Fuck no. I’ve mostly lived in real rural areas and mixed rural/suburbs and it’s hell. The shitty small city I live in that’s really just a university and infrastructure to support it and it’s still infinitely better than the small town full of confederate flags and no activities.

There’s a reason the demographics for every small town have basically no one between 18-35. Everyone who has the ability goes to college and never returns because there’s no jobs, no leisure activities, and no community. Just lots of driving, poverty, and isolation.

The way my mood instantly improves being in a place like DC where you can walk around places. Feel the safety of other people on the street when you’re out. Walk through a well maintained park on your way to the museum. Or a movie. Or a play. Or a concert. Or a bar. Or so many other things you can go do, with people.

Fuck I love cities and god I fucking hate cars, the internal combustion engine was one of the worst inventions of all time. Most of your complaints about cities are just about cars in the first place. The noise, the smells, the traffic, most of that is just cars. The sounds of car tires on pavement is so loud, and releases so much tiny debris which smells terrible and brings down air quality. Also they kill people all the time, far more than other “dangers” associated with cities

Choosing between being lonely in a place where everyone just knows you (at least from sight) and lonely in a place where you rarely see the same people twice, I’ll choose the latter. Granted I don’t live in the US nor in a big city. I lived in small towns until I went to uni, and I wouldn’t come back. Maybe for a million dollars.

I felt lonely when I moved to the mountains. I hate the feeling where if I wanted to do anything I had to spend an hour winding down then back up the mountain, just to get to the small town. Then if I wanted to meet up in the actual city it’s half my day.

Also, I hate mountain folk drama. “Skeeter was using Cooter’s water, everyone at Maggie’s bar is pissed” or “now Billups is riding his atv over the corner of Jeanie’s acreage, fetch my rifle.” Such petty stuff and it never stops. And then if you stand out in any way, that gets rolled into it.

I hate cities, but I hate suburbs more, and I haaaaaaate rural areas so much more it’s unbelievable. (I think what I’d prefer would be like, an actual good city with good planning, a socialist society, etc.)

Away from cities there is little to do, nowhere to go, no one to date. Rural people (around where I live anyways) are incredibly conservative. Like my whole state fucking sucks, but even in my small city I at least am openly and visibly queer and I’m not really scared of bring hate crimed. If I drive an hour out into the countryside, that is NOT the case.

no

Nah

Some of the best placed I’ve lived have been both relatively rural, and right near an urban center. In europe there’s far less suburban sprawl, which to me is the worst fucking place to live if you’re talking about hating traffic, snobs, and noise.

actually as a socialist I like people and cities are where people are so I like them, in addition to enjoying all the other trappings of civilization like good food, sports, cultural events, and centers of knowledge. I’m a creature of the metropoles.

however, I do hate cars and they keep me from being able to see & interact with people so if a city is organized around them I dislike it - this basically means there are only a few cities in north america that I actually like (NYC, boston, DC, seattle, portland, SF, vancouver, toronto basically). My ideal city design is Hong Kong, which not even NYC is remotely close to.

Cities are “designed” extremely poorly, so you are right to hate them. I am finally back in the country and living more rurally than ever, and it really is great. I hope you get to experience it too sooner rather than later.

I used to feel the same until I found a good city. A well designed city with kind people makes it better, great even. I have lived in or experienced several horribly designed cities and it makes all the difference.

I just want to live somewhere i don’t have to own a car.

fuck cars fuck landlords

I hate the reality of american cities; mostly parking lot, constant car noise, little public green space, high housing costs, car centric sprawl.

But I’ll take it over suburban sprawl where there’s zero sense of community outside of whiteness and the HOA and the only way to get anywhere past your block is to hop in a car and drive for 30 minutes.

I’ve lived rurally and definitely see the appeal. There are definitely downsides but I don’t feel like typing them out rn.

Yeah I’ve lived in the woods my whole life just off the edge of suburbs so I’m basically a mountain man who hates the crowded streets downtown.

I suspect it might be a mix of cars, zeitgeist (‘I am just living for me, and I’m going to stake my own exclusive parcel of space out bunched up among all these other private individual parcels’), and feeling like just a number in a filing drawer of people-boxes.

American cities completely suck, but they suck less in many ways if they have a feeling of being composed of approachable and understandable segments rather than as one big expanse.