Big cities receive a lot of criticism. It’s not hard to see why. Overpopulation and overcrowded streets can put even the most patient of people on the defensive, and very quickly. The entire experience of traveling can be stressful and expensive. The general likelihood of meeting someone less than pleasant is much higher than in less populated areas. This is a statistical truth. We all know that pollution and the general toxification of cities can sometimes be hard to take in.
It’s also been shown that through viewing CCTV footage of public streets, social scientists could accurately determine within 10,000 people the population of a city. How could they do this? By assessing how fast people walked, and how quick the conversations they held were. Obviously, faster meant a more populated environment.
Also, it’s not hard to see that cities are rather artificial. The idea of a megacity has only been around for the last century. Even then it was considered something almost completely alien. Now, skyscrapers reach to the sky. Apartment buildings are seemingly compressed into one another. Thousands of people can live within a single mile of one another. It's even hard to get to know your closest neighbors.
However, even with all this strangeness, ruling out the prospect of living in or visiting a city can be a sad state of affairs. Sometimes, big cities are all they’re really cracked up to be. There are many reasons as to why this is the case, but we hope to explore this subject through the lens of a prospective traveler. After all, the functional and useful advice is more practical compared to simply adjusting your attitude without cause.
Without further ado:
Source: Pixabay
All Night
It’s very likely that the first thing you’ll notice when visiting a big city is that you can always experience endless entertainment all day and all night long. For example, these entertainment ideas in New York are largely situated around the clock. If you have the time, living a nocturnal life and experiencing the mirror of city life can be wonderful when needing to experiencing the interesting activities of the night.
Hidden theatre shows, comedy clubs, nightclubs, and bars will often keep last calling times, but sometimes this simply transitions to the morning run events. There are reasons that megacities are often named as the cities that never sleeps. There’s almost no reason to slow down. This is why cities are absolutely the best locations for stag parties, general celebrations, exploring culturally, and directing yourself towards the crowd you are most interested in. If you’re looking for activity and plenty of it, then heading to a city will ensure that something is always provided for you.
Source: Pixabay
Food
If you’re hoping to experience all the night has to offer, then you’ll need to do it on a full stomach. Luckily, there is absolutely nowhere better than a city to fill you with some amazing cuisine. This is the absolute beauty of a city, that many different cultures come and present their own take on the cultural cuisine they have to offer. Often, many of these restaurants will be located on the same streets. There is a real beauty in this, and it can make your taste buds natural born explorers.
The best part about this is that often, the most expensive restaurants aren’t the places you would consider the be the best places for a hearty meal. The competition in cities has led different establishments to truly refine their recipes and their prices. Street food vendors have also taken over lately, meaning that the development of some real down to Earth cuisine is as simple as walking out on the street.
If you’re a fan of some of the most hilarious cooking shows, you’ll realize that cities are often packed with excellent efforts in novelty food. For example, large cultural celebrations around huge challenge meals or hot food can be found if you look hard enough. There is always a small food interest to be catered for, no matter your taste or interest.
Food tours are absolutely the best when scheduled in a city. Be sure to check your local reviewer's guide and plan a chart through the perimeter and then the center of the city. What better way to experience the life and local insights of an environment than to explore its microcosm cultures through your taste buds? It’s the tastiest method of doing things at the very least.
The Seattle Skyline
Niche
The best part of the overpopulation of cities is that every niche can be catered for. Do you enjoy a certain card game, and wish to participate in tournaments? There’s likely a place for you. Do you enjoy comic conventions but cannot afford Comic-Con? There’s absolutely going to be a fan-run event for your best experience. If you’re a film student, it’s likely that the city you visit has a wonderful cultural board dedicated to preserving the best films of the area. The board will be showcasing them in public buildings once in a while. Music, comedy, nightclub scenes, everything can be catered for in a city, so it’s absolutely worth finding this.
People often get burned out in cities. This can be for a variety of reasons, but it could very strongly be the fact that meeting your niche can be difficult. However, with the right social media and google searches, there will always be something around the corner. It’s likely that even your most favorite underground artist will one day tour in the city that you currently occupy or live near, so be sure to keep checking. In an environment like this, there are always people you can possibly relate to. Finding them can be a great first start.
