The Big City

After spending this past weekend in Toronto, and after having spent time in New York in my more or less recent personal history, I have to admit that large cities do have their appeal. It's something I would never have conceded, well, not that long ago.

They can be vibrant; there are certainly things happening and things to do. Walkable downtowns, a term I would have scoffed at, again, not that long ago, are enticing and entertaining. They offer stuff to do without the worry of parking, or of getting here to there in good time. I have to imagine you could keep yourself busy as well as fed and amused with a wide variety of opportunities within easy range for many weeks.

There are downsides. Perhaps it's simply because I was there most recently, but Toronto has a lot of people. A. Lot. It felt more crowded than NYC, and New York City is packed. That walkable downtown did have its own share of pedestrian traffic jams and human walls. Too, there were noticeable homeless camps, and homeless in the streets, many clearly with issues. You feel for them, but what can one person do at a given moment?

The relative calm of Detroit is more my style city wise, and even that pales compared to the laid back joy of Michigan's glorious Upper Peninsula. Yet a part of me wouldn't mind living in a high rise in New York or Toronto for, oh, maybe a year, just to swim in the lifestyle of the big city for a bit.