chicago hold zero appeal for everyday living. Too loud, too crowded, too expensive. SF would be more appealing, but not enough to want to move there.

I have family in the Bay area, so we visit.

[happypamama]

No, no, and NO.

 

As an adult, I have lived in a college town, a small town in the distant suburbs of Philadelphia, in a cookie cutter neighborhood in the close suburbs of DC, rural not-quite-middle-of-nowhere, and down the street from Boston University along the MBTA's green line in Boston. College town was okay because we were in college, and I think we'd have enjoyed living in one of the little towns just outside the college town. The distant Philadelphia suburbs were okay -- our little town was reasonably pleasant and not too congested, although we both worked in the busy expensive suburbs, so bleh. Outside of DC was the worst: so busy, so many people, all the time (and yet, still car dependent for everything, without the easy access to everything of being right in the city). Don't miss that at all. Boston -- well, too many people, too busy, way too expensive, but a fun city. Would definitely not want to live there again, but we enjoyed our time there as newlyweds.

 

Here? I like this. I'd like some of the small towns near here too.

 

My older boys and DH concur. My daughter thinks the hustle and bustle of a big city like NYC sound like fun! (This is my busiest, most active child, the one who has a hard time turning off her brain and body to sleep. A city might suit her.) But to me, the question of NYC vs. SF is a big "neither!"

[happypamama]

I don't mind the city lifestyle(walking everywhere, not having your own land, lots of interesting people and shared spaces) and I love living in the real woods by that I mean neighbors are miles away and it is even better if you can't get there by road but what I dislike is the effort it takes to keep house in Suburbia. Somehow I'm stuck here for the moment. There are things I like about the area. It is slightly separated from the main city so it has a small town feel and you do get to know people which I guess would be harder in the other extremes I mentioned but it costs so much.

 

Yes, housing in the city is expensive but you can live comfortably in less. You don't have to have a yard-you go to the park. You don't have to have space for a hundred books- you go to the library. You don't have to even have a vehicle- much less a garage.

 

In the country housing is cheap. Plus you aren't required to keep the lawn mowed (you wouldn't have one) the exterior painted pretty or anything else that your neighbors might want but transportation costs more.

 

Suburbia tries to have it all and turns into an overwhelming, expensive and time consuming place to live.

Yes! That's exactly what we thought about it too!

[KungFuPanda]

I'm a Grow Where You're Planted girl. I've been happy most places I've lived. Texas was the least endearing of every place I've lived, but I was in the middle of nowhere. I had my friends, so it was still fun.

 

Right now I can be in Baltimore or DC in 20-30 minutes, but I live in the suburbs. It's great for us and there are always more things to do than we can ever manage. I could happily live IN either city. If I have enough dirt for a small garden I'm good. I grew up on acreage constantly doing yard work. I wanted none of that for myself or my kids. A city with some green spaces is fine by me. A thirty minute drive for more milk is not quality of life in my book. Maybe when I'm older and WANT to be home most days I'll change my mind.

[freeindeed]

I live in a rural area. I do not like it at all. We plan to move to a large city within the next year, but the population is not as high as the survey states.

[Desert Strawberry]

I grew up in a major metropolis. I've lived in/near many cities around the world. Now I will outside a town less than 3 miles wide, in the exact middle of the Sonoran Desert. I'm happy here. 

[J-rap]

I grew up in a medium-sized town, and then lived in a combination of big metro areas and tiny towns.  I loved the tiny towns when my kids were young and growing up, but otherwise I'm a big city gal.  Can't wait to move back to one!  But I wouldn't want to live in a suburb.  I want to be in the very heart of the city!

Edited December 18, 2015 by J-rap

[foxbridgeacademy]

I answered maybe/ BTDT and it was okay-ish

 

I've lived all over.  From little towns with 500 people, small towns around 10,000, College towns with 80,000, City suburbs, and Metro areas with over 1 million.  Nothing beats my home College town.  Big enough to have plenty of stuff to do, not so big that it takes an hour and a half to drive 10 miles.  You could go to the store and run into people you know but not on a regular basis.  It continues to have a close community atmosphere even while new construction goes up everywhere.  The biggest downside is that the University is  THE employer and there are very few jobs outside of academia.  We would move back in a heartbeat but the few jobs don't pay well and the COL would mean Ramen Noodles every night. 

 

ETA: I actually "grew up" in the middle of nowhere, 30 minute drive from the College town but since it was also the closest grocery store and where I went to Jr/Sr High school I consider it my hometown.

Edited December 18, 2015 by foxbridgeacademy

[creekland]

I grew up in the rural Midwest. The closest town (40,000) was 15 minutes away by car, and the closest city was 60 minutes away (this was a huge metro area, but we never went there, so it might as well have not existed in my childhood). My parents owned 2 acres surrounded by farm land (some else's). So, I grew up in the middle of nowhere.

 

I now live in a major metropolitan area, almost 3 million and growing rapidly. I love the climate here, but I don't enjoy city life. I miss the quiet and I'm still learning, after three years, how to calculate duration of commute (seriously, it takes 2 minutes to go 2 miles where I'm from; how does it take 20 minutes for 2 miles here?!). Mostly, it's the lack of quiet. I just don't enjoy hearing my neighbors and all the vehicles. I suspect that if my income were higher so I could enjoy the perks of a city (musicals, symphonies, art galleries and fancy restaurants), I'd feel slightly differently, but only slightly. I dream of buying a patch of land in the mountains and building a cabin. One day!

 

This is very similar to my background except the nearest city (yes, it was called a city) in my youth had 16,000 people and we escaped from the city life we chose to live in as adults 20 years ago.  No regrets at all.  I find my travel times (for errands) to be essentially the same.  The only difference is the miles traveled.  The peace and quiet here is priceless.  It's been a great place to raise kids.  It's been a great place to experience life.

