The average employee returning to the office spends $561 per month–that's the average two-person household’s grocery bill in the U.S. for the entire month.
I wasn’t raised in the city. I grew up in a very Normal Rockwell painting suburb. I certainly had a different impression about city life as a kid before I moved here. What’s strange is that people do seem to have this anger and bitterness. I don’t know where it comes from. Fear of the unknown? Media bias?
In part, I think a large number of Americans believe in ultimate freedom and individuality in spite of all else - the country was basically founded (in my city) on this premise. So as soon as you suggest that people consider living in closer quarters and give up a personal vehicle in favor of relying on others for transportation, you’re breaking the brainwashing they’ve gown up with. I just find it ironic because humans are a social species that benefit from communication and cooperation. For me, my brain breaks when people fight so strongly in favor of suburban and rural living. I get that technology can bridge this gap but there’s still far more benefits to city life than anything else, in my opinion. I mean, I hate people but I could never live in isolation either.
I spent my childhood in a very rural area. I couldn’t wait to go to get away. I went to college and moved to a small-to-medium sized US city where I’ve now resided in the downtown area for over ten years.
The public transit is limited and the bus system is poor. Riding a bus to my job would take two hours each way, when driving takes 20 minutes. The jobs in my field are concentrated in the suburbs so I have no choice but to own a vehicle. Owning a vehicle in the city costs significantly more than in the suburbs or rural areas. I am unable to perform vehicle maintenance myself due to the unaffordability of homes here with garages or even off-street parking. My vehicle has been broken into multiple times. My insurance is higher and the cost to repair glass is a huge dent in one’s monthly income.
I have homeless people who jump the fence into a shared courtyard for my condominium and setup camp, leaving trash and other dangerous objects behind. The police come hours late if at all for these issues. My girlfriend gets catcalled and harassed by men who seem to spend all day propped against a building at the nearest street corner.
The most difficult thing for me to come to terms with is the fact that I’ve always dreamed of starting a business. My expertise is in physical industries. The kind where having a workshop or some land to keep equipment on goes a long way toward your success. Living in a city longterm would make that dream impossible.
Nothing in the city is free. It is impossible to exist here without each and every activity costing you something. Having everyone live in cities and use public transit is a wonderful thought, but it isn’t perfect.
I’m moving back to a rural area in a few years and building a house. It’ll be nice to walk outside, look up at the sky, have some peace and quiet, and just exist without being charged for it.
Philadelphia is one of the better cities I’ve ever experienced. For what its worth I lived there 4 years and never really had much of an issue. Enjoyed the spaces, got around fine, septa was totally adequate. I am originally from Baltimore though, and it is a VERY different situation. I now live in a rural setting, and would never consider a move to Baltimore under any circumstance. I don’t know if its quite anger or resentment, but I’d wager most cities around the country are closer to Baltimore than Philly in terms of developed infrastructure and overall livability and most people are trained to filter the word “city” through the lens of their nearest city.
Transit has gotten such a bad reputation in the US that people consider it an imposition, a limitation, a constraint, when good transit is completely opposite. I loved the freedoms I got from livening in the city and having a subway pass! I just don’t have that anymore, now that I’m in a suburb.
This was Boston, which has pretty good transit for the US, but even then there were too many limitations that I eventually gave it up (that was before Uber, zipcar, rail trails, electric mobility, etc, so may be different now)
The solution is the revival of transit. Good transit. Even medium to smaller cities where trains aren’t appropriate can have good transit giving that freedom of not dealing with cars or traffic or parking. How do we make this happen?
I grew up in the city (beacon Hill in Boston) then ended up in the suburbs for a while, then back to the city again. Most of my suburban friends refused to come visit me, they tend to see “the city” as one thing, like they hear about rougher parts of town and think everywhere is like that… And they were afraid of the subway…
I wasn’t raised in the city. I grew up in a very Normal Rockwell painting suburb. I certainly had a different impression about city life as a kid before I moved here. What’s strange is that people do seem to have this anger and bitterness. I don’t know where it comes from. Fear of the unknown? Media bias?
In part, I think a large number of Americans believe in ultimate freedom and individuality in spite of all else - the country was basically founded (in my city) on this premise. So as soon as you suggest that people consider living in closer quarters and give up a personal vehicle in favor of relying on others for transportation, you’re breaking the brainwashing they’ve gown up with. I just find it ironic because humans are a social species that benefit from communication and cooperation. For me, my brain breaks when people fight so strongly in favor of suburban and rural living. I get that technology can bridge this gap but there’s still far more benefits to city life than anything else, in my opinion. I mean, I hate people but I could never live in isolation either.
I spent my childhood in a very rural area. I couldn’t wait to go to get away. I went to college and moved to a small-to-medium sized US city where I’ve now resided in the downtown area for over ten years.
The public transit is limited and the bus system is poor. Riding a bus to my job would take two hours each way, when driving takes 20 minutes. The jobs in my field are concentrated in the suburbs so I have no choice but to own a vehicle. Owning a vehicle in the city costs significantly more than in the suburbs or rural areas. I am unable to perform vehicle maintenance myself due to the unaffordability of homes here with garages or even off-street parking. My vehicle has been broken into multiple times. My insurance is higher and the cost to repair glass is a huge dent in one’s monthly income.
I have homeless people who jump the fence into a shared courtyard for my condominium and setup camp, leaving trash and other dangerous objects behind. The police come hours late if at all for these issues. My girlfriend gets catcalled and harassed by men who seem to spend all day propped against a building at the nearest street corner.
The most difficult thing for me to come to terms with is the fact that I’ve always dreamed of starting a business. My expertise is in physical industries. The kind where having a workshop or some land to keep equipment on goes a long way toward your success. Living in a city longterm would make that dream impossible.
Nothing in the city is free. It is impossible to exist here without each and every activity costing you something. Having everyone live in cities and use public transit is a wonderful thought, but it isn’t perfect.
I’m moving back to a rural area in a few years and building a house. It’ll be nice to walk outside, look up at the sky, have some peace and quiet, and just exist without being charged for it.
This is a really good point regarding money. At some point I stopped ever going outside in the city because it just costs money no matter what.
Philadelphia is one of the better cities I’ve ever experienced. For what its worth I lived there 4 years and never really had much of an issue. Enjoyed the spaces, got around fine, septa was totally adequate. I am originally from Baltimore though, and it is a VERY different situation. I now live in a rural setting, and would never consider a move to Baltimore under any circumstance. I don’t know if its quite anger or resentment, but I’d wager most cities around the country are closer to Baltimore than Philly in terms of developed infrastructure and overall livability and most people are trained to filter the word “city” through the lens of their nearest city.
Transit has gotten such a bad reputation in the US that people consider it an imposition, a limitation, a constraint, when good transit is completely opposite. I loved the freedoms I got from livening in the city and having a subway pass! I just don’t have that anymore, now that I’m in a suburb.
This was Boston, which has pretty good transit for the US, but even then there were too many limitations that I eventually gave it up (that was before Uber, zipcar, rail trails, electric mobility, etc, so may be different now)
The solution is the revival of transit. Good transit. Even medium to smaller cities where trains aren’t appropriate can have good transit giving that freedom of not dealing with cars or traffic or parking. How do we make this happen?
I grew up in the city (beacon Hill in Boston) then ended up in the suburbs for a while, then back to the city again. Most of my suburban friends refused to come visit me, they tend to see “the city” as one thing, like they hear about rougher parts of town and think everywhere is like that… And they were afraid of the subway…