In Defense of Small(ish) Towns

10 Biggest Cities I’ve Been To (And Their Populations)

10.)   Nagoya (3,377,000)

9.)    Washington, D.C. (3,927,000)

8.)    Madrid (4,072,000)

7.)    Toronto (4,657,000)

6.)    Chicago (6,945,000)

5.)    Osaka (8,815,000) 

4.)    Manila (16,300,000)

3.)    New York City (19,750,000)

2.)    Mexico City (20,450,000)

1.)    Tokyo (32,450,000, currently the largest city in the world)

(Population numbers from worldatlas.com)

Big cities have a lot going for them. They’ve got good art, culture, museums, music venues, international establishments, lots of diversity, all the types and variations of all the food you could ever want or think of, fashionable clothes, fun places to shop, entertainment up the wazoo, all kinds of people from hipsters to the homeless, bars, clubs, parks, places to hang out, and more. There are more jobs in the cities, so they're good for the economy. Thus, they are, for the millions and millions of people who live there, the place to be.

But they’re also terribly crowded: crowded trains, crowded streets, crowded restaurants, crowded train stations, and it takes an eternity to get anywhere, either jostling for a space on the jostling train or sitting still in terrible traffic watching the hours flow by. Even so, everyone is in a hurry, rushing from platform to platform, taking the stairs two at a time, never slowing down. Things are expensive in a big city, too, from housing to a vending-machine coffee.

During Spring Break, I spent five days bouncing around Omiya, Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama and back to Tokyo, during which I had ample time to dwell on the positives and negatives of living in a big city. After not a lot of reflection, I confirmed what I already knew: for me, it’s a vehement no.

It’s not that I dislike visiting big cities. On the contrary, I love the flash and excitement that comes from visiting a huge place. I’ve seen and done fantastic things in this metropolitan world that I’d never have a chance to do in a smaller location. Plus it’s self-affirming to be armed with just a map of the subway system, a travel guide, and an iPhone to be able to travel around a city. (Although of course I much prefer visiting someone who lives there who can be my guide.) But to live forever in a city of over a million? Never.

  

I suppose it’s all a matter of taste. Where the city is too stressful, too superficial, just too damn big for me, a city under a million is just too dull for others.

Maybe because I grew up on a family farm at the end of a dirt road in rural North Carolina. Maybe because we only had one high school in the whole county. Maybe because I read too much Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie, anyone?). Maybe because my hobbies run more towards reading under a tree than clubbing in Shinjuku. Whatever the cause, I am able to appreciate the down-to-earth-ness of a medium-sized city more than the glamour and excitement of urban life. I, though world-traveled, sophisticated, and multi-lingual, am no 21^st century urbanite. 

Look at small towns in Japan. A chestnut farm, a cabbage farm, a strawberry farm, a local vegetable stand. A dilapidated temple falling down from disrepair. Little restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries that close at 5:00 p.m. but that have the most delicious food you’ll ever eat. A smiling “irashaimase” from the proprietor. A huge blue sky over groves of cherry trees.

Small towns in the U.S. We’re not talking about politics here. There is something lovely about the salt-of-the-earth folk, the countryside diners with fried chicken and okra, the post office, supermarket, bank, farmers’ market people all knowing who you are. Sure, there’s small-town gossip, but that’s better than being invisible. And in a city of 200-400 thousand, you can still get a small-town feel without feeling stifled.  

I don’t need a lot to be satisfied with life, despite my actions which might make some of you think I crave constant change and excitement. [I did move to Japan, after all.] But I discovered way back in high school that it doesn’t really matter where you live as long as you have friends with you. (Thank you, Erin, Jacquie, Phillip, and Walker.) Because where’s the fun of living in Manhattan if you don’t have anyone to hang out with? Why work your ass off every day to pay your exorbitant rent if you don't have anyone to chill with after work?

In terms of the city itself, there are a few things that I find indispensible. I need a good grocery store, a farmer’s market, parks, and a local coffee shop. It would be even better if there were a used bookstore, international independent restaurants and relatively inexpensive yoga classes, too. Then I’d be super happy. But I'd settle for just the first few. I don’t need or desire designer clothes, super hip bars and clubs, or a condo with a skyline view.

I’ve traveled to six countries and lived in three of them. I’ve enjoyed their culture, art, museums, sightseeing places, tourist destinations, food, and shopping. And before I die, I want to go to Buenos Aires, Santiago, London, Paris, Rome, Oslo, and Helsinki. It will be wonderful to see all that those cities have to offer, and I will lap it all up eagerly. But I’ll also be glad at the end of those travels, when I come home to my house in a city I don’t yet know, in a neighborhood I haven’t yet visited, but that surely has copious amounts of trees under which I can sit and read to my heart’s content.