Why do people enjoy living downtown in big cities?

[saucerboy]

I never thought I'd want to live in a really dense urban area. Ocean or mountains all the way for me. Then I lived in Tokyo. It was incredible. There's tradeoffs to everything and eventually I'd miss not having daily access to the coast or mountains but day to day quality of life was so good. It definitely took some getting used to though.

Walk or ride mass transit everywhere. Subways and busses there are clean and convenient. Great food of all kinds. Always something interesting going -- art, music, festivals, etc. Skiing is a shinkasen ride away. Easy weekend trip or even a day trip. Surf near Tokyo isn't great but it exists. Better surf and nicer beaches a train ride away for the weekend. Yen was weak so everything was cheap compared to CA.

I was fortunate enough to live in nice apartments/areas there. I might have felt differently in we weren't that lucky.

 

[r32]

Easy to meet people. Lots of food choices. Diversity. Bars and social scenes. Better job opportunities. Can probably walk to work. Networking.

All the stuff Central Coast doesn't have.

 

[ElOgro]

neither a pro or con for me, but everybody's got different preferences

another thing I've been told is large metropolitan environments tend to draw more ambitious creative types

That’s because that’s where the money is at. Same reason they attract poor folks. When opportunity doesn’t come knocking in North East Bumfuck, de feets goes walking. Or in the case of Chicago, on the train from Mississippi, Georgia, and other worn out rural places. The descendants of these folks aren’t in a situation where remote work is possible so they can’t pickup and move to Crested Butte or similar. Ditto for Detroit.

 

[brukuns]

Easy to meet people. Lots of food choices. Diversity. Bars and social scenes. Better job opportunities. Can probably walk to work. Networking.

All the stuff Central Coast doesn't have.

anyone with dislexia is absolutely going to read "Diversity bars". Just thought you should know.

 

[enframed]

 

[hammies]

The great cities of the world are magnets for creativity, talent, and ideas. People who's brains are full of these flock to NY, London, Sydney, Berlin, Hong Kong, and other cities like that.

 

[LelandCuz]

It is for the accesss to pussy you fool. How is that Surron you bitch.

Did someone say pussy & Surron?
The old neighbors in Lahaina, God I'll miss that town.


On top of the world near Breckenridge.


Not a city guy myself cuz I'm more a doer than a thinker, but I get it. Also, I'm glad those people are willing to live in cramped quarters. Imagine if they all wanted to spread out? There'd be no space left. We got a taste of that during the covid exodus.

 

[GromsDad]

I love to drive and hate traffic. One of the biggest reasons I avoid cities.

By the way, if any of you ever go to NYC, the number 1 way I've found to do it is to go by way of the Seastreak out of Highlands or Belford ferry boats. You avoid 90% of the traffic and exchange it for an enjoyable and scenic boat ride. You might even see a semi-pro trying to ride ferry wakes.

 

[One-Off]

I never thought I'd want to live in a really dense urban area. Ocean or mountains all the way for me. Then I lived in Tokyo. It was incredible. There's tradeoffs to everything and eventually I'd miss not having daily access to the coast or mountains but day to day quality of life was so good. It definitely took some getting used to though.

Walk or ride mass transit everywhere. Subways and busses there are clean and convenient. Great food of all kinds. Always something interesting going -- art, music, festivals, etc. Skiing is a shinkasen ride away. Easy weekend trip or even a day trip. Surf near Tokyo isn't great but it exists. Better surf and nicer beaches a train ride away for the weekend. Yen was weak so everything was cheap compared to CA.

I was fortunate enough to live in nice apartments/areas there. I might have felt differently in we weren't that lucky.

Yeah but Tokyo is exceptionally clean, a least it was when I visited many moons ago. I was blown away by how clean it was. I hope it's still like that. Instead most other major cities are filled with trash.

 

[donuts]

Yeah but Tokyo is exceptionally clean, a least it was when I visited many moons ago. I was blown away by how clean it was. I hope it's still like that. Instead most other major cities are filled with trash.

are you surprised that the average city-dwelling jap is cleaner than the mostly government supported mental-defective pig class that occupy substantial sized sh!t-zones in most of our cities ?

you will continue to get what you pay for….

 

[donuts]

what kind of politicians allow this to continue ?
(lots of good pics in this article too…artistic !
why isn’t this story in the nytimes ?)

Former NYC Rite Aid is now overrun by booze-swilling vagrants, zonked-out junkies: ‘F–king preposterous’

The building has been completely vacant since last September, when a long-running carpet-cleaning business that had been occupying an adjoining retail space moved to a new location in Woodside.

nypost.com

ohhhh bawrsh bawrsh… the poor ilegal alien junky alky crack-head sh!tbums need our love, understanding and support - maybe a few cases of spraypaint too….

i know a woman and her daughter who live near this sh!thole…. do you think they get their money’sworth from the nyc taxes they pay on top of ny state & fed slices ?

i propose crop dusting drones… (black flag would help too…)

 

[PPK96754]

I was stoned & on shrooms at a wahine's house one night on the Big Island laying neckk'id in bed and she put this album on .....
just a phuckin psychedelic, kaleidoscope of spinning ...... into oblivion
and it's so real again, right now ....

No City, for this Island Boy

 

[hammies]

Yeah but Tokyo is exceptionally clean, a least it was when I visited many moons ago. I was blown away by how clean it was. I hope it's still like that. Instead most other major cities are filled with trash.

When I lived in Vienna same thing. Plus refreshingly free of graffiti. Plus super low crime; when my mom would go visit her brother she would regularly walk around in the city at night alone, zero fear of being the victim of a crime.

Although that was all in the '90s, it's still pretty nice today!

 

[therarebirdshow]

for me its walkability. i like to walk. i like to do all my errands on foot. i like all the options of food, culture and whatnot at a stones throw. right now im in suburbia after being in LA for almost 25 years and yea it quiet and clean and thats nice but i ghotta drive to basically everything, the food is mediocre at best and its boring as sh!t. maybe cuz i grew up partially in brooklyn i dunno?

if long beach wasnt so ratchet, it would be my perfect downtown. if you look past the homeless people its a beautiful place. water front, not ovewrtly expensive and close enough to waves. to bad the zombies have taken over.

I live in LB and love it. But I do not and would not choose to live downtown. You get too much of the downsides of living in a city, without enough of the upside. The food is so so and there's not enough arts/entertainment.

 

[Autoprax]

 

[ghost_of_lewis_samuels]

I live in LB and love it. But I do not and would not choose to live downtown. You get too much of the downsides of living in a city, without enough of the upside. The food is so so and there's not enough arts/entertainment.

right - los angeles is a car city

 

[donuts]

not surprising that you’re a petula clark fan.
(the numerous mary hopkin posts were telling…)


how ‘bout some les paul jr. action ?

 

[Buck_86]

When I did it it was because a lot of my friends were living in the city and telling me how great it was. I was also single at the time and knew it would be a great place to chase tail. Told myself at the time an hour drive to surf wouldn’t be so bad. It got old real fast. Not having a garage or a backyard sucks. Very fun experience though and got exposed to a lot of things I otherwise wouldn’t have.

 

[Autoprax]

I wish someone would

not surprising that you’re a petula clark fan.
(the numerous mary hopkin posts were telling…)


how ‘bout some les paul jr. action ?

 

[Ifallalot]

Yeah but Tokyo is exceptionally clean, a least it was when I visited many moons ago. I was blown away by how clean it was. I hope it's still like that. Instead most other major cities are filled with trash.

Its because the people who live in most major cities are trash. They live like what they are

Japan is different