Any time I go to a large city im exhausted by being charged for doing anything. How do people have fun if theyre poor(the neat part, you dont, probably). And to make it worse many of them probably have a 1 bedroom apartment so its not like you can sit in there all day long (at least i cant).
I realize im still spending money by being in my house out of town, but still, at least things I buy are owned by me, and im not paying someone else every time I want to do anything. If I want to stay at home all day I have tons of stuff to occupy my mind without going nuts.
I figure 98% of lemmy users live in big cities so id like to hear this perspective!
i stay home.
The issues is that you are GOING to the city. One you live there, you have all your stuff and do your normal thing. You cook at home and play videos games, then read books before walking your dog to the park by your friend’s house. Basically: don’t extrapolate from the perspective of a tourist.
Yep you nailed it! This has given me good insight.
I still couldn’t handle living in one, but for extroverts or college kids I see the appeal. I need wide-open spaces and lots of trees myself.
I’m a strong introvert. People stop being people once their number goes past 10 or so. Then you are just looking at an amorphous fluid that you pass through just like air or water. Honestly you don’t notice the people, you notice the buildings, subways, etc.
Your impression of a city is probably skewed by how you interact with it. If you drive in, pay for parking, go to events or attractions, eat out, etc. it all adds up. But that’s not necessarily the experience of someone who lives in a city. They’re living their life, not sightseeing.
Walks (less nature, more architecture), go-out in parks. Free museums and cultural event (you have to know the city a bit to know place and times), librairies, charity work, outside sport in the park or the street…
I think you cannot do activities that requires a large natural space or absolue quiet or isolation but unlike small town or country side, you can do all the think that requires grouping lots of people much more easily.
I go to the park, visit friends, join clubs, do volunteer activities, play with pets, visit garden centers (just to look), walk along the river, etc.
Friends. Yes, you’ll probably spend more to do events.
But the good friendships, you end up just hanging out - wasting time at a park, going for a walk around the neighborhood, having dinner together.
Hah, let me turn this around - what do you do for fun without a whole city to explore? Hike, swim in the creek/at the beach, BBQ with friends? Same here, we just do the first two in public places (parks, pools or community beach, etc)
I spend a lot of time taking photos. There are apps that tell you what plants are. I also contribute to an app called StreetComplete which is like Pokemon Go but for filling out open source map data.
I’m in a mid-sized city. Beaches are public, parks are free or $5ish per carload if you drive in, the library system is amazing, there is a Riverwalk.
I don’t quite understand how you think being away from the stuff a city offers = having more stuff you can do at home. What exactly can you do in your house that you couldn’t do at a home in the city? We have parties, a TV, a computer, a bed, and personally we have also a yard, food garden, pets, kids, but even in an apartment you can grow plants on the patio and have a cat, you just don’t have to drive a long way to do anything.
Walk around the city or hit up a park. Also sometimes friends host get togethers
I know not everyone loves church, but my church has an open building day you can come and co-work or just read or sit and relax and chat or whatever, we put out good local coffee shop coffee and tea, and you can hang around as long as you want in an old building with beautiful stained glass windows and use the WiFi, etc. We were talking about how there’s not really anywhere much else you can do that without spending money, you can sit in the library but it’s not like you can heat up your leftover spaghetti and sit on a comfy couch. It’s really a nice way to spend a day.
That sounds awesome.
It’s so relaxing. Doesn’t have to be religious in any way, just nice to get out and be somewhere peaceful and not have it cost anything. Everyone is so nice too, it’s a very progressive church.
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Cities have a lot of free things like parks or such and even activities. Like they had weekly dancing in summer in parks in the evening or yoga in the morning. In addition in my city you could get passes to museums and zoos and such from the library for free if you are a resident. Oooh. The libraries are incredible to. Often there are groups that do interesting things to and universities are a good place to find some interesting things.
Fun is a Leftist conspiracy to distract you from producing more for your bosses at work
And around here a lot of leftist spaces enable you to have fun while spending little to nothing. Dirty punk concerts for a low cover charge and beer almost as cheap as in the store. And most of not all of those prices are “pay less if you can’t afford it”.
Other than that if agree with other commenters. Knowing spaces/people to hang at/with. I’m perfectly fine spending time in my one bedroom if I’m not alone all the time there so having some friends over, even if it might be crammed, and just shooting the shit is a simple and affordable way to have a good time
High-paying jobs come to cities, so a sizable number of people really are spending money for everything. Think of it like video game microtransactions.
Of course, to a small extent, it’s also nice that you’re not making car payments, including wear and tear, insurance, and gas.
Where I live, there are also city calendars that help you find the free festivals that cost less. These are often more scheduled rather than “all the time”, so they’re not convenient for tourists.
