# Does living in a different city really matter anymore?



## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Aside from weather, jobs, and maybe family, is there any good reasons for moving to a different city? It seems that everybody, no matter how different the culture, have basically the same lifestyle, at least in the western world. Almost everybody works, surf on the same websites, shop the same clothes, eat a lot of the same food, party with friends etc. I might be clueless or crazy, but what do you think?


----------



## Positronn (Jan 25, 2008)

Thats a good question. But I think there are a lot of other variables, that globalization cannot bring to everywhere, like the weather, the local habits, the urbanistic patterns, etc..

Anyway, I have never heard someone that move a lot of times saying that all the cities are the same.


----------



## Chrissib (Feb 9, 2008)

Interesting question. But I think especially in food there's a lot of difference between the cities. Of course, you can eat hamburgers at virtually every place in the world. But the food-culture is fundamentally different between Hamburg and München. e.g. beer. The beer in Hamburg (northern Germany in general) is tasting a lot more bitter than that in Munich. 

But you're right, the cultural differences are disappearing. Most clearly you can 'see' this when you hear the people talking. The dialects are disappearing! The native people in the cities speaking the distinctive city dialect are becoming the minority as people from other places move into the cities, making indirect pressure to the natives so that their children will never learn the dialect anymore. Of course, thats globalisation, but it really turns cities into a mass product.


----------



## Homer J. Simpson (Dec 2, 2003)

As much as globalization is making sure that all consumers have relatively similar choices in the marketplace there are some issues that are affecting how quickly this occurs within different regions within the same jurisdiction.

There still is reason to wish to live in another city for things that are not so tangible as well.

You cannot buy or transplant the vibe or feeling of Paris or NYC to a small average city.


----------



## Wuppeltje (Jan 23, 2008)

Although borders are fading away and the world starts to globalize more and more, in order to survive as a global city it is important to have an own identity. Especially global cities are becoming real brands. To become a strong brand you need unique selling points, so the cities have to be different.


----------



## Mollywood (May 23, 2007)

I think it matters. Although there are lots of cool cities around, there are way more cities I wouldn't want to live in, due to their suburban nature, than I would want to live in. I need a city that has a thriving centre, lots of people around after dark, a funky vibe and good transit. Most cities don't have that. (especially in North America)


----------



## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

transport
entertainment
cost of living


----------



## wankingwerewolf (Feb 3, 2009)

Homer J. Simpson said:


> You cannot buy or transplant the vibe or feeling of Paris or NYC to a small average city.


Or even between each other.


----------



## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

I'm surprised by this question. Cities are extremely different from each other, and different parts of cities are extremely different. Stuff like where I shop is a small detail. 

It's true that more and more places are becoming acceptable (to me at least) from an urbanity, density, and cultural-diversity standpoint. And it's true that more places have good food than used to be the case. But as a city nut, I can't imagine not caring about the unique aspects of places, like certain districts, views, and so on.


----------



## Inkdaub (Dec 28, 2006)

It matters to an enormous degree. Different cities have widely varying quality of life issues on both the macro and micro levels. There are things I want in my life that certain cities offer and certain others do not. Cities have moods and vibes...some you will like and some you won't. You can set up your apartment how you like it pretty much anywhere but sooner or later you have to go outside and that's where the character of the city itself becomes very important.


----------



## dtzeigler (Jan 4, 2008)

Well, yes and no. Im sure moving from Phoenix to LA to Atlanta will not that be that big of a culture shock as far as the wa people lie their life because the style of development is the same. LA might be more of a culture shock because of the diversity though.

However, I live in Baltimore and the difference from DC which is 45 minutes away is pretty big. Not just because DC is the nation's capital but beacuse Baltimore is a port city and DC is an office city. Baltimore is steak and potatoes and DC for the most part is not.

Overall though, I am always surprised on how similar American cities are when I travel.


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

LtBk said:


> Aside from weather, jobs, and maybe family, is there any good reasons for moving to a different city? It seems that everybody, no matter how different the culture, have basically the same lifestyle, at least in the western world. Almost everybody works, surf on the same websites, shop the same clothes, eat a lot of the same food, party with friends etc. I might be clueless or crazy, but what do you think?


I think you look at it far to superficial. Mentalities still vary considerably. Of course if you keep only scratching the surface you might not see what lies behind. 

Just because you find everywhere a Mc Donalds does not mean much. I also doubt that all surf on the same websites. That hardly explains the popularity of national domains. 