 

I hope everyone can choose to live in a place that they enjoy - regardless if one identifies with city/suburb/rural as that great place!

[Donna]

I have always lived in a very small town or rural area but travel to NYC and Philadelphia regularly. I would love to live in NYC or Washington DC for a short period of time…maybe 6 months, to be able to experience city life and take advantage of all it has to offer in the form of culture, food, museums, etc…

 

I travel to the city now for some of that but have to travel in and out of the city, park, and drive home. It would be nice to live there, travel everywhere on public transportation, and not need to plan around when I need to leave to drive the 3 hours home safely, etc… Where I live now, there aren't even sidewalks and I have to drive at least 30-40 min to get to anything except grocery shopping. In NYC, there are very late Irish music sessions my dd would love to attend on every night of the week. Also, there are a lot of smaller museums and events in different cities, I would not go into the city for but if I lived there, I might find the time to visit them.

 

I do prefer quiet country living. I love having land to garden and plant. I like being able to get away from our crazy lives sometimes, too. Oftentimes we are traveling and driving into and out of cities going from one event to another but when I am home, I am away from all that and can relax, weed the garden, sip tea or read a book on the patio, etc… 

[TKDmom]

I want to live on a couple acres, and be within a few miles of an urban center.  :lol:

 

I really like having land and space from neighbors. I also really like being close to the shopping and museums and zoos and parks of a larger city. 

[Susan in TN]

I would love to try living right smack dab in the center of a city (like Manhattan) where I could walk or take public transportation anywhere I needed to go and have groceries delivered. Of course, I would need to be quite wealthy to be "comfortable" and I would want an apartment that was super clean, safe, spacious, and with a great view. And a roof-top garden.

 

I would be willing to try it for a year or maybe two.

[luuknam]

I'd think "no" to living in a larger city with what you describe.  If anything, it might be a suburb?

 

Metro areas I'm thinking of are essentially divided cities where one only knows they changed location due to a small sign announcing it (or maybe a river or something).  Anyone who missed the sign would think they are still in Major City.

 

But it's not that simple. I live in a suburb, and the only way to know is that tiny sign that apparently our landlord missed because when we moved here she said it was in x but it turns out we live in y (and they lived in this house for 7 years or so - personally, we didn't figure out it was wrong on our lease etc until probably over a year after we moved here, after we'd already given our wrong city name in our address to just about everything and everyone... oops). "Buffalo's first suburb" has a population density of over 11,000 people/square mile, making it one of the most densily populated places in the US. And then driving to different suburbs you wouldn't really be able to tell the difference either other than the sign. Nor driving into Buffalo proper, other than that they're lousier at clearing the snow off the streets (if it snows that is... we just got out first measurable snow this year, moving the record by over two weeks). It's all pretty gradual. Same thing with DFW... there is the city, and then other cities, and most of the time you don't even know what counts as city vs suburb or w/e.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population_density

 

Yes, housing in the city is expensive but you can live comfortably in less. You don't have to have space for a hundred books- you go to the library.

 

When I lived in the city* the library didn't have a checkout limit. And now in the suburb, the library has a checkout limit of 50 items... per card. My record thus far is 51 items checked out at the same time. On the bright side, 100 books is only half a bookcase or so. If I don't have space for that, I wouldn't say I'm living "comfortably", and the question was about living "comfortably" in the city.

 

*Correction: "inner suburb" of Dallas. Okay, w/e.

Edited December 19, 2015 by luuknam

[flyingaway]

I grew up a country girl, but doubt I can go back to that. I enjoy places with good public transportation, diversity of food and people, and all the activities and events cities have to offer. I adore London and would happily live there again as long as I could get away to some sunshine for a few weeks in the winter. I liked Tokyo, too, although it does get exhausting after awhile. I've also lived outside of Chicago and surprised myself by liking it as well. The people were friendly and it has a nice energy.

 

I used to think I would retire to a farm, but now I'm thinking a small apartment in a city would suit me just fine. When I want countryside, I can always go visit it.

[lewelma]

We live in a large-by-NZ-standards city and love it.  However, it is super safe.  We live within a 20 minute walk of the downtown, and my children have walked alone in the city starting at the age of 8. We also have the green belt behind our place, so a 1/2 mile by 8 mile strip for running and playing.  Main downside - cost of living! eek!

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited December 19, 2015 by lewelma

[creekland]

But it's not that simple. I live in a suburb, and the only way to know is that tiny sign that apparently our landlord missed because when we moved here she said it was in x but it turns out we live in y (and they lived in this house for 7 years or so - personally, we didn't figure out it was wrong on our lease etc until probably over a year after we moved here, after we'd already given our wrong city name in our address to just about everything and everyone... oops). "Buffalo's first suburb" has a population density of over 11,000 people/square mile, making it one of the most densily populated places in the US. 

 

That's why for this poll we can't really go by map lines or definitions.  We need to go by what all of us naturally think of with big city/metro area vs suburb or smaller city, etc.

 

Some big cities have true rural area within their boundaries.  Some small cities or suburbs are located directly within what all of us would label the big city if we got to put our labels on.

[MyThreeSons]

I know this seems weird, but I chose the last option on the first question (absolutely NO to wanting to live in a big city) and the first option on the second question (I have lived in a big city and I enjoyed it). 

 

I spent the first (almost) 40 years of my life in a big city and I did enjoy it. It was the only life I knew. 

 

However, I have now lived in a much more rural area for almost 20 years, and I cannot imagine going back to city life. 

 

 

[Word Nerd]

I used to live near one (less than an hour) and wish that were still the case, but I wouldn't want to live in a big city.