# I pit people who think living outside a big city is 'torture' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 29, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757 "2010-12-29T22:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/61 "2010-12-30T06:32:25Z")
Regarding the sushi/multitude of wonderful restaurants debate, I live in a city of over a million people with some world-class restaurants here (certainly there are plenty of places to eat, and lots of variety), and go to the same four places all the time (and I suspect there are a lot of people living in large cities just like me). ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/62 "2010-12-30T06:37:35Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > …Big cities, where there is a major international airport if not right on the ocean, are notoriously the only places fish fresh enough to be used for sushi can be had… Doesn’t Saskatchewan have all kinds of rivers? Don’t the Saskatchewans learn from the bears how to just grab a fish right out of the water and eat it raw on the spot? That’s how I imagine it up there. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/63 "2010-12-30T09:09:30Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > This is completely and utterly wrong. Nearly 100% of the sushi consumed in the USA is frozen. By law. [This](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/08/nyregion/08SUSH.html?ex=1396756800&en=14403a1246cf158f&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND) article is old (2004), but remains largely true. The only difference is that now, the law is enforced with greater rigor. Your sushi in Chicago is hardly any fresher, if at all, than sushi consumed anywhere else in the US. We have better sushi restaurants in the big cities for the same reason why we have better everything else: people here are willing to pay more. :smack: Ignorance fought. I guess I took what I learned about the fresh tuna market in Japan and inaccurately applied it to all sushi fish. Interesting article, though now I’ll look around for more current information about the -70 freezing process. > [@threemae](#): > > This simply isn’t true. Even in San Francisco, much of the sushi you are served has been frozen at some point, and that fact alone certainly doesn’t mean that its poor quality sushi. Fish caught in the middle of the Pacific and quickly frozen can be much better than fish that has been sitting at 34 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 hours. > > [http://www.sushilinks.com/sushi-recipes/how-to-buy-fish/index.html](http://www.sushilinks.com/sushi-recipes/how-to-buy-fish/index.html) > > Your adamant proclamation that no small, geographically distant town could possibly have good sushi is mere pretension facilitated by ignorance. I had to dig, and dig deep to find once sentence that mentioned the requirement for freezing fish in the US. It’s down in there, though, for those who care to dig. I prefer to believe my ignorance is facilitated by my pretension, though. It’s willful. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/64 "2010-12-30T10:13:36Z")
300K people is _small_? My home town of 30K is suddenly looking like a fly did its business on the map… and it’s the big town in its area! ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/65 "2010-12-30T15:04:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > 300K people is _small_? My home town of 30K is suddenly looking like a fly did its business on the map… and it’s the big town in its area! That’s what I was thinking. The town I live in now officially has 16,000 people, though functionally I think it’s about twice that. (This is true of a lot of rural towns–the city limits tend to be drawn pretty narrowly, so a lot of people who would claim to live in that town aren’t counted in the population.) I have a busy, active, and fulfilling life. I have a fun and diverse group of friends and good, well-paid work. I stay as informed about culture and everything else as I would be anywhere. (This is why the internet has made living in a small town much more appealing to me that it would have been twenty or even ten years ago.) Yeah, I miss having good restaurants and nightlife, but I appreciate those things more when I venture into town for them. I spent most of my adult life in small cities, and I liked that. I’ve never lived in a large city, but I’d love to for a while. (Doubt it’s ever going to happen at this point, but it would be cool.) There are obviously bad fits for people, and I’m probably rare in that I could be happy pretty much anywhere. But my experience is that most people who are interesting and capable of being satisfied will live interesting and satisfied lives no matter where they are. (Regarding sushi, we can now get it as part of the Chinese buffet here in my little half-ass town. And Lexington, KY is known for its proliferation of great sushi. So maybe it’s time to find a new marker for cosmopolitan status.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/66 "2010-12-30T15:09:18Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Doesn’t Saskatchewan have all kinds of rivers? Don’t the Saskatchewans learn from the bears how to just grab a fish right out of the water and eat it raw on the spot? > > That’s how I imagine it up there. All I can imagine up there is frozen, windswept tundra. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/67 "2010-12-30T15:13:39Z")
I spent my life from age 7 through 21 (mostly) in a town of about 5,000, so remote, the nearest big American city was an 8 hour drive away (but the nearest big Canadian city was a short 4 hour drive). Then I moved to a small-sized city and then to San Francisco. Now I’m back in said small city – Portland, ME. There isn’t a chance in hell I’d ever move back to that small town. Cultural void is very apt. There was shit going down in the world that I never even knew about until I moved away from that black hole of nothingness. No … not living a big city isn’t torture in general … but it sure as shinola would be for me. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/68 "2010-12-30T15:34:18Z")