I am not sure if you all shop your clothes at S. Oliver for example either. 

And when it comes to food, I really have to laugh. Most people probably do not even know the Viennese cuisine, and if so, only one or two highlights. Just let me say, that it has a load of very distinctive dishes. Its more or less a fusion cuisine of quite some regions of central Europe. Of course, you get also the usual ethnic cuisine in Vienna, but as far as it comes to me, I really miss something when I can't get Viennese cuisine at least from time to time. 

... there is a lot more, but just one thing at the end. As soon as you leave the German speaking area and also the Slavic one, you will have a hard day to find some "real bread". ("real" means of course what I am used to )


----------



## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

LtBk said:


> Aside from weather, jobs, and maybe family, is there any good reasons for moving to a different city? It seems that everybody, no matter how different the culture, have basically the same lifestyle, at least in the western world. *Almost everybody works, surf on the same websites, shop the same clothes, eat a lot of the same food, party with friends etc.* I might be clueless or crazy, but what do you think?


I don't think this is a mark of a really great/interesting city. I would expect a great city to have things that you can't get in other places.

For example, when I shop for groceries, I take it as a matter of pride that I can do my shopping in half a dozen smaller boutique grocers that can take custom/specialized orders -- and with access to both top-quality local foodstuffs and foreign specialities. It's a way I support local businesses and get produce and services that I don't normally find in the big chain supermarkets.


----------



## isaidso (Mar 21, 2007)

It seems like Western cities are becoming more uniform every passing decade. Globalization has reproduced a similar lifestyle over and over again. Even many of the stores are the same. 

Thankfully, lots of variation still remains. I hope cities manage to maintain some degree of distinctness over the next several decades. Variety is good.


----------



## intensivecarebear (Feb 2, 2006)

I agree to an extent that western cities are getting more uniform, mostly because more and more only the really wealthy can afford to live a decent life there. For example, I used to live in San Francisco and now I go to school in Boston; both cities are very expensive with high concentrations of wealth. But even still, there are few people who would say that those two cities have a lot in common. I found that weather, geography and history still shape the way people live in these cities and their overall outlook on life, which I've found more positive and relaxed in SF. But sometimes these days I can feel out of place in both cities if I don't have a six figure job and an iphone:lol:


----------



## yuvaly1 (Sep 17, 2008)

i think it does. each city has it's own atmosphere, it's own people (talking about big cities,not 'everyday' towns) for example here in Israel, Jerusalem is very different from tel aviv, and Boston seemed different from Los Angeles or New York.


----------



## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

"Aside from weather, jobs, and maybe family, is there any good reasons for moving to a different city? It seems that everybody, no matter how different the culture, have basically the same lifestyle, at least in the western world. Almost everybody works, surf on the same websites, shop the same clothes, eat a lot of the same food, party with friends etc. I might be clueless or crazy, but what do you think?"

I totally disagree with this notion. The Northeastern megapolis probably contains the most urbane cities in the US and all of the cities within this small region have different feels and qualities of life which are unique. For instance if you live in Manhattan you cannot ride your bike into the country. There are no bike lanes in the tunnels. In Philadelphia and Boston you can take the river trail out to farmland on your bike and be back in the same day.

" For example, I used to live in San Francisco and now I go to school in Boston; both cities are very expensive with high concentrations of wealth. But even still, there are few people who would say that those two cities have a lot in common. I found that weather, geography and history still shape the way people live in these cities and their overall outlook on life, which I've found more positive and relaxed in SF. But sometimes these days I can feel out of place in both cities if I don't have a six figure job and an iphone"

I don't think Boston and San Francisco have much in common other than being peninsula cities on salty water. The homelessness is SF is hard to ignore. Both cities have their share of pretentious people though.


----------



## VaastuShastra (Jun 20, 2005)

I have often asked this question too.

I don't think there really is a difference - people overstate differences between countries, if they are nationalists or whatever, but fundamentally, a literate person from Manchester, isnt too different from a literate person from Kyoto.


----------



## cle (Jul 6, 2007)

There is something in this - certain towns of a similar size in the UK are quite identikit, notably new towns and commuter towns surrounding London. Some northern cities can feel similar, but only in terms of the fairly generic regeneration projects which involve refurbing old industrial space into bars, flats and focusing on docks/canals. But they have their own spirits.

I could imagine that many second-tier American cities, particularly in the midwest, might not have too much to distinguish them, especially those many American cities with little streetlife in the centre after dark, predominantly car-based transport, predominantly mall shopping and so forth. But all of the bigger cities have their own flavour, or music/arts scene, or cultural context.


