First off, I want to make it clear that knocking other people’s towns is pointless. Apples and oranges indeed.
But this has been on my mind a lot lately, since I’ll (hopefully) graduate from law school soon, and need to decide where I want to live and work. In fact, I woke up this morning thinking about NYC v. small town life.
I live in a medium-sized town in Tennessee (quarter of a million people) and grew up in a small town in Tennessee (~35,000). Not too long ago I visited New York City, and can’t seem to get the visit out of my head. There are lots of things to like about the place. As gobear et al pointed out, the list of things one could visit or do there is practically infinite. The diversity of people, cultures, and opportunity are literally overwhelming.
But there are things I love about Tennessee, too. For one, there’s quiet; Blissful peace in a thousand little places that I just don’t think exists in NYC. And space–Lots of it. Land that’s beautiful and green and open and rolling, available for purchase to people of almost any income. I never feel claustrophobic here like in do in NYC. And the people here are friendly. Strangers look me in the eye when we pass on the street (that was one of most disconcerting things about NYC to me), and because the town is small, people seem to feel an obligation to get to know me, and I like that. I can hear crickets and cicadias outside my windows at night, and I can own dogs and let them {and any children I might have) live most of their lives outside like God intended. There are plenty of things for me to do here, but that’s because I like the things that happen here–bluegrass and country music, museums that tell the story of my people, and restaurants that serve the simple food I love with sweet tea in giant, condensation-covered glasses. There’s plenty more, but those joys are of the subtle and sublime kind that don’t translate well over a message board.
Don’t get me wrong–I think it would be a shame to never see anything outside of the tiny little sphere in which you grew up, to think that your little universe is all there is, and to dismiss everything else out of hand. But I bet there are as many people in NYC who have done just that as there are in Tennessee. The idea is to see as much as you can and, in the end, to find a place you love. And to let everybody else do the same.
I’ll readily admit that the temptation is great for me to poo-poo New York because, on the whole, I didn’t like being there–being surrounded by people and buildings and noise. But I know that there are people who love it. Who think, as a friend of mine does, that it’s the “Greatest City in the World.” So I’ll let them be happy there, and gladly talk about why I love my life here (and listen as they explain why they love theirs). I’ve got no more right to criticize their decisions than they to do to criticize mine.
