• MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    People where I live now are genuinely afraid of the city for sure. There is some merit, but only if you go looking to step in shit.

    For me, I’m largely desensitized to city stuff from a lifetime, and I’m tired. I don’t like it anymore.

  • Beowulf@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I hate cities because of the amount of idiots driving there. If it were harder to get a driver’s license then I wouldn’t mind at all

  • Osirus@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    I live in a small town outside pittsburgh about 45 mins. I lived in a city my entire life from 18 to 36. I bought a house here and it’s quiet, but holy shit the people here are ignorant AF. When I say ignorant, I don’t use that term like rude, I mean literally dumb and uneducated. NO ONE around here can even spell. Fb is hilarious with the spelling they come up with or they will use a word that sounds similar to the big word they are trying to use but not quite right. Some day, I’m going to compile a list. They hate any race that isn’t white, they are misinformed, religious in thought but drinking every night, TERRIBLE parents… I yelled at my neighbor because her 3 year old son was half a mile down the road playing by himself on a 30 foot tall dirt pile and she was nowhere to be seen. When I yelled at her she said and I quote “iz he not allowed down thur or somethin?” I called the police and they came and told her she had to be outside when he was outside and she has been ever since. I’m sure she hates parenting. Trump support everywhere especially after he’s now a convicted rapist. It’s insane. I’m pretty outcast, i speak out when I see dumb shit, especially people selling these stickers. I call them white trash. People who know me personally respect me and I’ve won 1 or 2 over but man it’s exhausting. Had to buy a few guns when shit was getting real scary with the rednecks wanting to overthrow the govt. I’m surrounded by rednecks with guns. I miss the city. Sure there are all types of shitty people but atleast you get culture, good food, beautiful views, activities. We drive up every so often but it’s not the same. If our house wasn’t so big and beautiful and old compared to what I would get in the city for 3x the cost, I would move. Fuck these hillbillies.

    • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’m starting to think there might be a reason some people assumed I was a racist redneck when I argued why I like small towns more than cities. Is that seriously what its like in some places? Here you will see the occasional truck covered in trump stickers but that’s pretty much it. There’s plenty of different cultures and views here. Not as much as a city of course, but that’s as expected.

      • Osirus@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        It’s OK to like small towns, but most of the people who live in small towns, never left and have no aspirations to. It’s particularly evident with some of the more uh… shallow gene pool folk. They are so backwards, they know they would get ridiculed around people outside of their comfort zone, which I’m sure they would. They hate “pretty people”. City people are usually pretty people and there is like a weird level of jealousy based around that. I live in what used to be a steel town and when I tell you that everyone who lives at the bottom of the hill have mental issues and all have kids that have learning disabilities, I’m not joking. Heavy metals HAVE to be the cause of so many issues in small towns. There are kids here with growth deformities, 10 miles away there is a nuclear dump that is just chilling in the middle of a residential area. Tons of people got and get cancer there, people continue to live around it and die. I have no idea why lol. It’s insane. The govt put up signs but they aren’t even noticeable. If you drive past, my wife had to point it out. It’s fucking NUCLEAR WASTE. Seriously… I’ve been in fights with a lot of my neighbors over the way they treat their children. My neighbor across the street has 2 kids and 1 black step daughter from his wife’s other marriage, I feel so bad for her. One day I was outside and a group of young boys came up the street with a football, they were about 14. The dad was outside and from across the street I could hear them saying N*gger very loudly. The redneck dad just ignored it. He probably thinks the same thing and is embarrassed by her. I was shocked he just turned away and ignored it. If I ever heard that again, I’d say something l, I should have to make him look bad bit I really didn’t expect him to NOT say something. I pack heat everywhere I go out here, there was a crazy redneck yelling about Biden with a gun last summer at the ice cream stand. He got arrested but if I was there with my kids and someone pulled a gun, I’d have to pop them. Never had that happen in the city. Shits real in the battlefield.

      • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah, but then you have small towns like Boulder Colorado which are much more liberal than you would find even in some larger cities.

        And I grew up in the country near a couple of small towns, and we used to relentlessly make fun of rednecks and the illiterate farmers who live near the towns. One of the local high schools however had a dragon as a mascot. Apparently back in the 1980s and '90s, that was not okay because we accuse them of being KKK all the time. That high school could never live that one down.

        • BigNote@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Boulder is not a small town. But even if it were, it’s a college town which, surprise surprise, always changes the small town dynamic.

    • areyouevenreal@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Rednecks were originally left wing pro-union workers originally. So these people don’t deserve to be called rednecks.

      Edit: had to double check. There were multiple meanings including the coal miners I am referring to. Apparently it could also mean white sun burned farmers in the 19th century

      • Osirus@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Rednecks are farmers given that name from having their heads down while plowing their fields. They were Klan back in the day and are right wing extremists now. These people deserve much worse than being called a derogatory name.