Guys, guys…no need to fight about it. We can [objectively prove](http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/cities-livable-pittsburgh-lifestyle-real-estate-top-ten-jobs-crime-income_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000) where the best place to live is. “Wow, **Chessic Sense** , your city tops the list!” You’re welcome. > [@RickJay](#): > > Las Vegas? Las Vegas is held up as a shining example of cosmopolitan city life? Vegas is consistently near the top of the list for best cities to live/raise kids/whatever. It doesn’t seem like it if all you know is the strip, but apparently, there’s more to it than that. Who knew? > [@BigT](#): > > The DC thing is probably more because of the politicians. > > Also, can I join the pissing contest? The “city” nearby has 12,000 people, and I live out of town. I live in northern Virginia (read: DC suburbs) and I get nothing but shit from those assholes downtown. One of them told me “well, it’s the South” and another told me it was really far away. I want you, Dopers, to pull out a Google map and look where Arlington is…it’s right across the river! By train, it’s 12 minutes to the White House! And yet, it’s always “Oh, you live in VA? Sorry…” I mean, WTF?! So I can totally see it the other way when one of those assholes comes out to Shenandoah or somwhere. They deserve it, IMO. > [@DianaG](#): > > This seems like an appropriate place to mention that when my daughter was in third grade, she was given a map of the US to color in and fill out. She did the east coast from Maine to DC, parts of Florida, Chicago, and the west coast. When her teacher asked “What’s the rest of the country?” she said “A vast cultural wasteland. Do you KNOW how hard it is to find a museum out there?” 😛 Is at least the first part of the story true? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/69 "2010-12-30T15:39:49Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Eff that. I SAID _ **IN** _EFFABLE, DAMN YOUR EYES. > [@apollonia](#): > > Since I moved from a moderately large city to a very very small one (~50,000? Well, okay) I wouldn’t call 50k a “\*very \*small” city. I’d say that’s maybe small-to-moderate. > [@RickJay](#): > > Las Vegas? Las Vegas is held up as a shining example of cosmopolitan city life? Color me also surprised. The one time I visited there, my plane arrived at night, and I was shocked at how tiny its footprint is. Population-wise, it’s not really that huge, either: just lots and lots and lots of tourists. > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Lucky dog, if I want sushi, I can get it from the grocery store, yum. Anyone who says “yum” inconjunction with “grocery store sushi” is a fucking idiot. > [@CanvasShoes](#): > > That’s one thing I adore about downtown Seattle, they have these crosswalks all over the place (at least in the part of town I work in), and they’re just not at the intersections, and cars MUST stop for you when you enter one and dare to cross the street. Yes, the laws of physics are actually suspended inside the white lines. If you’re crossing there and a car approaches, it actually becomes physically incapable of crushing your puny meatsack body with its tons of metal and glass. > [@BigT](#): > > The DC thing is probably more because of the politicians. No, it’s really not. D.C. has a lot of problems with crime and poverty. > [@BorgHunter](#): > > Do you really want to give non-natives the impression that most Chicagoans hate where they live and would rather live elsewhere, to the extent that people are shocked upon encountering a person who moved here of his own free will? So nobody is ever allowed to bitch about anything they don’t like about where they live just in case some visitor should get the impression that there’s nothing good about the city? :rolleyes: Fuck that. I \*loathe \*the weather here a lot of the year, and I’m not going to be shy about it. It’s just that everything else has been good enough to keep me here thus far. > [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > If anything, if I ever moved, it would be further north! Come to Milwaukee! We’re the second-coldest city out of the fifty largest. (Minneapolis takes the #1 spot, but if you move here, you can still easily drive or take a train back down to visit Chicago.) > [@BlackKnight](#): > > I’m a simple man whose mind is boggled by the fact that people don’t consider 300k people to constitute a big city. Yes, I would agree that on the general scale of the U.S., 300k is a big city. > [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > What is so great about raw fish? Sushi isn’t raw fish, per se. What defines “sushi” is the vinegared rice. It can be combined with raw fish… or cooked fish… or vegetables… or even cooked egg. Just plain raw fish is sashimi. To answer your question, though: raw fish is great because it is _fucking delicious_. Put a slice of fresh tuna sashimi in your mouth and tell me you don’t want to just fucking _melt_. > [@cckerberos](#): > > Don’t worry. I only have 2 or 3 sushi places within walking distance myself. Obviously Osaka sucks for Japanese food. You know, I had that same problem. In Kawasaki. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I live in a city of over a million people with some world-class restaurants here (certainly there are plenty of places to eat, and lots of variety), and go to the same four places all the time (and I suspect there are a lot of people living in large cities just like me). One of the awesome things about dating my boyfriend is that we both really love good food, so this has been an excuse for us to go to a whole bunch of different restaurants. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve eaten out at more different restaurants over the past eight months than the past five years. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/70 "2010-12-30T16:02:40Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Regarding the sushi/multitude of wonderful restaurants debate, I live in a city of over a million people with some world-class restaurants here (certainly there are plenty of places to eat, and lots of variety), and go to the same four places all the time (and I suspect there are a lot of people living in large cities just like me). Yup, I live London, and I mostly go to the same dozen places pubs/restaurants over and over again. And when was the last time I went to a gallery that wasn’t the Tate Modern? Or a show? And yet, I love the idea that I could, if I wanted, go see or do pretty much anything, if I could just be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/71 "2010-12-30T16:21:45Z")
