I Hate Big Cities

The BBQ Pit
41

I love Love LOVE Big cities!!!

The bigger the better.

Hate small towns and small cities.

There’s nothing to do. It’s impossible to get good fashions, or anything good to purchase. The “best” restaurants would probably be considered “fast food” in the lower 48.

I love roller coasters, going out and meeting new people, going to the theatre (where people are NOT allowed to wear mukluks and blue jeans to the Phantom of the Opera for PETE sake!!).

Partying in really strange clubs (anyone ever been to the “Dungeon” in New Orleans?), OR, really cool clubs (The Cat’s Meow, New Orleans).

There is so much to see and do in a big city. No “brother in law” club that keeps you from getting decent jobs. Count me as a big city lover.

42

I’ve lived in seven of the United States, in cities, large urban areas, and small towns. It seems to me that people are pretty much the same wherever one goes and that life is pretty much what one makes of it. Overall, though, I think that living in a small town beats living in a large city. YMMV.

43

I love that bar! It’s tradition for me to go there every time I’m in N’awlins and have a shot of Witch’s Brew :wink:

44

I, too, hate big cities. They’re ok to visit every once in a while, but as far as living in 'em, I could do without. I grew up in Indiana and never had to deal with the following situations I associate with big cities:

  1. No fucking parking anywhere. Grrr… Then having to pay $33 for parking somewhere longer than 3 hours (okay, this was in Chicago during the marathon, and there were an additional 40,000 people in downtown, so it’s probably not like that all the time, but it pissed me off anyway).

  2. People, people everywhere.

  3. The smell of exhaust all around.

  4. Unfriendliness. Yeah, I like to be left alone to a certain extent, but it makes me sad when I walk down the street and no one meets your eyes. I understand these people probably have other stuff on their minds, but even when they do meet my eyes and I smile and say hi, they usually look away. Hmmm… must be that boil on my face.

  5. Getting lost because I can’t see the road for all the damn buildings.

Okay, so my big city experiences haven’t been all bad. I lived in Santiago, Chile for a while, and for all its smelliness and big-city-ness, I had a blast the entire time I was there. And across from where I work is Dooley’s, kind of like a lower-end Cheers, where they know who I am and know what I drink. But the place where I live is a really high-crime area, even though it has some of the most beautiful houses in the area. So, when my fiancee and I move, we both want to go somewhere smaller.

45

I was watching some “Dating in a Small Town” show on the Metro channel the other day. It looked horrible. Going to barely populated bars. Always dating within the same circle of friends.

Give me a big city any day. At least that way, I can get caught cheating in some fancy restaurant instead of a dive bar.:smiley:

46

Cities are nice to visit, but bring me home to the cows and the open space and the fresh air. I live in a town of about 9000 people. Not so small that everyone knows everything, but small enough that people watch out for each other. I live close enough to a couple of small “cities” that I can get what I need without having to go far. And I’m less than an hour from Boston or Worcester if I want more. I really hate being jostled in a crowd. Gives me the shivers.

47

So that’s why you people do it! Whenever I see someone who does this, I’m left wondering “do I know that guy?” for the rest of the day. And since I’m usually slow to say hello back, (because I didn’t recognise the guy, and I certainly never expect someone to be grinning at me like they’re my best friend) I keep worrying about how rude I must have seemed to that person who I apparently knew (but didn’t) and didn’t greet them as I should have.

I don’t see the appeal in having to form a relationship with people I’ll never meet again in my life.

48

I’ve lived in major cities my entire life. Born and raised in Las Vegas and then moved to Kansas City. Suburbia Kansas City can have a small town feel to it and people are always waving. The house I lived in before here, in Vegas, none of the neighbors talked to each other so this was quite a change of pace. “Wait a minute. I don’t know them.”

I wouldn’t mind having a house in the country, but it must be near a big city.

49

Howdy,

I just got back from the big city (San Francisco) and I hated it. Nothing necessarily against SF, but, Jeebus, it smelled; there were beggars on every block, it was dirty, I couldn’t see the sky . . .

Given that, some people were friendly once we started talking and I’d love to have the access to food (I brought back fresh peas - won’t see those for another month in Montana).

The most friendly people were the “natives” in Chinatown. Old men and ladies with canes who’d say “Thank you” (I assume) when I threw a sidewalk block to let them pass, storekeepers who obviously understood that I was not dumb, I just couldn’t understand heavily accented English.

Three thoughts:

I’d love to go to Chinatown again, but with my dog. Just to part the waves of people with my “wolf” (husky). Cheap thrill.

It is very difficult to find XXL t-shirts in Chinatown. I’m an average size guy (where I come from) and made one woman laugh like hell when I tried on an XL and damn near split it like a sausage just by crossing my arms.

It sure is nice to be back home, listening to nothing but crickets in the yard.

Whistlepig

50

I don’t hate them, but I hate the idea of living there 24/7.

Small city for me. Not small town, that’s too boring. Not suburbs, they feel like habitrails for people.