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

VaastuShastra said:


> I have often asked this question too.
> 
> I don't think there really is a difference - people overstate differences between countries, if they are nationalists or whatever, but fundamentally, a literate person from Manchester, isnt too different from a literate person from Kyoto.


I don't know Asia very well, but I have the impression they differ in terms of mindset etc quite dramatically from eg Europeans, generaly and simplistic speaking. 

Having that said, there are luckily an increasing number of things that people share with each other around the world. I think its a good balance to have things that vary and things that are the same around the world. People need an identity, but at the same time too much of separatism does not good either.


----------



## rosn19 (Oct 10, 2008)

YES IT DOES!!! I would totally hate living in Mexico City, i rather choose Monterrey.


----------



## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

There was one point I wanted to leave HK and move in a city where its not dense. But later on, I decided to stay here.


----------



## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

cape_royds said:


> Well, I was indeed being a bit simplistic, but it appears to me that much of the work and much of the shopping are rather "generic" in many Western cities. *From coffee shops to haute couture, many of the shops are international chains *(many are not, but plot the trend on a 30 scale and the direction is unmistakeable).
> 
> Even some of the festivals and activities are generic. For example, Vancouver and Montreal have very similar jazz, film, fireworks, and comedy festivals.


I have noted this elsewhere (in the Chicago Forum) but Haute Couture can't be purchased off a retail rack BY DEFINITION. Check the meaning of this term. Only a handful of cities in this world can give you Haute Couture, and it ain't cheap either.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

tpe said:


> I have noted this elsewhere (in the Chicago Forum) but Haute Couture can't be purchased off a retail rack BY DEFINITION. Check the meaning of this term. Only a handful of cities in this world can give you Haute Couture, and it ain't cheap either.


You are right. There is a big difference between "Couturier" and "Prêt-à-Porter", especially in terms of
the big international designers.


----------



## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

Taller said:


> You are right. There is a big difference between "Couturier" and "Prêt-à-Porter", especially in terms of
> the big international designers.



Exactly. People tend to use the former term too loosely. There is a world of difference between a dress that would cost you a few thousand US Dollars and one that would cost you many hundreds of thousands of US Dollars. There are few international clients who can afford the latter and even fewer cities with designers who have the international cachet to attract such clients.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

We might be used to seeing Designer Names in clearance malls, but you will never find a couturier gown being discounted for sale in one of them.


----------



## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

Taller said:


> We might be used to seeing Designer Names in clearance malls, but you will never find a couturier gown being discounted for sale in one of them.


:lol: If you do find one, BUY IT!


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

^^ Does your life limit to shopping in major chains?

Vienna is a city with a clear focus on classical music, high culture, international conferences etc. It does considerably more as nearly all other cities of comparable size and maybe even more than any other city. Thats just one difference. 

Another fact is and remains. I get in Vienna bread that I hardly get or more likely get not at all outside of Central Europe, unless I get a stone oven and start baking bread myself. You say that does not matter? Well, for me it does. 

I like to go to traditional coffee houses when being in Vienna. That means silver tray with Viennese style coffee and a glass of water on it. All national newspapers and lots of magazines and international newspapers to read for free, and as long as I want. Maybe not impossible but hard to find outside of Central Europe as well. 

These are just a few small examples, its the mass of them that makes the difference. A real difference. To think cities are all the same can only be the result of an breathtakingly superficial analysis.

PS:
Not to forget really important things like quality of Public transport, all aspects of quality of life etc. Thats provenly not the same in different cities.


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

I sense this thread is moving toward City vs City.


----------



## Antonio227 (Mar 10, 2006)

Slartibartfas;32182868I like to go to traditional coffee houses when being in Vienna. That means silver tray with Viennese style coffee [B said:


> and a glass of water on it.[/B] All national newspapers and lots of magazines and international newspapers to read for free, and as long as I want. Maybe not impossible but hard to find outside of Central Europe as well.


Well...here there are some differences, but regarding the glass of water...


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Antonio227 said:


> Well...here there are some differences, but regarding the glass of water...


Thats great 

If we are looking to Coffee culture in the English speaking world however there seem to exist large differences, to term it in a neutral way. There the smallest portion of coffee is at least the double volume of the largest in Austria. May guess is that they confused something and are serving the coffee and the glass of water in the the same cup


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Taller said:


> I sense this thread is moving toward City vs City.


