NYC Resident Asks 'Why Anyone Would Ever Live in the Suburbs,’ and Twitter Responds

There are many benefits to living in a city. Walkability is nice, there are lots of events to attend and other cultural opportunities that are made possible by the large concentration of people in one relatively defined space, it's perhaps easier to meet new and interesting people when there are so many people around you all the time. Sure there are tradeoffs in increased crime, pollution, and increased cost of living, but for some people that's just fine and as far as we're concerned it's just fine that it's just fine for them.

The difference between people who don't live in cities and people who do, though, is often that people who live in cities think that living in a city is the only reasonable way to live, and literally can't understand why anyone would want anything else for themselves or their family. Take this lady, a happy resident of New York City, who can't fathom that to some this photograph of what seems to her to be an ideal day maybe isn't quite everybody's cup of tea... or glass of wine, as the case may be.

Sitting here reading my book and someone just yelled, “does anyone have a wine opener?” and someone from the other side of the park yelled, “I do.” Why would you ever live in the suburbs. pic.twitter.com/iHU2fR3zwW
— Amy (@amyliztweets) April 15, 2024

See in many ways most cities are kind of like Disney World, and this is truer for New York City than it is for any other city. While many people's idea of 'communing with nature' is being completely isolated in nature, there are a lot of people who think that joining in with a big crowd of people in a carefully manicured park in the middle of a bustling metropolis is just as much communing with nature as being in the middle of a Maine woods. Which, again, if that's your thing great but obviously it's not everyone's thing, as people were quick to point out.

Sitting on my front porch, not a human in sight nor a man made noise within ear shot.

Why would anyone live anywhere but the country? Rural areas are better 🇺🇸
— Lost specialist (@lostJoeJoe87) April 16, 2024

To escape the human feces on the sidewalks? The hypodermic needles? The junkies collapsed in the streets? The gang violence? The insane cost of a closet sized apartment? The pollution? The lack of privacy? The traffic? Noise? The absolute STRESS of city life?
— TANSTAAFL (@tanstaafl6817) April 16, 2024

And then a homeless guy covered in feces, stabbed 4 people with the wine opener.
— TWEETO BANDITO (@DjptrsnMana) April 16, 2024

Non-city people know how important it is to ask someone why they need a 'wine opener' before handing it over.

This is my backyard. I bought a wine opener and saved $800,000 https://t.co/YvEcxoBHbe pic.twitter.com/jN0L7gytgO
— Robert Kroese (@robkroese) April 16, 2024

Every day while living in my large home with a sprawling, lush, green lawn in my crime-free suburban neighborhood where everyone knows everyone I think to myself, ‘If only I had more access to a wine opener.’ https://t.co/4nnFnZwLIU
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) April 16, 2024

Two things I know about the suburbs:

1. No one is nearby.
2. No one has wine openers. https://t.co/qiTy95e1vQ
— Aelfred The Great (@aelfred_D) April 16, 2024

The funniest thing is that these people are all, we'd wager, big fans of Henry David Thoreau and his book 'Walden' just because these types always love Walden... which is about getting away from the tiring city life and going to live out in the country for a while (among other things). Of course since Walden Pond was only about 2 miles outside of Concord and his mom came over to bring him food and do his laundry for him regularly maybe they're more like Thoreau than they know.

If you want to live in a city that's great, good for you. But cities are very difference places and not everybody's idea of a good time is hanging out with a big crowd of people all the time. If nothing else living outside of an urban area can often be good for teaching a person self-sufficiency... the kind of self-sufficiency that would lead one to remember to bring their own corkscrew along with them when they went off for a picnic. Crazy, right?