        • areyouevenreal@lemmy.antemeridiem.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          From the Wikipedia article on rednecks:

          Coal miners

          The term “redneck” in the early 20th century was occasionally used in reference to American coal miner union members who wore red bandanas for solidarity. The sense of “a union man” dates at least to the 1910s and was especially popular during the 1920s and 1930s in the coal-producing regions of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.[18] It was also used by union strikers to describe poor white strikebreakers.[19]

  • 👁️🫦👁️@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’ve lived in a range of population centers, from mid sized towns of about 30k, to cities in the millions, and now in a small town of 5k spread through the entire valley. Its different strokes for different folks. The city was nice with lots of things to keep me occupied, but I could barley afford to do anything because my tiny apt cost 2.5k a month. Cities would be great if the CoL was addressed. Smaller towns on the other hand offer me plent of unspoiled nature to explore and a tighter knit sense of community while allowing me to live comfortably.

    Each has its benefits and generalizing one side or the other doesn’t do it justice.

  • topRamen@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m no conservative, but I wouldn’t want to live in the city. If some shit goes down, people in the city would be fucked. With all the craziness in the world these days its not far fetched. Depending on what part of the “country” you’re in, people leave you alone for the most part. The poorer areas out here can definitely be dangerous though.

    • BigNote@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well all that shows is that you don’t have to be conservative to be scared of cities.

  • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    35
    ·
    1 year ago

    I don’t blame anyone for being scared of specifically american cities. They are genuinely a nightmare. That’s why I live in a town of about 15k people.

    • Sunforged@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Such a nightmare, my wife is taking our kids to a concert at the zoo today. So horrible! They will be taking a bus (pUbLiC tRaNsPoRtAtIoN), horrifying!

      • jscummy@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        I don’t think scared is the right word but everything about driving in a city sucks. Struggling to find parking or having to pay, taking 30 min to drive 4 miles, shitty beat up roads

      • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Not cities in general, just american ones because they are so car centric, yet they all still somehow suck at driving and nearly kill me at every turn.

          • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            I haven’t been to every city, but if it doesn’t have a good alternative to cars, its probably not a pleasant place to be. The reason I say american cities is because I’ve been to a lot of cities here so I have personal experience with them.

        • protist@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          You’re suffering from a problem of perception, because the car accident fatality rate is almost universally higher in rural areas than in cities. In rural areas, people drive faster for longer distances, so when accidents happen they’re more likely to be immediately fatal. They also happen further away from other people who can assist and from competent medical care

          • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I’m not talking about a rural area, I’m talking about a town. You don’t go high speeds inside a town regardless of the size of the town. Its not like every building is miles away from the next one. This isn’t the middle of nowhere, we have a hospital.

            • protist@mander.xyz
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              Your town of 15K is the literal definition of rural. What do you think rural means it not a town of 15K, and where did you get that definition?

              Unfortunately, I bet the car accident fatality rate in your town is higher than most cities, but we won’t know that for sure unless you reveal where you live. Also your hospital is not able to handle traumas or other serious medical events, so you will be transported to the nearest city via ambulance or helicopter after they do their best to stabilize you, delaying your treatment by hours

    • Zammy95@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 year ago

      The scariest part of going to the city is driving if you don’t do it often. That’s… All I can think of. I guess getting lost? I can do that in the woods too though

      • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        The scary part is that driving is so chaotic in american cities. I drive a lot and its still awful to me. Even if you ignore how much less safe it is than a small town, it takes ages to get anywhere; and of course you can’t walk anywhere either because its all designed for cars. It is absolutely a nightmare compared to where I live.

        • III@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          So you think it is scary because it isn’t as small as a small town. Thanks for the contribution.

    • threadloose@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Meh. I live out in the country, and the only scary thing about cities to me is the traffic. Even NYC was fine outside of Times Square, and I took public transit. The only place I really hated was Orlando, but that was because of the exhausted Disney kids. It was overwhelming for everyone.

      • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        The traffic is the main problem to me. It is just so, so much worse than where I live. I was exagerrating which people didn’t seem to understand, but it makes it an unpleasant experience to visit most cities here.

        • threadloose@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, you should be aware of the way people talk about cities in frankly bigoted ways if you don’t want to be perceived as a bigot. Talking about cities being dangerous or scary is a coded way to denigrate Black people. Like, when people talk about Chicago being dangerous, they’re specifically referring to neighborhoods with Black majority populations and generalizing it to the entire city. That’s what this meme is about, not traffic.

          • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Oh sorry, I didn’t realize that was much of a thing. Most people I know just complain about traffic but I don’t talk to racists very much so I guess that makes sense.

        • protist@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          Like anywhere else, you get used to it. I’m from a smaller town, and there was a lot less traffic, but there was also a lot less to do. I live in a city now, and yes there’s some traffic, but there are also a ton of bars, restaurants, parks, theaters, museums, and interesting, diverse people. Where I came from was 90% white and conservative with a church on every corner, and our restaurant options were Taco Bell and Applebee’s. I can’t emphasize enough how happy I am to live in a city despite the traffic, which only takes up a small part of your day

          • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            1 year ago

            I know it seems like less of a problem to people in cities, I used to live in one when I was younger and I never noticed it. But now whenever I visit, its extremely jarring to go back to that. I do miss having more stuff to do, but to me its a good trade off. It really just depends on what your priorities are, but my point was that I wouldn’t blame someone for hating cities, not that they are objectively horrible places to live.

            • protist@mander.xyz
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              My point was that I wouldn’t blame someone for hating cities, not that they are objectively horrible places to live.

              They are genuinely a nightmare.

              I think there’s a communication issue here