I have missed living in the city, I can see that now. I moved back.
I missed being able to walk to multiple restaurants near my house. I missed walking to the grocery store. I missed there being so many other people around me. Sure, things are more expensive here…but I think it is a worthy trade off since it means I can be around more people again. I love having a lot more places to go.
I miss a strong sense of community in a neighborhood. Sure, smaller places can and do absolutely have this, but for me it seems a tad easier when there are so many people living in the same space. Maybe this is different in larger cities than mine, but here it does feel like my neighborhood is our neighborhood.
I am also making points to actually know the names of my neighbors here. At my last house I never once learned the names of the people who lived right next to me. I only knew the name of one person in the house across from mine. The only house where I knew all of the adult’s names was my landlord’s.
All of this sort of dovetails with my greatly reduced social media time. Recently I read an article on Le Monde about how there is an economy of solitude being pushed by social media and tech companies. Being lonely means you scroll more which means you provide more data for them to sell which increases their profits. They want you lonely. I do not want to be lonely. I do not want to stare at a tiny screen all day. Video games at times are okay. Writing and projects are okay. Chatting with friends sometimes is okay. Scrolling endlessly is not okay, and I do not wish to play that game any more.
I am glad I moved back to the city.