Do big cities make anyone else depressed?

[mikhail]

I was working in London over summer going in on the train ever day packed out completly and i couldnt help but get away from the feeling i felt like a ant insignificant surrounded by people but lonely.I kinda feel like this whenever im in a big city incredably depressing in a way.

Maybe i would feel different if i had grown up to adulthood in a big city but it seems to kick in something almost instinctive like i need space.The same way chickens atart attacking each other when they are battery farmed.Some people love being in a big city but i gotta say i just cant do it and be happy which will have financial complcations in the future for me but its not worth it.

 

[WI Crippler]

I like decent sized cities, like Madison, WI or Charleston,SC. Both are large cities that offer everything bigger cities do, but don't have a skyline cluttered with skyscrapers.

I don't know if I could handle living inside a huge city or not. I suppose I could tolerate it, but I don't think I would enjoy it. Same goes for living way out in the country. Although every now and then I get the itch to just get some basic survival supplies like a good hunting knife and a flint/striker and go live off the land near some lake in the middle of Canada and never be bothered by people again.

 

[jfuh]

If you think London is a mega city try Hongkong or Tokyo those are serious mega cities with a rediculously cluttered skyline. It seems more like being ignored than anything else is what you've described. In the country side though it'd be a different story - there's not even a person around to ignore you.
Personally I like mega cities but I also like small cities, the requirement would be whichever one offers what a city should offer - ie business opportunities, a nightlife and a metropolitan feel from diverse influx of people from all parts of the social ladder.

 

[Jerry]

I was working in London over summer going in on the train ever day packed out completly and i couldnt help but get away from the feeling i felt like a ant insignificant surrounded by people but lonely.I kinda feel like this whenever im in a big city incredably depressing in a way.

Maybe i would feel different if i had grown up to adulthood in a big city but it seems to kick in something almost instinctive like i need space.The same way chickens atart attacking each other when they are battery farmed.Some people love being in a big city but i gotta say i just cant do it and be happy which will have financial complcations in the future for me but its not worth it.

Same here, and I also feel more anxiety.

 

[new coup for you]

Cities are really bad when you need a stranger to help you.

 

[Bodi]

Big cities suck...lived in LA and San Fran/Bay Area for times in my life.

I also lived in small towns around:
the woods of Oregon...
the mountains above Calistoga...
the Russian River valley...
the BFE of the south Pacific...

Big Cities suck.

Too many people.
Nobody that you can count on.

Small towns are much more real.
You can count on community and the people.

Factor in pollution and over population and anger and it is no contest.

 

[Hatuey]

Nah I love big cities. I also love open air. But they both tend to depress me from time to time. Depending on how long I stay in them. When we're in Canada we tend to drive down to the city(Montreal) every now and then. Just to get away from the forsaken wildlife in St. Agathes. When we're in Vermont we do the same. Except we go to NYC or Toronto for a week or so.

 

[rivrrat]

Yeah... I hated every minute that lived in DC. I despised it, I cried all the time. I longed for space, quiet, beauty, serenity. All I had was honking horns, loud people, loud traffic, disgusting smells, ugly buildings, horrible crowds, outrageous traffic, rude people, and constant worry about crime. There was absolutely nothing - NOTHING - worth living in that hellhole. And, I feel the same about any city. There is nothing I want that living in a city can offer me.

I may have to work in the city from time to time, and while I despise that as well, at least if I can find a nice place to live that's far enough away from the city crap, I can deal with it for a time.

I just can't find anything redeeming about big cities at all.

 

[WI Crippler]

Yeah... I hated every minute that lived in DC. I despised it, I cried all the time. I longed for space, quiet, beauty, serenity. All I had was honking horns, loud people, loud traffic, disgusting smells, ugly buildings, horrible crowds, outrageous traffic, rude people, and constant worry about crime. There was absolutely nothing - NOTHING - worth living in that hellhole. And, I feel the same about any city. There is nothing I want that living in a city can offer me.

I may have to work in the city from time to time, and while I despise that as well, at least if I can find a nice place to live that's far enough away from the city crap, I can deal with it for a time.

I just can't find anything redeeming about big cities at all.

I think if I was offered the choice of having a 1 million dollar home in the country, or a 1 million dollar home in a city, I'd take the country every time. You could actually have a yard. In the city you'd probably just have a nice condominium. Or a small house in a gated community.

 

[new coup for you]

Yeah... I hated every minute that lived in DC. I despised it, I cried all the time. I longed for space, quiet, beauty, serenity. All I had was honking horns, loud people, loud traffic, disgusting smells, ugly buildings, horrible crowds, outrageous traffic, rude people, and constant worry about crime. There was absolutely nothing - NOTHING - worth living in that hellhole. And, I feel the same about any city. There is nothing I want that living in a city can offer me.

I may have to work in the city from time to time, and while I despise that as well, at least if I can find a nice place to live that's far enough away from the city crap, I can deal with it for a time.

I just can't find anything redeeming about big cities at all.

DC is actually uniquely awful.

 

[rivrrat]

I think if I was offered the choice of having a 1 million dollar home in the country, or a 1 million dollar home in a city, I'd take the country every time. You could actually have a yard. In the city you'd probably just have a nice condominium. Or a small house in a gated community.

Yeah, and then in those communities you're subject to all these stupid dumbass rules about what you can and can't do with your own fricken property.


OMG! His grass is 1/2 in too high!!