But MAJOR urban areas are just too much concrete. Too many miles of people droppings. Don’t really think about it at the time but it winds me up to always have ‘civilization’ in 360 degree surround sound.

Unless you’re rich and live somewhere like Central Park west you wind up surrounded by city. I guess some people find it energizing, I find myself wishing for a horizon somewhere that doesn’t have a big honking building in it. Not to mention you can afford a house in fly-over country for what you pay for a crappy apt in most major metros.

Can’t wait to get out of durance vile (that is, for my company to decide my hotel bill is ridiculous), and get back to the land fashion forgot. We’re mutually oblivious anyway.

51

When I read the OP, my first impulse was to agree. But then I thought about where I live now, in Boston, mere blocks from Fenway. I walk to the grocery store, I walk to campus, I could (if I had money) probably have food of almost any variety delivered to me, in short, I live in a Big City. And I enjoy it. I can’t imagine what I’ll do when I need to own a car again, or when necessary services are located more than a five minute walk away. It seems so inconvenient. But then I think of how much rent I’m paying for so little room, and some other city inconveniences, and I just don’t know what I like best. I suspect I’ll end up in a relatively small college town. I think that could work for me.

52

I grew up in a small town in the mountains a couple hours west of Denver. I am now going to school in Denver. I don’t think I will ever move back to the small town, unless there is some wierd set of circumstances that arise. I work downtown, and am still fascinated every night when I come out and all the skyscrapers are lit up. There is always something new to do or see, and if I want to go see the country, or the mountains, I just have to drive half an hour west and I am back in the mountains and small town life.

53

I prefer places with fewer and fewer people…I would enjoy living in ND I bet, or stranded on a deserted island…ahhh! I even found the small town I used to live in, out in Montana too crowded at times–BTW, I could easily get whatever I wanted (consumer product-wise)…just about every store there as anywhere else, and if not buy through the internet. I’m outside DC now, so I get sick of all the people alot. It is possible to find solitude in urban areas though, obvious examples:

  1. Learn to enjoy “bad” weather; Plan your outdoor activities during these times, and you’ll have large tracts of land to yourself.
    Actually, humans are such sheep, they’ll often not be found outside at, for example parks, on non-summer days, just because it is the “off-season”. I find this propensity tremendously fortuitous.

  2. Don’t be interested in actually going to large sports events, shopping in December, driving during the rush hours etc. Instead, watch the sports on TV, shop in November, and have a work schedule with commute times outside of the popular rush hours.

  3. Switch day with night. Most humans seem to prefer sleeping when it is dark, so sleep in the day! The city is much less rush rush during the night. Of course, most of the sites and stores are closed, and the criminals seem to come out then, but, smal price to pay for peace and quiet.

My personal best accomplishment was the hour-long hike I took in San Francisco last year in the daytime during which I saw a grand total of 0 people and 0 cars. I covered a lot of ground too. It can be done!

54

I seem to be able to handle myself well in large cities. Earlier this month I landed at Barcelona airport; despite speaking no Spanish or Catalan, and having been given misleading directions, I managed to negotiate the public transport system to get across town to the bus station within 45 minutes, without getting robbed. It turned out I had 10 minutes to get some food and buy my ticket to another Spanish city, and I got on the right bus with a few minutes to spare.

I’ve done similar things in New York and Budapest, and less scary cities such as Paris and Vienna. I managed all this despite having spent almost all my childhood in semi-rural areas. I probably couldn’t have done it if I hadn’t lived in London for several years. I’m not boasting, just mentioning things that I’ve surprised myself by acheiving.

55

I would kill myself if I was forced to live in a suburb again, and there’s no way I could live in a small town.

I grew up in the suburbs, and let me tell ya that those places are hell on kids. Anything designed so that a child has to get into a car and drive in order to see friends from school is bad, bad, bad.

But I love cities. I’m in Vancouver now, and as far as I’m concerned that’s on the verge of being too small; it’s half a million people in the city proper, with 3 times that number in the near-urban and suburban area. My entire existence is within a 30 minute radius: friends, work, shopping, entertainment, etc… Heck, I can even go hiking in the mountains in half an hour.

Many people describing small towns are describing my personal version of hell, but they are missing all the great stuff about cities. I don’t know all my neighbours, not even everyone on the floor of my apartment building; but I do know several of them, and yes, they will come by to borrow a cup of milk.

Greenery? There’s a park a block away, and every street is lined with trees. Crowds? You’ve got to learn to walk through them, is all. And while you’re not going to wave at everyone you meet, why would you want to? Are you that afraid of strangers that you have to know everyone you meet? Then how the heck are you going to find out something new? Or find someone new, and show them stuff about yourself that’s well-loved?

56

Yup - it’s just to torture you and make you feel guilty.:slight_smile: For me it’s also because I grew up in a small town, knew every single kid and parent on my block, and most people, even if they didn’t know someone, would say something to acknowledge their existence if that person walked into a room. I didn’t necessarily know everyone there, but I’d say hi anyway if I made eye contact with someone.

