I have spent all of my life growing up in a small town. I didn't live in a very rural area, but not really an urban area either. For those of you who don't know what a small town is like there were no strict bans on dancing or high school students who break out in song every five minutes.
It's actually very boring.
There was never anything to do. In my town, there was an old roller skating rink that hasn't changed since the fifties, an overpriced movie theater, and Walmart. Yeah, not that exciting. I don't even know what I did with my time before I moved to the city. It was suffocating to sit around and try to entertain ourselves. On one hand it sounds really cool that I taught myself guitar and learned how to sew and knit and bake on a regular basis, but this is all because there is nothing else to do.
Now to the good stuff, the transition into college. I recently finished up my first year away from that small town. I'm living in Pittsburgh, which I absolutely love! In fact, I've decided to stay the summer here and pick up some extra credits at college. There are some things that I didn't really think would be a big change for me, but ended up making a huge difference. I never thought I would really factor in traffic until I drove.
Just walking in the city requires a lot of calculations. How fast do I walk? How long is the cross sign on? Let alone trying to figure out the bus schedules. If could take you ten minutes to get to where you are going, but then the next day it takes ten minutes just to wait for the bus. You never know if the buses are going to be late. You have to remember which bus goes where and hope that it isn't crowded or face the horrors of people who don't wear deodorant.
Safety in my hometown was never a big issue, mostly because I never left the house. There was nowhere to go. Moving to the city, I found myself outside all the time. Living in a dorm sounds like fun until you realize your starving and its ten at night. Then there's the whole ordeal of finding the Chinese place that is open late and deciding if you really want to spend twenty dollars to have them deliver or just go yourself. I guarantee that when you go by yourself, there will be way more people than you expect lurking around. Pro tip: bring pepper spray. I haven't ever had to use it, but it gives me a bit of piece of mind.
I suppose you think that it sounds like I don't really like the city that much, but it's quite the contrary. The city just requires a different way of living. Instead of sitting safely at home watching TV until your eyes fall out you are running all over the place, dodging pigeons and actually doing stuff. It's great! Even though Pittsburgh isn't a big city, there is still a lot to do. Worst case scenario, I hop on a bus and see where it takes me. It's nice to get out of my hometown and see other cultures and peoples. The city gives me freedom to do whatever it is that I like.
