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’m not poor but most of my fun stuff is free, hanging out at parks (picnics with friends or just relaxing with a book or something), walking/cycling trails, free or pay as you feel shows and weekly food not bombs community dinners.
Nothing wrong with a 1 bedroom apartment tbh, and I don’t understand why not living in a house means you can’t buy and own things lol. I’ve got loads of stuff I can do here if I don’t want to go out, I’ve even got plenty of private outdoor space. If I didn’t have so much stuff keeping me busy I could very easily stay in my apartment for weeks at a time, only really leaving to get groceries, I’ve never gone mad from it.
Tbh I find this life is significantly cheaper given I don’t have as much maintenance as a house, and I don’t need to pay the absurdly high costs associated with a car.
Edit: looks like jerboa broke for me so I’ve got no clue if this posted or what anyone else is saying lol
Honestly I’ve found there’s way more to do for fun that’s free in cities compared to when I lived in a small town. The libraries, museums, parks, etc. are all much larger, more exciting, and easier to access - I don’t even need to own a car to have fun anymore. There’s also more social groups for more niche interinterests. Back when I lived in a town, the options for free(ish) fun were: go to a house, go to a mountain, go to the beach, and all were places you had to drive, god forbid you want to take a bus or walk somewhere, and then the people you would hang out with at those places were just co-workers or people you met in school, because there was no other way to meet people.
I completely agree here. I found city entertainment to be cheaper and more fun for children. Sure my house cost me twice as much but at least there’s a cultural weekend almost once a month at my local market.
The trick in cities is to know things and people.
Know the guy with the swimming pool.
Know the woman who runs yoga in the park every Thursday.
Know when the museums have free or discounted events for the locals.
Know where the buck-a-slice pizza joint is - the one two blocks from your apartment that’s almost tucked into an alley at the bottom of a brownstone’s side stairs, and that most people would just walk past without noticing.
Cities have lots of free and cheap things, you just need to be a local to find a lot of them.
Know when the museums have free or discounted events for the locals.
Know that the library probably has free passes to the museums, too!
And if you’re in a city with a decent sized college, there are lots of cheap or free interesting things to do related to it: public lectures, music performances, theater, sports…
people
Paying your landlord rent and your other bills every month isn’t enough human interaction for you? I know its more then enough for me.
Pretty much this :)
A while back I switched to using RSS feeds for news, and there are so many free and low cost events out there in my city. Free shows, food festivals, cultural days, free admission days at attractions, music in the park, etc
I’ve been posting some of them to !vancouver@lemmy.ca, but that’s only the events that I was interested enough to click on + think that people here would be interested in as well
For example:
[Science World will have free admission on Friday, Sept. 19, as a part of their ‘Tech-Up’ initiative]
There are also free activities you can do anywhere, with lots of good ideas in this thread. Some extras that I haven’t seen mentioned yet:
- Go mapping with StreetComplete (https://streetcomplete.app/) or similar apps where you contribute to public data sets
- Go geocaching! !geocaching@lemmy.world
Sometimes cities also have scavenger hunt type guides where you can explore an area
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 still couldn’t handle living in one, but for extroverts
What ? I am an introvert. Cities are the best place for that. I lived in a mud brick cabin off grid in the forest and had more people visiting then I ever did when i lived for 3 years in the city. I put that down to rural exrtroverts would get bored and need other people.
In the city, I used to cycle to the beach, swin in the ocean, have a couple boiled eggs and a banana on a chair near the beach, catch up on some doom scrolling and cycle home etc i lived car free and saved a fortune, got exercise and was able to see the ciry instead of just sitting in trafdic. I used to cycke over to a set of mountain bike tracks and ride in the bush, then ride home.
Now live in a small rural village with my parter and fuck me, people always coming over.
Shitty air, no nature and constant noise are the downsides of city living.
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.
There is anonymity in a crowd. But the noise and odors are a constant intrusion. The sounds of the crowd, the traffic, and sirens is a 24/7/365 thing and it never stops. Nor is there any escape from it as long as you remain there.
My nearest neighbor lives several miles away and people don’t really bother each other here. There is nothing but trees between us. Visits are always preceded by a phone call or text.
The silence here would be painful for city dwellers.