San Francisco city was hidden by the fog
History
Cities do not occur out of the blue. A city is formed over a long period of time as more and more people emigrate to the financial center. Some also prefer the locational convenience or the general bond of communities that grow around a certain area. This means that cities, no matter what you think of them, will always carry a degree of interesting historical insight. A simple walk around will show you many things that you might not have noticed before. You will discover new statues, public art displays, and the general expressiveness of the people around you. Some cities such as Dubai are seemingly constructed and artificial. However, it still has its own story that might be interesting to learn and discover.
This means that cities are not only cultures of hedonism and brilliant showcases. They are also places of deep cultural understanding, and developing yourself in this story will grant you a wealth of excellent insight. If you’re hoping to enrich yourself then visiting listed buildings and environments that have stories to tell could be an excellent use of your time. From there, heading to a theatre show or an orchestra could be the perfect way to cap off the entire visit, making it feel more than worthwhile.
Buenos Aires
In Conclusion
Cities are some of the most wonderful places on Earth. While yes, they are the dominant hive of our species, they aren’t all bad and overly polluted. Some of the densest cultural understanding, expressiveness and historical interest are situated in these locations. Learning the history of your own local city could better understand your place in the environment you currently reside. Be sure to experience this, because who knows what rabbit holes you might lead down? While traveling to the tropical vistas abroad can be a wonderful time, sometimes seeing the structures right in front of you can also be very instructive to a wonderful vacation.
DO YOU LIVE IN A BIG CITY?
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain
All photos are taken and articles are written by Adonis Villanueva of Always Wanderlust unless otherwise stated.
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Surprised to see one of your posts not be over $100 :P
I live in the suburbs of Chicago and work within the loop (downtown business district). I personally never travel to big cities because of living here. I like vacationing to slower pace places like the Caribbean. I am planning on leaving within the year to Florida (tampa) because I don't enjoy Chicago at all... winters are cold and summer is crowded. If you're not from a big city, Chicago in the summer may be a place you might want to see. Food is good and diverse. There's some history here and the river boat tours are fun. But longer than 3 or 4 days you might get bored or go broke. LOL. Just my two cents. Great post!
I've been to Chicago! Beautiful place :) I was there around the end of winter but it was indeed cold!
I live in a big city. It was kinda depressing to cope up with fast life, people, pollution, environment in the beginning but ever since I started embracing it, city life is good. There are so much opportunities when you look at the brighter side and best thing to do while in city is to make the most of everything. Well written post @adonisabril.
PS: Can I borrow that Steem Separator? :P
sure
Boston is my favorite city. If you are near downtown you can walk from one end to the other no matter what the weather. Just need the warm clothes in the winter of course. There is so much history and many different areas to explore each of which has their own vibe.
I have always been a city girl. Love the forest to visit and walk about in and landscapes are often breathtaking. But you can't beat the human vitality of a city:) San Fran happens to be one of my favorite ones. And Vancouver understands the value of having nature meld into the city. Let's keep them clean and wonderful places to live:)
I love San Francisco...But I can't afford to live there!
Yeah ... very few can. Vancouver is getting the same way:)
I am currently just running from a large to a medium city. As for the end of big cities - it seems to me that big cities will only spill because of suburbanization. It is impossible to end large cities due to the fact that high population density is needed to economically manage natural resources.
Congratulations for the photos you've posted, they are very beautiful!
This is a great post @adonisabril. Yes... I live in Seoul a big city. Public transportation is great. I can get anywhere I want to get in the city easily. A great hospital is nearby and culture and food is everywhere. However land is very expensive so I live in a small place and cannot grow my own food which would be nice. There is also a lot of stress in the city but over all I think this is one of the best cities in the world.
Cities are wonderful places, yes, but I would never want to live in the city center. I need a nature near me.
I live in a big city - Moscow (Russia). Have you ever visited Moscow? Busy, polluted, dynamic, beautiful, energetic, speedy. I was born here, and for me to move from here is terrifying... because I am so used to it...
Nope, only St. Petersburg. My wife is Russian and lived there. The city is massive!