Blurry Boston Sunset

I love visiting cities; there are always new, innovative programs to discover. When visiting a new city, I try to take public transportation if possible. I had a lot of bags this time and couldn’t find a shared shuttle at the airport to take me to my hotel. I resigned myself to the fact that I would need to take a cab. I wandered up to the taxi stand when a sign caught my eye. It said I could request CleanAir CAB, aka hybrid. I didn’t mind waiting as the women at the taxi stand called around to find one in the area. Go on Boston. What a great Big-City Value! It’s really nice to be back in New England, on the lovely Northeast Coast!

The Daily Show team tries to get definition of Small Town Values at the RNC.

I live in a suburb of a ‘small town city.’ This, in reality, is a city created from a small town and happened when the population reached a particular number of citizens.

This method of ‘planning’ a city has its benefits, not the least being that there are no high rise buildings in my city. Consequently there are also no traffic jams, and public transport is easily accessible and very well used. People walk, ride bicycles, catch the bus or the train, or drive to work The scooter is making a comeback here because neighbourhoods are smaller and distances shorter to travel, plus the cost of petrol is diabolical.

My own particular neighbourhood still retains the look and feel of a suburb, in essence because that is what it still is. Whilst I live on a highway, no my dear ‘foreign’ readers not a freeway or expressway, it is a two lane highway and will be for quite some time still to come. The City Council provide a green waste pick up and a recycling pick up once a month, I can access mulch for my verge, we recycle all household items such as bottles and cans into a special bin, householders are allowed to have chickens in certain areas, and of course there are the usual cats and dogs. For me personally, a neighbourhood is not a neighbourhood without the character and personality of it’s resident pets.

I love my ‘small town city,’ I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Tracey
Armadale
Weatern Australia

I woke up this morning to my housemate knocking on my door saying “your friend is here to work on the porch”. I ambled sleepily downstairs and greeted my friend. I met him in my neighbourhood about a year ago and he is just about the nicest guy. He is working on our porch on the weekends eventhough he doesn’t need the money. A little later our nearby building supply store’s truck (small business. not home depot) pulled up to deliver the wood for our porch. The driver started talking to my neighbour who was washing his car. Turns out they knew each other. No big surprise in this city.

Later on, i left to go look in on my friend’s neighbour a few blocks away. He is elderly, recently had major surgery and is recovering. I’ve been going over there while my friend is away, checking his glucose, making sure he is eating right etc.

After that, i borrowed my friend’s car to go pick up chicken feed at a feed store up near fairmount park. I’ve been going up there for a few years now about 4 times a year. The shop is non-descript with only a small sign if any indicating that it’s a store. When i get there, the lady is standing in the doorway (she knew i was coming) smiling. She had saved a newspaper article for me on chicken coops. We chatted for a long while and i found out that she spins her own wool! She’s amazing.

Back to yesterday. My plumber calls me and says “should i get coffee or do you have some there?’ I replied “we have plently. come on over”. As we hadn’t seen each other in awhile, we sat down at my kitchen table for over an hour (at no charge!) and caught up. His shop is a few blocks down and he has been my plumber for ten years. If he sees me walking in the neighbourhood he always stops.

I love my big city and my neighbourhood.

Guede
Philadelphia, PA

Big cities are simply a wonderful collection of numerous villages, embodying all the best of small towns!

B Harris
Philadelphia, PA

When people talk about the community and closeness that they get from a small town, I think that I have that in the big city — and a lot more people get to experience it here than would in a small town. Philadelphia is known as a “city of neighborhoods,” but all cities are, really. We carve a close relationship-based group out of the mass of people in the city and call it a neighborhood. And in the city, if you don’t like your town, you can easily move to another one. Some of us are Northern Libertines, some of us feel more comfortable in West Philly or even Rittenhouse Square. . . but there’s a community for everyone within a few square miles

Janet Finegar
Philadelphia, PA

I love that within the vast boundaries of my big city, a casino cannot find one neighborhood that is willing to welcome it without resistance!

Jen Z
Philadelphia, PA

I was born and raised in South Florida. Miami is really diverse and attracts people from all over the world. The culture & atmosphere is like a huge “melting pot”. There are many groups who get together for the greater cause of helping those in need.

Young Knowledge
Fort Lauderdale, FL

I like living in the big city because I never have to come across people who think sport killing innocent animals is fun and even more fun is skinning them and hanging the furs on their office walls as a trophy. Yeah, that never happens here.

Becky A.
Los Angeles, CA

One of the things I was most proud of when I was a resident of the big city of Philadelphia was that I lived there for 20 years without owning a car. Who needed a car, when I had my feet, my bike, the bus, the subway, the trolleys and a car share service? I felt proud that I was making an impact on the environment. I felt proud that through my personal actions, I was making a contribution, however small, to the greater good. When you live in a city, there are constant reminders that you’re part of something bigger than yourself: You’re a part of a vibrant and diverse community that can be as small as your block or as big as the city itself. When you realize that–and it’s hard not to–you can’t help but want to work to make your community a better place.

As many other city dwellers have noted, cities can provide as much of a “village” feel as many small towns, with their walkable shops and restaurants, farmers markets, cafes … plus, they have the diversity that most villages lack. Sure, cities have their problems, but to imply that the values of cities are somehow “less than” those of small towns is divisive and simply untrue. Where would our country be without its cities?

Now I live in Oakland, another wonderful city that is generally overlooked due to its proximity to lovely San Francisco. I think living in Philadelphia all those years gave me a deeper appreciation for “underdog cities” like Oakland. Philadelphia also had its more glamorous neighbor city, New York. Living in Oakland, I enjoy the city life and the sunshine. I enjoy the year-round farmer’s markets all throughout Oakland. I enjoy walking to the video store, cafe and movie theater, as well as the 10-minute drive to the beach or a redwood grove in the city’s hills. Although I now need a car to easily access the wonders of the Bay Area beyond my walkable Oakland neighborhood, I still take pride in doing my small part to do my part for the greater good. And my heart is warmed by all of the wonderful people of Oakland who do their part as well, whether it’s through recycling, composting, volunteering, driving less or simply smiling and saying hello when they walk down the street. That’s my favorite big-city value.

Blair D
Oakland, CA