Honestly, just moving into a semi-walkable 120k pop city did wonders for my social life. Its literally just the convenience of being able to just go and socialize on a dime basically whenever.
People moving into suburbia and rural areas are insane. Just asking for mental illness.
You’d have ample chances to meet some though. That is basically what I’ve been doing for the past 4 months since moving into my apartment with a surprising amount of success, given how crotchety and autistic I am.
I’ve lived in 4 of the biggest cities in the world and I’ve just hit 30 and moved rural - smaller cities are best for socialising, but depending on your hobbies rural can be better than big cities. Completely agree that walkability is key, just adding nuance that I don’t agree that cities in general are great like I used to - it can be very hard to live a nice life in a major city
You are going to need to elaborate. Are you saying you choose frequent access to outdoors hobbies rather than socializing or ease of access to a community?
Sure! Big cities can be super isolating, especially if you:
don’t drink
don’t enjoy clubbing
don’t drink coffee
don’t play or enjoy sports
live in one of the ‘less desirable’ areas, due to living costs or proximity to work.
Even when some of these weren’t true for me, people who are well established in large cities generally have well established social groups and, although they might be lovely people and very welcoming, aren’t really in the market for proper friendships. Those who are also new to the city like you are very prone to move on themselves within a year or so.
Conversely, people in rural areas are simply desperate for friends. Within 2 months of moving to the country, we had different 2 couples who made it clear they wanted to give being friends a proper go - simply because they are desperate and we seem like we’re on a similar vibe. There’s definitely much less variety in sports, especially high level stuff, but conversely (as you said) we now have much easier access to great hikes/day walks. People here are also significantly more likely to be interested in gardening, pickling, jam making, bread making - all the self-sufficiency stuff. Much less of a “grindset” which can be super exhausting. Oh! People in rural areas also seem to be more likely to like board games, which my partner loves.
Don’t get me wrong, I love big cities - the amazing food, the great public transport (I LOATHE driving), the culture and events. Everything has pros and cons though.
I’m living in a village (~1500 people), we have one car for 3 adults and the car is used maybe once a week on average.
Everything else is done walking or biking. Walking the kids to school taking a path along a steam of water, there is several bar and restaurants in the village center, a bakery, a small grocery shop, a local producers shop, a market, barber … I’m working remotely and I have a coworking space in the village as well.
The streets are always busy and everyone say hi to each other.
Love this. Where is this? I’m trying to convince local people that we can develop less car-centric spaces in rural areas and I’d love more examples to use
American rural is usually something like “5 pioneer families started farms along a dirt road here 100 years ago, but the market on corn bottomed out and they mostly sold their plots to housing developers or speculators, and whoever didn’t move out either works at the gas station or in the city an hour and a half away to support the drug habits of the ones that couldn’t find work”.
Villages can be ok. It still fundamentally limits you to the median type of person though, and I’m pretty strange and picky, I need big numbers so I can find my people.
Walkable city of any size, really. The show in the picture takes place in NYC which is huge but great for getting around without a car, so you can get drunk and have fun. Of course you probably won’t be walking from Queens to Manhattan, but you can take the subway at least
Most of my 20s took place in a very walkable city of 90k and at some point I lived next to my favourite bar. I didn’t spend much time at home.
Honestly, just moving into a semi-walkable 120k pop city did wonders for my social life. Its literally just the convenience of being able to just go and socialize on a dime basically whenever.
People moving into suburbia and rural areas are insane. Just asking for mental illness.
Too bad cities don’t come with friends
You’d have ample chances to meet some though. That is basically what I’ve been doing for the past 4 months since moving into my apartment with a surprising amount of success, given how crotchety and autistic I am.
deleted by creator
I’ve lived in 4 of the biggest cities in the world and I’ve just hit 30 and moved rural - smaller cities are best for socialising, but depending on your hobbies rural can be better than big cities. Completely agree that walkability is key, just adding nuance that I don’t agree that cities in general are great like I used to - it can be very hard to live a nice life in a major city
You are going to need to elaborate. Are you saying you choose frequent access to outdoors hobbies rather than socializing or ease of access to a community?
Sure! Big cities can be super isolating, especially if you:
Even when some of these weren’t true for me, people who are well established in large cities generally have well established social groups and, although they might be lovely people and very welcoming, aren’t really in the market for proper friendships. Those who are also new to the city like you are very prone to move on themselves within a year or so.
Conversely, people in rural areas are simply desperate for friends. Within 2 months of moving to the country, we had different 2 couples who made it clear they wanted to give being friends a proper go - simply because they are desperate and we seem like we’re on a similar vibe. There’s definitely much less variety in sports, especially high level stuff, but conversely (as you said) we now have much easier access to great hikes/day walks. People here are also significantly more likely to be interested in gardening, pickling, jam making, bread making - all the self-sufficiency stuff. Much less of a “grindset” which can be super exhausting. Oh! People in rural areas also seem to be more likely to like board games, which my partner loves.
Don’t get me wrong, I love big cities - the amazing food, the great public transport (I LOATHE driving), the culture and events. Everything has pros and cons though.
Rural area can be walkable as well.
I’m living in a village (~1500 people), we have one car for 3 adults and the car is used maybe once a week on average.
Everything else is done walking or biking. Walking the kids to school taking a path along a steam of water, there is several bar and restaurants in the village center, a bakery, a small grocery shop, a local producers shop, a market, barber … I’m working remotely and I have a coworking space in the village as well.
The streets are always busy and everyone say hi to each other.
We just need to have less car centric spaces.
Love this. Where is this? I’m trying to convince local people that we can develop less car-centric spaces in rural areas and I’d love more examples to use
I’m in France.
Euro-rural just hits different.
American rural is usually something like “5 pioneer families started farms along a dirt road here 100 years ago, but the market on corn bottomed out and they mostly sold their plots to housing developers or speculators, and whoever didn’t move out either works at the gas station or in the city an hour and a half away to support the drug habits of the ones that couldn’t find work”.
Villages can be ok. It still fundamentally limits you to the median type of person though, and I’m pretty strange and picky, I need big numbers so I can find my people.
Walkable city of any size, really. The show in the picture takes place in NYC which is huge but great for getting around without a car, so you can get drunk and have fun. Of course you probably won’t be walking from Queens to Manhattan, but you can take the subway at least
Most of my 20s took place in a very walkable city of 90k and at some point I lived next to my favourite bar. I didn’t spend much time at home.
I wish I had that in my 20’s. I’m trying to salvage things in my late 30’s.