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!

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

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

B Harris
Philadelphia, PA

Janet Finegar
Philadelphia, PA

Jen Z
Philadelphia, PA

Young Knowledge
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Becky A.
Los Angeles, CA

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

Living in a city like this has given me more a sense of community and belonging than anywhere where I lived as a kid. And before some of you may jump to any conclusions, I was not ostracized as a child by the rural community in which I grew up. Straight, white guys are not really picked on in small towns, or at least they weren’t when I was young. They get slightly more abused in the city, but it’s all in good fun. The truth is there was not much in the way of community where I grew up.

Philadelphia is 45% white and 43% black. For every person of one race who is not at ease with someone from the other race I can guarantee you there are at least five people every day in this city who experience the artificial social barriers of “race” or “sexual persuasion” falling down. We’re all in it together here. We use the same sidewalks every day. We take the same trolleys, buses and trains. We see the same tired looks on each other’s faces as we slog to work in the morning under the unflattering subway car lights. And most of us regardless of race, sex and creed (not me) act like fools every fall for a team called the Eagles. It’s not Utopia. We have crime and poverty, but they had that where I grew up too. What they did not have where I grew up was an Art Museum, a world re-renowned symphony orchestra, an endless stream of local rock and hip hop musicians, more non-chain restaurants than chain ones, more diversity of opinions and beliefs, more excitement, more daily interaction with humanity, more tolerance, more new ideas, more history, more tragedy and more comedy. More of a chance to get involved. More of a chance to really imagine walking in someone else’s shoes. More of a chance to be anonymous. More of a chance to share a joke with a stranger or to complain about the smell.

And yes, living in a Big City means less of some things. Most important to me it means less need of a car. I have the carbon footprint of a seagull and I don’t have to make any effort at doing so. And before anyone calls me an elitist, I think anyone who watches our infamous sports fans here or is familiar with Rocky knows that we Philadelphians are far from being “East Coast Liberal Elitists.” Elitists don’t have so many food stains. And don’t let Rudy Giuliani fool you into thinking he is not as Cosmopolitan as Barack Obama. If he’s anything like the New Yorkers I know he can’t stand the idea of living in a small town.

My girlfriend and I plan on settling down here in Philadelphia and maybe even raising a family. My dad who was born and raised here still sees this place as the same littered place he grew up in, but I see it as a place to grow as a person. My old friends who I grew up with would think that every day I am putting myself in mortal danger living here because they mistake the sensationalized local TV news coverage for reality. They think it’s fires, murders, rapes, fires, children killed in cross fires, weather, sports and the occasional fluff story like a restaurant that also serves dogs. But just like every small town in America is not like Northern Exposure, Green Acres or Wasilla Alaska, cities are not what popular culture and the media paint them as.

But this is all missing the big point about big cities and small towns in America. The truth is neither of us is a threat to each other’s way of life no matter what any political group says. We shouldn’t see each other as enemies. It’s called Divide and Conquer. Look it up. Most politicians pay us the same amount of lip service while most government policies neglect cities and rural communities equally.

If anything our common enemy is the Suburbs. Everyday more and more of our small towns and big cities from sea to sea have the same Starbucks, Olive Gardens, Bed Bath & Beyonds, the same 8 Hollywood blockbusters playing, the same houses and the same cars. The Inauthenticity of the American Suburban Way of Life threatens to turn us into consumers of the same shallow popular culture. The truth is Big Cities and small towns are two sides of the same coin. We are both what makes America unique. We are both the source of American romanticism and neither of us should seek to denigrate each other’s way of life.

Brendan M
Philadeldelphia, PA