Interesting observations. For decades I chose to only ever live in cities. Toronto, London, Manchester etc. I know I am a fair bit older than you, but you reach a time in life where you cannot tolerate the amount of people, the aggressiveness, the lack of space, the pollution including noise, the high speed and some of the anti social behaviour any more. I now live in a small town 30 mins from Düsseldorf and it is very pleasant, while still being able to access the cultural aspects of the cities I am near.
Forgive me for sounding Pollyanna-ish, but you sound a bit down and I thought I'd comment from a country where everyone with a heart and a brain is depressed, and we're trying to keep our spirits up to preserve what is left of our democracy.
There are cycles in the lives of cities. I'm a native of Washington, D.C. and for my entire childhood, the city was a basket case, with schools not opening on time or at all, drug addicts in downtown parks day and night--I think diplomats received hardship pay if they were stationed in DC. I left at age 18, inn 1978, determined never to return. Well, work brought me back to a city transformed. The parks and neighborhoods I had to promise my parents never to enter, day or night, are now safe and hip and green. The city is wealthier (key point) because we finally were led by a mayor, Anthony Williams, with strong business ties. I love it here! God knows we still have our problems, and there are neighborhoods I won't enter at night, but the city improved greatly thanks to a handful of people. It took too long, but know hope. And yes, it's important that people making local decisions live locally and feel the repercussions of their decisions.
Interesting observations. For decades I chose to only ever live in cities. Toronto, London, Manchester etc. I know I am a fair bit older than you, but you reach a time in life where you cannot tolerate the amount of people, the aggressiveness, the lack of space, the pollution including noise, the high speed and some of the anti social behaviour any more. I now live in a small town 30 mins from Düsseldorf and it is very pleasant, while still being able to access the cultural aspects of the cities I am near.
Forgive me for sounding Pollyanna-ish, but you sound a bit down and I thought I'd comment from a country where everyone with a heart and a brain is depressed, and we're trying to keep our spirits up to preserve what is left of our democracy.
There are cycles in the lives of cities. I'm a native of Washington, D.C. and for my entire childhood, the city was a basket case, with schools not opening on time or at all, drug addicts in downtown parks day and night--I think diplomats received hardship pay if they were stationed in DC. I left at age 18, inn 1978, determined never to return. Well, work brought me back to a city transformed. The parks and neighborhoods I had to promise my parents never to enter, day or night, are now safe and hip and green. The city is wealthier (key point) because we finally were led by a mayor, Anthony Williams, with strong business ties. I love it here! God knows we still have our problems, and there are neighborhoods I won't enter at night, but the city improved greatly thanks to a handful of people. It took too long, but know hope. And yes, it's important that people making local decisions live locally and feel the repercussions of their decisions.