That was not my intention, in case you refer to my post. The purpose of my post was not to show how much longer mine is, but that there exist differences. Mention worthy differences and of course someone from another city will find other things that he misses somewhere. That does not mean that one is better than the other (that would be my own humble personal judgment at least, not more. Others may think differently and thats good, because otherwise we would be much closer to this homogeneity the OP is about.)

On the other side, a city like Vienna does not offer you certain things as well as other can. Thats because it has priorities like all other cities in the world and priorities differ. 

The point is not how cool city X is but that city X and Y are not the same and it makes a difference where to live. Which place fits you better definitely is dependent on your cultural background, your personal preferences and interests, your social networks and probably dozens of other things.


----------



## luv2bebrown (Nov 4, 2004)

im googling Uji Bridge and this Genji character to see what the big deal is.


----------



## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

Slartibartfas said:


> ^^ Does your life limit to shopping in major chains?
> 
> Vienna is a city with a clear focus on classical music, high culture, international conferences etc. It does considerably more as nearly all other cities of comparable size and maybe even more than any other city. Thats just one difference.
> 
> ...


Most people (at least younger ones) go to Segafredo anyway


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

AltinD said:


> Most people (at least younger ones) go to Segafredo anyway


Have a look at Café Westend maybe also Café Ritter for example. You can see there lots of young people. The one at the Schottenstift seems to be very popular among students. 

Maybe among the people you know Segafredos are popular, that does not mean thats the case for everyone. (Whereas its still better its Segafredo than Starbucks). Generally, traditional Kaffehäuser don't seem to experience any sort of shortage of customers as well.


----------



## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ Did I just woke up the inner 'Echte Wiener' in you? 

:cheers:


----------



## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

AltinD said:


> ^^ Did I just woke up the inner 'Echte Wiener' in you?
> 
> :cheers:


Yes indeed I share even more features with him: I am not truly a real Viennese; like Merkatz 

No, its just that I disagree with your observation. Traditional coffee houses are the opposite of looking empty. But I might be emotional on this issues, I really have no idea how Segafredos look like as I am never in one.


----------



## Northsider (Jan 16, 2006)

I dont agree with the OP at all. Almost every city is unique in it's own way. Of course, it depends on your lifestyle. If you want to eat at McDonalds and shop at Target sure it doesn't matter what city, country, or continent you live in. But if you want to eat at Pete's Pizza , or shop at the Urban Soul, it definitely DOES matter where you live.


----------



## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

^^ Not all countries have target.


----------



## Northsider (Jan 16, 2006)

Svartmetall said:


> ^^ Not all countries have target.


It was just an example. Replace 'Target' with any national or regional chain. My point is that if you want to eat and shop at chains, then no it doesn't matter where you live.


----------



## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Northsider said:


> It was just an example. Replace 'Target' with any national or regional chain. My point is that if you want to eat and shop at chains, then no it doesn't matter where you live.


I was being a git, ignore me. 

I just think the whole topic is a silly one. Even with the terrible British disposition of making every high street look the same, each of our cities had very different flavours, people and histories which made them unique. Even cities like Manchester and Liverpool were completely different entities despite only very slight geographical distance between them.


----------



## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

LtBk said:


> Aside from weather, jobs, and maybe family, is there any good reasons for moving to a different city?


I don't believe so. Probably 95% of the reasons that people move is for those reasons alone.


----------



## MILIUX (Sep 13, 2002)

There are two forces in globalisation:
Heterogeneity: Mass marketisation of goods that are readily available throughout the world
Homogeneity: Also referred to as 'glocalisation'. Derived from Japanese marketing term where niche markets are formed with respect to cultural uniqueness of customers and targeted audience. 

The narrative of globalisation is that the global community will continue to converge and make the world feel smaller because of commonality shared in capitalist world. However, there are tendencies to create unique culture to differentiate from the 'pact'. Such as maintaining heritage, environmental practices and society's norms and values. Not many in the public sphere realises that there is 'homogeneity' axis in globalisation. It is never intended to be a single axis. 

Y axis = homogeneity
X axis = heterogeneity


----------



## Guest (Feb 19, 2009)

There are enormous differences between cities. Its a bit shallow approach to say that as all cities have bars, clubs and mc donalds, skyscrapers, buses, cars, office workers and so on, they become indifferent. 

Well, apart from skyline (which most non-ssc people usually ignore :lol, there are lots of other features that matters.