 

[Gunface]

Omg. The only really good part of cities is the fact that there's good food. I can't live on the local food in my little town... it's so.. yuck. In cities there's cuisine, all kinds. I wouldn't want to live in that dirty, loud, fast place, but I would definitely eat there. :mrgreen:

 

[rivrrat]

I love Chicago, but I really don't want to live here the rest of my life. When I moved back from Iowa City the first thing I noticed is people around here don't respond well to strangers talking to them on the street, even if all you're saying is "Mornin'" or "Evenin'". I think that's indicative of the problem I have with big cities. There are so many people that you disappear. I enjoy the privacy that affords me, but it can be a real mind****, knowing there are 60,000 people within a mile radius of you and that you're still alone.

Heh, no kidding.

My BF is from Alberquerque (sp?) and moved out here last year to rural WV. One of the things he remarked about was the friendliness of the people. How willing people were to just engage you in conversation, they were polite, they opened doors, etc. And, in driving as well. He came home one evening and remarked about how someone "let him out" of a side street onto the main street. I was thinking... "duh... of course they did. Why wouldn't they?" But it was something that amazed him... that someone actually stopped and motioned for him to come out, instead of whizzing by him and letting him sit for who knows how long until the traffic cleared.

 

[americanwoman]

I want it both ways- a house in the city and one in the country :mrgreen: So far I got the house in the city so I'm halfway there


But no, big cities don't depress me. I like mingling and mixing with all different types of people and the excitement and fun. The one big thing that lacks in small towns is diversity, and it would be hard for me to live without that all the time. We go out and drive around in the country at least once a month and stop to eat somewhere and there's always some bumpkin who can't believe their eyes some Mexicans can speak English and be civilized. It's good though to get out there and open some eyes.

 

[rivrrat]

I just can't imagine what there is in a city that I would want to *do* on a regular basis.

I mean, visiting Vegas for a week? Sure, I took in a couple shows. But they were expensive, not something I'd be able to afford if I lived there.

In the country, we go swimming, skiing, rafting, hiking, etc. I just don't see what there is in a city to DO.

 

[new coup for you]

Cities aren't really...that...diverse. Yes, there are lots of kinds of people, but they all ghettoize. And they generally aren't that into white adventurists "trying new things" in their neighborhoods.

The "diversity" people like actually comes in the form of asian-fusion resteraunts run and patronized by white professionals. That's actually a little unfair, sometime's they're family run, but generally not at the far high-end.

You either like the lifestyle or you don't. I don't want to have to drive everywhere. I don't want to shop in malls. I don't want to have to have "designated drivers". I don't want to eat crappy homogenized food at national chains, or crappy uninventive local food.

Aesthetics are a big part of it. Suburban architecture is an obscenity. Suburban tract housing and shopping malls are literally the ugliest buildings on this planet.

It's important to make distinctions within city culture.

Basically there's "the neighborhoods" "downtown" and "gentrifying areas".

The neighborhoods are identical to small towns, they just happen to be surrounded by other small towns. They have all of the benefits- and drawbacks- of a small town. Everyone knows each other to an incestuous level. I find it kind of horrifying. In South Philadelphia there are places where people can trace their entire families back to Sicilly within a four block area. I personally would never want to live within walking distance of all my cousins, but other people find it comforting I guess.

True downtown doesn't really have anything like permenant residents. Small apartments held for a brief period of time by a revolving batch of fairly similar people. I find that when non-urbanites move into a city, and they have money, they generally move here. Then they inevitably bemoan the anomy and alienation of urban life, which is laughable. If they grew up in the neighborhoods they'd see that the city can be just as socially claustrophobic as any tiny rural town. Downtown is a place to go but not necessarily a place to live. I grew up not exactly downtown but in an inner neighborhood of downtown and there is alot of social distance. People don't know each other very well because there is alot of social mobillity and high property turnover. People wealthy enough to live downtown are wealthy enough to leave the city when they have children- and generally do.

Gentrifying areas are neighborhoods that are experience distinct social change. They've either completely collapsed after the deurbanization of the '50s and are now coming back, or were never residential areas and are being rezoned- the phenomenon of former-factory lofts. These areas either become new neighborhoods or they become areas with a high turnover of a specific social set. Examples of this are gayborhoods, University areas and artist colonies.

 

[Tashah]

I've probably got the best of both worlds. My home in the US sits on 5 acres of land in a picturesque town of 150,000. Across the pond, my home in beautiful and bustling Tel Aviv is only 10 minutes away from the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean.

 

[new coup for you]

Philadelphia may have a crime problem, but at least we don't have suicide bombing

 

[new coup for you]

I just can't imagine what there is in a city that I would want to *do* on a regular basis.

I mean, visiting Vegas for a week? Sure, I took in a couple shows. But they were expensive, not something I'd be able to afford if I lived there.

In the country, we go swimming, skiing, rafting, hiking, etc. I just don't see what there is in a city to DO.

I went bowling last week.

 

[Tashah]

Philadelphia may have a crime problem, but at least we don't have suicide bombing

There wasn't a single suicide-bombing in Tel Aviv during 2007. Only one occured in all of Israel. Violent crime in Israel is a rarity.

 

[new coup for you]

Yeah, I know. It's not actually that bad. I don't want to make this thread about Isreal, but I'll just say I couldn't live in Isreal without feeling immoral.

 

[Tashah]

Yeah, I know. It's not actually that bad. I don't want to make this thread about Isreal, but I'll just say I couldn't live in Isreal without feeling immoral.

But of course. It's a good thing for you then that bad spelling isn't immoral.

 

[new coup for you]

Language criticism is the lowest form of internet invective. Know what I can spell? Nakba.

 

[Tashah]

Language criticism is the lowest form of internet invective. Know what I can spell? Nakba.

Know what I can spell? Thread ban. Another inexplicable attempt by you to derail a nice thread will lead us precisely there.

 

[Tashah]

I love Wisconsin galen. Looking at some land in Door County.