Growing up in a small town I always looked at cities from an outsider's perspective. I have now moved to a city and while it isn't New York or Chicago, there are still a lot of difference between living in a small farm town and in the city of Columbus. Here are 20 things you probably have noticed or will notice when you move from a small town into a city.
1. The Streets Aren't Empty From 8p.m-8a.m
This may have been the biggest difference that I have noticed. If you walk outside after 8, there are still people. In the town I'm from, if you walked outside at 10 p.m. it looked like the town from Children of the Corn (minus the murderous children) it was completely empty. It's cool to not have to call it a day before the sun even goes down.
2. The Police Have Things To Do
I was once questioned about what I was doing because I was sitting in our town square writing in a notebook at 9 p.m. and it was "suspicious." Police in cities don't do that because they have actual police work to do so I can be writing outside and not be disturbed.
3. There Are Things To Do Other Than Sports
In a small town if you're not an athlete then you're a spectator at athletic events, those are your options. In a city you can have hobbies like art, poetry, music, or anything else and you can find a place to practice that craft with other people who enjoy it too.
4. The Whole Area Doesn't Shut Down For Events
There is a concert somewhere in Columbus almost every night and you can still go to / through Columbus to get somewhere. Not in a small town, if something is going on there, you'll have to go through the next town over because every street is closed.
5. You Can Jaywalk
This goes along with the police being busy, you can cross the street wherever is convenient. (Try to use crosswalks and if an officer is standing there don't jaywalk, but in general you'll be fine to cross anywhere)
6. You Can Walk
Things are within walking distance. It's amazing.
7. Buses
You can take a bus to things that aren't within walking distance. Buses aren't just for the freshman and middle schoolers to get to school, you can use them to get to places that you actually want to go to and not have to deal with trying to drive through city traffic.
8. Fast Food Isn't The Only Food
There are restaurants that have all sorts of different foods. There are vegan restaurants, italian, german, mexican, polish, any food you're interested in there is probably a restaurant that has that. It's not just McDonald's and pizza anymore.
9. You Can Go To A Restaurant
Obviously in a small town you are also allowed to go to restaurants. But, in a city you can go to the restaurant without your dad's best friend eating one table over and the server being your old babysitter's cousin. You can have a meal without somehow knowing everyone in the restaurant.
10. You Can Go On Dates / Make Friends
You can go on a date or hang out with a new friend and the next day, every single person you know will not know that you went on that date unless you tell them because everything you do is not being tracked because everyone doesn't know each other.
11. Having To Park One Building Over Is Now "Good Parking"
During football friday nights if you didn't park in the lot by the field you had bad parking. Now when I go somewhere, if I can find parking within the same zip code I feel like I succeeded.
12. Acceptance Of Different People
You can be yourself without being "the weird girl (or guy or person)" and it's really cool. I can wear my weird outfits and colored hair without being a newsworthy part of the community for it.
13. Diversity
Obviously even in small towns there are LGBTQIA+ people, but in a city it is definitly a different battle to come out. If you come out in a small town, you will probably be one of the only ones and so people with ask you to speak for every person who identifies as gay or bi. In a city you are less likely to feel alone in coming out.
14. You Can Find Yourself On A Map
It's really cool to tell somewhere where you're from without having to list every town around you hoping they have heard of one of them.
15. People Bike
Biking isn't just a way to excersice anymore, it's an actual way to get places now.
16. You Need A Coat / Umbrella
You are now going to walk (or bike) a lot more places. No more parking and walking ten feet, you need weather appropriate clothes now.
17. Everyone Doesn't Know Your Family Tree
Now I can do something and not hear "oh, you're her sister" or "I remember when you were just a baby" or "I used to play football with your grandpa". Everyone you meet doesn't have some sort of connection to your family, you can meet someone and they'll have no pre concieved notions based on the rest of your family.
18. Feminism Exists As A Positive Thing
Feminism is no longer the punchline to every joke that your classmates make. It's an actual social movement that is improving the lives of marganalized people throughout the United States and globally.
19. There Are Events People Have Heard Of
People come to Columbus for things. Red, White, and Boom, Comfest, Pride, these are things that not only people from Columbus attend, people come here for them. As fun as the community festivals may have been, no one traveled to my town to see them, it was only people who lived there.
20. No One Asks If You Know People From That Area
"Oh, you're from _______, do you know my cousin's dog's uncle's third cousin's babysitter's grandpa's niece from three towns over?" For some reason when you're from a small town people assume that you not only know every person in that town but every person from nearby towns too. Now it's like "Oh, you're from Columbus, cool my brother lives there too," but no one assumes that you know that brother because obviously the city is too big for you to know everyone in it.
