Resources for the Prospective Urban Transplant
September 2, 2013 4:56 PM Subscribe
My wife is from a large urban area and is missing that lifestyle. I am a hayseed. I have visited cities and enjoyed them, and enjoy urbanism as a field of interest and study... But what are some resources for this transition? Blogs, books, articles, I'm open to anything.
Response by poster: Perhaps I wasn't clear... we want to move to an urban area. Probably a large, dense city.
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:00 PM on September 2, 2013
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:00 PM on September 2, 2013
It feels like every story ever told about New York is this one. One of the major plot lines of season four of Glee has been how several characters adjust to life in NYC after moving there from Ohio. And if you like more historical literature, The American by Henry James follows that line.
posted by jaguar at 8:08 PM on September 2, 2013
posted by jaguar at 8:08 PM on September 2, 2013
The Atlantic Cities is a pretty good repository of articles/links on all things urban.
posted by eponym at 8:19 PM on September 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by eponym at 8:19 PM on September 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
There's a lot of fairly shallow articles on the subject that deal with general principles. Ultimately, I think it depends on the particular city. Do your research on the city, see what you find appealing about it. Visit ahead of time if you can just to enjoy it without the pressure of having to move. Talk to people who have lived there. Post another, more specific, question on AskMe.
Country to city can be tough. Faster pace, too many people, too much noise and light and the traffic - just too much all round. But if you really enjoy lots of stimulation, all that input can be a good thing. Even if you don't, it can still challenge you to new experiences that you realise you quite enjoy. There's heaps of advantages - often better public transport, the ability to walk/PT places without the need for a car, lots of places to explore from different restaurants to museums and culture and activities. It's always easy to find things, and the sheer variety is staggering. There's more variety of people and cultures which can be very energising and exciting as well. You need to find your own balance, and your own things to love.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:35 AM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Country to city can be tough. Faster pace, too many people, too much noise and light and the traffic - just too much all round. But if you really enjoy lots of stimulation, all that input can be a good thing. Even if you don't, it can still challenge you to new experiences that you realise you quite enjoy. There's heaps of advantages - often better public transport, the ability to walk/PT places without the need for a car, lots of places to explore from different restaurants to museums and culture and activities. It's always easy to find things, and the sheer variety is staggering. There's more variety of people and cultures which can be very energising and exciting as well. You need to find your own balance, and your own things to love.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:35 AM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
You could also try comparing cities. There's a lot of resources on the web, I liked the Urban Observatory which has a lot of general things about city life as well as letting you compare major cities by things like population density, types of work use, etc.
posted by Athanassiel at 7:31 PM on September 5, 2013
posted by Athanassiel at 7:31 PM on September 5, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jaguar at 6:57 PM on September 2, 2013