Hoodie Baron

Country Living

 It’s 9pm.  You walk outside and look up at the stars… except you can’t see them.  Welcome to the city, where it takes half an hour to drive three blocks and where the lifeless urban sprawl surrounds you.  When people go on vacation or want to escape from their hectic, dramatic lives, where do they go?  Do they head to the office cubicle or to the beach?  The cramped townhouse or the country getaway?

 There is something peaceful about country life.  Each day is a new adventure, not another 24-hour block that needs to be filled.  You can walk outside and see the outdoors.  You can find a baby bird in a tree, you can fall asleep eating wild berries, and you can watch the sunset the way it was meant to be seen: with streaks of purple, red, and gold painting your world.  The closest you’ll get to that in the city is googling “sunset”.  In the city you are greeted with an unfortunate mélange of cement and plastic.  There’s litter in the street, smoke in the air, and the truck that drives past your door every morning leaves the vilest odor in its wake. 

 Some claim that the city is better because there’s more to do and people to see.  That’s simply untrue.  Just because the city has more artificial gadgets and higher population density doesn’t mean that it is any more interesting than the country.  City councils try to emulate rural life by adding plants or trees anywhere they can.  City people live trying to escape the iron buildings that hold them captive.  To them the country seems like a dream.

 So city or country living?  Choose for yourself.  But at the end of the day I like to look up at the sky and see stars.

vs.

 A+ Baron

 City Living

A world of possibility. Feel like a movie? Foreign flick or action pic?  Want a bite to eat? How about Chinese? Or Italian, Mexican, Indian, or even fast food?  City living far outweighs country living because of the extensive opportunities that cities offer, the access to many first-rate institutions, such as education and health care, and the overall diversity of the people who live there. 

 Want to live in a vibrant metropolis where you can choose a profession that suits your talents and interests?  Do you want access to a myriad of activities when off the job? Want to cultivate your own vegetable garden, go clubbing, learn to ice skate, or start your own business?  New York may fit the bill.  Prefer a more sedate city or more space where you can still enjoy the benefits of city life while also enjoy all that nature and privacy have to offer? Then how about San Francisco or Munich? Cities come in all different shapes and sizes but one thing they have in common is that they offer infinite possibilities whether it’s access to museums, theaters, parks, transportation, sports, shops, schools, and restaurants, to name a few.

 You fall ill in your apartment.  An ambulance arrives within minutes from a nearby hospital. Doctors save you from a massive stroke, but only because you got to them within minutes. In the country, they aren’t there to save you when the nearest hospital is miles away.

 Cities are great melting pots. Where else can citizens experience the richness of diversity that comes from living near people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures? The beauty of cities is that you have choice and can do whatever fits your fancy.  The opportunities are endless because cities offer the best of all possible worlds.