Climate, demography, infrastructure, geography, culture, lifestyle, economy and other factors make cities completely diverse. Its rather hard to compare eg. Singapore to Warsaw (which I used to live nearby), New York to Brisbane, Nairobi to Hong Kong, etc. Although modernity and greatest interconnection in the history causes every city to bear some similarities to the others, they remain themselves. 

Obviously, cities in the same country are way more likely to resemble each other, but I don't think they're too generic either.

Even cities lots of folks tend to consider similar, like Singapore and Hong Kong, turn out to be extremely different.

I guess thats what makes life fun. Go places and explore them :cheers:


----------



## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

^^ That's great but to some people missing a very small thing (like a certain type of bread or chocolate or beer) is enough reason not to enjoy any other place. :runaway:


----------



## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Svartmetall said:


> I was being a git, ignore me.
> 
> I just think the whole topic is a silly one. Even with the terrible British disposition of making every high street look the same, each of our cities had very different flavours, people and histories which made them unique. Even cities like Manchester and Liverpool were completely different entities despite only very slight geographical distance between them.


If you are thinking all North American cities are the same, you will be very surprised. Cities have their own flavour and feel here the same as in the UK or Europe. To a casual visitor from Britain, it could be tempting to think all North American cities are the same, but on the other hand a casual visitor from North America to Britain might see little difference between Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool, and might see little difference between a city in Austria or Germany. Subtle differences and the vibe of the city require a bit of research, and some sensitivity to cultural practices.


----------



## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Taller said:


> If you are thinking all North American cities are the same, you will be very surprised. Cities have their own flavour and feel here the same as in the UK or Europe. To a casual visitor from Britain, it could be tempting to think all North American cities are the same, but on the other hand a casual visitor from North America to Britain might see little difference between Manchester/Leeds/Liverpool, and might see little difference between a city in Austria or Germany. Subtle differences and the vibe of the city require a bit of research, and some sensitivity to cultural practices.


Erm, no, I didn't say that at all, quite the opposite in fact. I was actually saying that British cities are even more homogenous than their American counterparts due to our worrying disposition of placing the exact same high street shops down the exact same street in our city/town centres. Yet despite this fact there is still a great degree of variation between our towns/cities. 

Not once did I mention North America in my post!


----------



## Koen Acacia (Apr 17, 2007)

If you're into the more generic way of living, then I'd say that that has become a lot easier. You can get your McDonalds, Lay's chips and Ben and Jerry ice pretty much everywhere nowadays, and there's usually someone around who speaks english, so why bother with the local language?
To say that that's the only thing that can be experienced in any given city still sounds terribly superficial imo, and I stringly doubt that those Starbucks and english speakers somehow diminish a city's identity. Am I less Dutch because I speak english as well?

If you're only looking for the similarities, the you could easily claim that every European city is pretty generic really: they all have some square in the middle with a government building and a big church, then some markets with more smaller churches, late 19th century they all decided to tear down the city walls and build a train station, some boulevards and a concert hall, and later an airport was built somewhere nearby.
In other words: Amsterdam, Venice or Vienna: totally similar. Once you've seen one you've seen them all, no difference in identity whatsoever.

Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, I'd say that the average person could start seeing the differences in identity, history, cuisine, as well as general atmosphere within one afternoon. And sure, lately all of them have gotten a Starbucks as well, on top of all the other similarities. But to say that that Starbucks outlet is somehow more significant than the Piazza San Marco or the Hofburg sounds a bit off to me.


----------



## weava (Sep 8, 2007)

The thing I hated the most when I last moved was moving out of my favorite MLB teams fox sports net channel area. Now I don't get to watch their games on a daily bases anymore unless I pay for the way overpriced MLB cable package.

Most US cities are unique in a way but they all have walmarts and mcdonalds. The only major differences I can think of would be climate and geography


----------



## PedroGabriel (Feb 5, 2007)

in here, every city looks different from the other, lifestyles are different, despite there are similarities, but surelly all are different... most people from our neighbouring towns, can't even tell where our downtown is, and often point to the 1970s area as downtown. I think, well I'm sure, my city is very very different from other cities in the country, even its basic structure, theres nothing like it. Some visitors just dont have enough IQ to even think in that, they see a building, and oh seen this before, sees a McDonalds, oh seen this before... but a city is much more than that.

because a city, a central square, a downtown, a public market, shopping streets, these are just names to similar things, not identical. It is just a guide for people to know more or less what that area is. But these arent the same though.

anyway, Portuguese-style coffee (café & nata)


----------

