Comments on: City vs. Small Town

By: Charlie Abbott

Charlie Abbott — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 23:20:34 +0000

This is from Charles Murray? It wasn’t clear from your post. Did I miss the attribution?

By: Mike in Boston

Mike in Boston — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 21:59:44 +0000

Is the concept of a neighborhood not operative? When I lived in a city of about 100,000, the meter maids and tow operators rotated through from downtown and were as horrific as you can imagine, but I certainly knew the shopkeepers and the plumber, and our friends with teenage boys ended up knowing the (surprisingly reasonable) cops. The neighborhood association met every month or so and seemed to at least somewhat have the ear of the city council. It was a pleasant point on the continuum between mid-town Manhattan and Podunk.

By: Spandrell

Spandrell — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 05:21:12 +0000

Small towns are great if you get along well. But there’s a chance you don’t get along, or something happens, or the town decides to scapegoat you for whatever reason, well then small town life is hell.

City life lacks all the warmth but it also lacks that threat. Cities grow through risk aversion.

By: Faze

Faze — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 03:03:04 +0000

I lived 20 years in the heart of Manhattan, and I can tell you I like my small town, and all the small towns in our part of the state for all the reasons named in the post, and many others. I loved the city, but you need an exit strategy. And if you are lucky enough to land in a small town where you have some personal networks, you will reap tremendous intangible rewards. You discover that the words, “quality of life” have a positive meaning. People who pay the hefty penalties exacted by the big cities can’t admit that there’s value to small town life, because — well, then they’d be suckers.

By: Alrenous

Alrenous — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 22:48:46 +0000

Shockingly, large things are not naturally like smaller things.
It isn’t inevitable, though. It should be possible to modularize a city with a moderate effort.

By: FNN

FNN — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 13:40:46 +0000

I’m sure the local schools teach the same destructive prog CM stuff as everywhere else in USA and only the occasional eccentric dares question it.

By: Aretae

Aretae — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:14:01 +0000

This is huge. It’s not new — but it’s better explained. And the difference is enormous.

By: Grasspunk

Grasspunk — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 08:11:15 +0000

So, Isegoria, when are you moving to a small town?