Bustling Cities and the Beating Heart of Urban Life

In our lives we have important choices to make, including where we're going to live. We can decide to live in either an urban, a suburban or a rural area. While some of you may like suburbs or small towns, I myself prefer cities to suburbs and rural areas, for a number of reasons. For starter's, I have a few problems with suburbs, namely that they are too sterile-looking and conformist, comprised entirely of a white, middle-class population that has a lack of concern for people of other backgrounds.

Rural areas have these same problems, along with a few others. In the boondocks, I find too few people and activities to keep me occupied. The countryside may be beautiful and scenic, but is also bland and boring. Unfortunately - as you have seen - many of its denizens clinging to old-fashioned prejudices and outdated notions of "morality." Cities, with their diverse, sophisticated people are much more modern and dynamic, showing me the way forward.

Densely populated areas are definitely a plus for me, because there are a lot of people to interact with, from every background. I do have a few close friends, but I also enjoy being a social butterfly, interacting with many friends and acquaintances. City life definitely makes this possible! There are also a lot of beautiful, single women in cities; as a single guy, I don't mind this! In a city, you always have people to join you in your literary, artistic and communitarian endeavors, as well as people to party with! You are never alone.

Being a progressive, I prefer liberal areas to conservative ones. Cities open me up to a great number of fellow liberals and to a plethora of liberal, progressive and leftist ideas. That is what I admire very much about cities like Philadelphia and New York City; they even vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates in presidential elections. In Manhattan, for example, over 90% of voters chose Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Major metropolitan areas are home to numerous progressive non-profit organizations dedicated to social justice and positive change, with energetic young progressives volunteering their time. Cities are the workshop of the Left!

In urban life, there is much excitement and drama that will keep you on your toes and give you numerous stories to share with others. People-watching is one manifestation of this, as you get to see people doing strange things and saying things that are off-the-wall! You also get to see people react to fires, crimes, and auto accidents that create a sense of camaraderie among bystanders. There are also positive things, such as celebrity sightings, the opening of cool new retail stores, the local sports team (i.e. the Philadelphia Eagles) winning a championship, etc. Residents of a major city always find new and novel reasons to come together as a community!

The creative presence of the arts in any sizeable city is definitely another factor that draws me to urban life. There are always capable, intriguing artists, musicians and writers to interact with. Band performances and art showings are awesome venues for meeting new people and learning new things, facilitating personal growth and social networking. And, of course, an artsy area always has some cool, addicting coffee shops. The arts are expressions of our souls and I greatly enjoy expressing myself in this way, and taking in such expressions of other people.

Cities tend to have cool bars, restaurants and other such establishments - third spaces to unwind after work or on your day off. There are upscale, popular restaurants that serve delicious entrees, as well as eateries offering comfort food, preparing anybody for a comfortable, enjoyable pub crawl! And - speaking of bars - you have trendy bars and pubs that are large, crowded and actually open until closing time, along with a few janky, smokey dive bars that provide a few hours of decadent fun and excitement! When it comes to eating, drinking, sex and 420, people in cities go all out for their vices, instead of pretending that they don't exist!

Public transportation is a wonderful feature of city life, due to its ease and human contact. I have relied upon public transportation in the Lehigh Valley for the past 20 years, so I am partial to it! When I visit larger cities, I enjoy the ease and adventure of taking the subway; if I lived in a larger city, such as New York or Los Angeles, I'd be taking it all the time. In general, public transportation is great, because you don't have to worry about driving everywhere and paying parking tickets. Buses and subways are also great places for making new friends. For example, on LANTA I met Matt Casey, Amber McCleary, Erica McCleary, Larissa Jimmy, Leah, and Johanni - just a few of my friends that I love to take the bus with.

 

Since childhood, I have been enthralled by the modern wonders of urban cityscapes, including a city's skyscrapers, buildings, bridges and tunnels. As a little boy, riding along in the backseat of my parents' car, I would count the number of floors on a tall building, focusing on the rows of windows (I'm sure some of you did this as well). Now that I'm older, I enjoy looking at the various architectural styles that are used in the buildings' construction. I also take in the beauty of a town's old stone churches and civic buildings. Big cities have some beautiful, historic bridges and tunnels. These vessels connect us to history and our personal memories of specific towns. Thus, larger cities are physically imposing and visually impressive in ways that small towns and uniform suburbs are not.

If I had my choice, I would live in a major city, instead of just a medium-sized one like Allentown or Bethlehem. I lived in Philadelphia during a fairly difficult time in my life, but the city nurtured me and inspired me in many ways. I was most impressed by the racial and ethnic diversity of the City of Brotherly Love, being well-received by the African-American community and enjoying the cultural richness of Chinatown and other ethnic neighborhoods. I also loved the Philadelphia subway system, including its gritty, exciting subway stations and concourse shops, especially near City Hall. Philly is a very walkable city, great for window-shopping and taking in the pulse of the streets. I also enjoyed the Philadelphia skyline, complete with the Comcast Center, which I found to resemble an opener for a beer bottle, reminding me of a cold, freshly-opened bottle of Miller High Life! Philadelphia was both impressive and intriguing, the kind of city I can see myself settling in when the time is right.

I prefer large cities, but the cities of the Lehigh Valley will make do for the time being. The cities of the Lehigh Valley are affordable and on the rise, as mentioned in one of my previous posts. I can spend my free time at the Bethlehem library and the nearby coffee shops with many of you, but I do miss the Free Library of Philadelphia, with its old stone magnificence, and the cafe on the third floor of Barnes & Noble at Rittenhouse Square (normally I don't like Starbucks coffee, but the brews at that location are to die for!). Bethlehem is my old stomping ground and Easton and Allentown are cool cities worth exploring!

Cities represent human growth and change, as well as the free exchange of ideas and coming together for a common purpose. That is why artists, students, writers and thinkers of all stripes are drawn to them; with their youthful enthusiasm they want to make the world a better and more loving place, and cities are where this process begins. Progressive individuals work with longtime residents and marginalized people to create solutions that work for all and inspire all. Cities are the treasures that civilization makes possible!