Also, I had etiquette pounded into me the same way an evangelical minister pounds religion into others (sorry if I’m offending anyone w/ that analogy). Believe it or not - I was sent to etiquette classes starting at a very young age. Yes, I learned what every damn fork, spoon, knife, plate, glass, etc. was for, and yes, I DID walk around with a book on my head a few times for my posture. Anyway, I would imagine that such a snooty class would instruct you NOT to speak to people you don’t know, but it was just the opposite.

Whenever I smile or nod at someone, I (hopefully, anyway) don’t do it in an axe-murderer maniacal way. I put on a nice, polite smile, nod and keep walking or nod and say hello and keep walking. I only do that if I make eye contact with someone - I don’t seek out poor innocents and belligerently (sp?) say “hi! Hi! HI!!!” with a big scary grin on my face. I’m just trying to be polite, 'cause that’s what I’m used to. Of course, I’ve had my moments where I just don’t feel like giving anyone the time of day because my day’s been crappy as all hell.

But I’ve always thought it was impolite to make eye contact and, when the other person says a polite hi or smiles, just look away as though you’ve been caught doing something bad or as though you wish the other person didn’t exist. It doesn’t take any effort, or at least not much, and if I’m polite to others, at least I have a good excuse to feel self-righteous when they’re not polite to me. And if they really piss me off, I can stab them with my fish fork. :smiley:

57

Sorry, but trees jutting unnaturally out of cement don’t exactly cut it for me. Neither do parks filled with the pollution and noise of the city. I mean, I’m sure it’s nice in comparison to the rest of the concrete jungle, but it doesn’t hold a candle to a peaceful park in a tiny town where the air is clear and the only distractions are the ducks flopping about in the pond.

A small city (~20,000-100,000 people) is a good compromise for me. I can get most of the things I need. I don’t go to bars or social events, so finding a thriving nightlife is no concern of mine. Nobody pries about in my business in a small city. I could have a house with a nice little yard, and if the mood struck me, I could turn up my music as loud as I wanted without bothering a soul. I could hang a picture frame at 3 AM without worrying about waking up the guy downstairs.

I’m also not a big fan of public transportation. I like being able to enjoy a nice cigarette while I’m driving and go at my own pace. I wouldn’t like sitting in skanky subways or buses and having smelly, drunken winos brushing up against me.

And driving in big cities is simply a nightmare. For as little moving as the cars actually do in these cities, you’d think parking would be plentiful. Last time I went to Philadelphia, I ended up paying $20-something to park in a fucking tower for three hours.

My very brief visit in NYC was even worse. It was supposed to be a two-hour bus layover at the Port Authority. It turned into six hours because none of the people at the terminal whose job it was to help me find my next bus could actually help me. Some were even rude about it.

The person who finally did find my bus was a dirty, disheveled, man who had noticed me looking lost. After helping, he asked for two dollars in return for his services. A little rude, but I was glad to have found my way out of that hellhole, so I happily paid him. But that wasn’t the end of it. Oh, no. If I parted with two bucks that easily, I must have more. He started in on the high-pressure routines, trying to sell me a bag of cocaine. When that didn’t work, he started pulling out $100 bills (even forcibly thrusting one into my hand), asking for change. I told him to get his counterfeit shit out of my face and walked away as quickly as I could.

I sat outside the terminal and smoked cigarettes. One after another, people (many of them the type you wouldn’t want to say no to) bummed smoke after smoke from me. I must have given away over a pack. I walked to the nearest McDonald’s, bought an obscenely overpriced value meal, then realized that a need to urinate was rapidly rising in my bladder. The problem? THERE WERE NO BATHROOMS! In a McDonald’s! I had to hold it in while I finished my meal, then dashed back to the Port Authority. Ugh.

Fuck the big city.

58

I’m with you. I remember the horror of having to ride my bike miles to see my friends. And when we got older, there was still nothing to do. Just stupid keg parties when someone’s parents would go away or driving to the mall or some parking lot to hang out. Sucked. Can’t imagine what single adults do in the suburbs.

59

I hate them too!

I mean, they are so fun to visit but I could not live there.
For example In NYC,

I hate how everything is made of concrete except Central Park. It feels so unnatural and like I can’t breathe properly.

I hate how many people there are. It is exhausting and claustrophobic.

I hate how wherever you go, there are people around you. You can never just get away to a quiet place and be alone for a few moments.

I hate how noisy it is all the time.

I hate how I feel anonymous. In the town I live in now, I bump into people, see friendly faces. In a city, it feels so lonely to just see crowds of unfamiliar faces.

I hate how it never stops. How can people stand to be that stimulated all the time??

I hate how when you step out of your apartment or house, you step onto a busy street, rather than a nice garden.

I live in a medium sized town in England and I love it. It is just big enough so that there are things going on every other night to go to and small enough so that you bump into friends in town. It is only an forty minutes from London and a five minute walk from some beautiful countryside to get away to when needs be.

That is just my opinion. Everyone is different and likes different things.

60

You didn’t come to my big city then. Plenty of cities have friendly people, or at least not assholes.