I returned to my home country and home town for the first time after 7 years and the place is barely recognizable.
-
It is more crowded than ever. I hardly saw a traffic jam in the past, but now the main streets are consistently clogged between 4 and 5 pm, and every single car park is full during the day.
-
There is no free parking anymore anywhere. Everywhere I used to park previously there are now parking meters.
-
Many of the shops I used to frequent are either gone or relocated far outside the city, and they are replaced by yet another Chanel boutique or some cookie cutter tourist trap.
-
The all-inclusive unlimited public transport ticket I used to have is being discontinued, and the city’s public transport monopoly now charges based on distance travelled, meaning that cost of public transport doubles for most regular commuters.
-
We also had a chocolate factory nearby that used to do public tours, to which I was looking forward to, but turns out they don’t do that anymore because of “public health concerns”.
-
There used to be exactly one homeless guy in our city, whom everybody knew by name, now there is one at every corner, and there are organized groups of beggars from a different country
I’ve been in North America, Europe and South Asia this year and I can’t shake the feeling that quality of life is gradually deteriorating everywhere.
Please tell me I am wrong. Where have you been lately where things overall are actually getting better rather than worse?
Many years ago there was a book by Kirkpatrick Sale called Human Scale that discussed the ideal size for cities. As a city grows, it becomes an economic hub and provides job opportunities. The new wealth is channeled into investment in infrastructure and education. Above a certain size the town may support the arts, maybe a college and professional sports teams.
But beyond that sweet spot you start seeing more crime and homelessness. Schools and highways are overcrowded because the town has outgrown its infrastructure. The more spread out a city is, the more costly to build enough infrastructure. Things enter a negative cycle where taxes go up, quality of life declines, young people move away or lose hope.
His analysis led him to say the maximum size for a healthy city was something like 100-200,000 if I remember correctly. I’ve lived in cities ranging from under 20,000 to a couple of million, and based on my experience, a college town of somewhere between 15,000 to 150,000 is where I found the best overall quality of life. Bonus points if it’s also the county seat and has the regional medical center, as along with the college those create good middle class jobs and a less narrow-minded population.
These towns exist everywhere but they’re not going to have the same entertainment or cultural resources of a city of a million, and the residents of larger cities will call them boring. But we’re talking about where you want to live, not where you want to go for a weekend getaway. Someplace with less crime and cleaner air.
The only risk with these smaller towns is if their major employer goes under. Then they’re going to necessarily need to find new ways to make money and will go through a bad spell until they do.
So if you’re looking at college towns that are regional medical centers and county seats, make sure they’re on the way back up after reinventing themselves and have a lively feel and optimism about them. It’s a lot of online research, but time well spent on the front end.
Me too! Ended up moving away for a job but I wish I could find a place like this again.
I am thoroughly uncomfortable in larger cities and the only thing I hate more than driving a car through traffic is the feeling of claustrophobia in an overcrowded bus or metro. Couldn’t care less about “entertainment and cultural resources”, what does this even mean? I value walkability/bikeability, access to nature and quiet time way higher.
Looks like smaller college towns are exactly the sweet spot I am looking for. Thanks for the pointers and the book tip!