After living in the Chicago area, with its 10-million-metropolitan-area population, I will freely admit that 50,000 feels very, very small to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/72 "2010-12-30T16:24:04Z")
I was born and raised in a small city. If I didn’t have NYC 6 hours away to escape to every chance I get, I would have eaten a bullet ages ago. There are things keeping me in this barren hicksville, but those things are soon going to not be an issue, and when that happens, I’m out. I admit though; after 36 years, I do have some sentimental feelings about my city. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/73 "2010-12-30T16:39:07Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > Since I moved from a moderately large city to a very very small one (~50,000? Well, okay), I’ve encountered the reverse of this: people who have lived there all their lives and can’t fathom that I might not find it the be-all end-all of human civilization. The largest city in my entire _state_ is smaller than 50,000. It is regularly included in lists of the “most livable places” in the US. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/74 "2010-12-30T16:44:41Z")
That’s nice for you. But it’s different from what I’m used to. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/75 "2010-12-30T16:46:05Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I SAID _ **IN** _. > Yes, the laws of physics are actually suspended inside the white lines. If you’re crossing there and a car approaches, it actually becomes physically incapable of crushing your puny meatsack body with its tons of metal and glass. Yes, because my post was completely dead serious, (and there was no way to tell I was kidding, no smilies, no goofy sayings, nothing you poor thing) and I was actually advocating being unsafe in traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/76 "2010-12-30T16:54:17Z")
I live in a fairly large urban area, the “Twin Cities” (Minneapolis, St. Paul and suburbs). Specifically I live in a residential area of north Minneapolis. There are plenty of things to see and do in the metro area, but virtually nothing within walking distance of my house. My neighborhood is just block after block after block of residential housing with a scattered handful of small crummy convenience stores good enough to maybe get a newspaper or a candy bar. To do much of anything means getting in the car and driving to either downtown or to the nearest suburban mall. One can get around by bus but be prepared to take three times longer than driving your own car would take. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/77 "2010-12-30T16:59:15Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Yes, because my post was completely dead serious, (and there was no way to tell I was kidding, no smilies, no goofy sayings, nothing you poor thing) and I was actually advocating being unsafe in traffic. If we were having this conversation in person, at this point I would pat you on the cheek and say, “That’s nice, dear.” ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/78 "2010-12-30T17:00:24Z")
It’s simple, whereever you choose to live is the best place. If you prefer a big city to a small city, an exurb to a downtown loft, or somewhere with horse and buggies instead of light rail, you chose that because it works best for you and your lifestyle. I used to live directly above the first Kurdish restaurant in the US, a three block walk to work, one block to a large science museum, the home of a very popular public radio broadcast, a couple major theater productions, opera, and lots of artists and co-op foods. The city I lived in was definitely looked down upon by its twin by being backwards for not living the same fast paced life. St Paul doesn’t have the same life as Minneapolis. It’s a different city with different plusses and minuses. Sure we have sushi but Minneapolis’ has better sushi (Origami), but our Thai restaurants kick their asses any day. I’ve lived in Minneapolis, I prefer St Paul better. Cost of living, proximity to my employer, and a couple other factors made my decision. That’s not to slam another city, I’d love to afford to live in NYC and have the same lifestyle I do now or better than NYC; Paris, Beijing, or Rio. Cities that would offer more than NYC. Every city has its plusses and minuses. The major point is to STFU about them like it’s a superior/inferior battle. Unless you’re talking about Detroit. Detroit sucks. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/79 "2010-12-30T17:00:47Z")
It’s been mentioned before, but there has been a lot of talk in American politics that the populace of cities aren’t real America and yet, time and again, I see people complain how city dwellers look down on residents of small towns. I would suggest that people are largely imagining these slights and that it is small towners who are hostile to urban dwellers. To be honest, I don’t really think about it that much. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757/80 "2010-12-30T17:13:29Z")
Saskatoon is a real place? Amazing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-think-living-outside-a-big-city-is-torture/565757.md?page=5)