5 Reasons I'll Take My Hometown Over a Big City
Being in Chicago for the past few days, I've been able to see so many awesome parts of the city. I visited notable buildings, famous areas and even experienced a 360 view of the city in the tallest building downtown. For me, I enjoy being caught up in the hustle and bustle of a massive city for a few days. It's busy, it's fast paced and there are thousands of cabs filling the streets waiting to take you to places you've never been before. Unfortunately, after a few days, you really begin to appreciate being from a smaller city.
After residing in the same city for nearly 23 years now - Jonesboro, Arkansas is without a doubt, my home. Even moving to Little Rock, a large metropolitan city that barely even scratches the surface of a city like Chicago, caused me to appreciate and miss the place I call home. While you may think that your 75,000 strong is a "big city", it pales in comparison to the likes of popular metro areas (Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, NYC). That's not necessarily a bad thing.
While I thoroughly enjoy visiting big cities, and understand the overwhelming number of opportunities there are for a young professional to begin their career, here are 5 reasons that I'm sticking to my small-big-city with the future in mind:
1. There is no sense of community
Imagine stepping outside of your apartment to go to work and there being new faces every morning. Going to eat at a local restaurant and never seeing anyone you know. You know as well as I know, that even with a population close to 80,000... you know people. You can go out for dinner on a casually Friday evening, and odds are, you'll see someone that you know. In huge cities - you don't get that. You're flooded by tourists, guests and everything in-between. While that is a great opportunity to meet hundreds of new people, it eliminates some opportunity to ground yourself and grow within a community.
2. There is not enough hours in a day.
I'm visiting Chicago for business. I'm not here for personal leisure. So, for me, staying in a hotel downtown while working is oddly similar to both living and working in the same downtown area. To get from point A to point B this week, it took at LEAST 30 minutes. Had I walked, It would have taken over an hour. Returning from Point B to Point A during the 5:00-6:00 hour was miserable. The most literal form of hellacious. So, if you add up the hour and a half (sometimes two) on top of your 8 hour workday, you have just enough time to eat, catch a 30 minute episode on netflix and hit the hay. Simply put, there is just not enough hours in a day to be you.
3. There is too much to do
Honestly, this is something I never thought I would say. Where I'm from, it's common to hear "well there's just nothing to do here!" In the moment, it definitely rings true. It's when you travel elsewhere and spend way too much money that you begin to appreciate relaxing and not having anything to do. Between countless professional sports teams, a unique restaurant on every street corner and hundreds (if not thousands) of different types of entertainment/venues that one can try, it seems that it would be easy to get caught up in the action and forget to slow down/save money/form a routine. At this point, I have never been more excited to be bored.
4. There would be less enjoyment when travelling.
I recently decided that Chicago may be the most beautiful city in the United States. I've been to Dallas, Washington DC, Baltimore, Atlanta, Vegas and Minneapolis - all of which would be incredible cities to live in - none of which come close (personally) to the history, beauty and cleanliness that is the Chicago Metro area. From a different perspective, if you lived in one of these cities - would travelling and seeing other cities lose it's appeal? I was genuinely excited to see Chicago for the first time. I will be excited to go back and visit. But if I were a permanent resident, where would the desire be to visit popular cities of similar size? It would be gone. After dealing with the "experience" on a daily basis, its no longer an "experience" but a nuisance.
5. My family is not there.
Home is where the heart is. My heart will always be with my family and friends. Without both, at age 22, I would be STARTING OVER. I don't want to do that yet, and thankfully, I've been blessed enough to not have to. The fact that I can be at "home" and contribute that the community that raised me, molded me, shaped my interests and my beliefs - well, you just can't put a price tag on that. So thanks, Jonesboro, for being the small-big-city that I will always call "home".
