country bumpkins vs. city slickers

[highlife]

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--no terrorists are going to blow up a town with pop <100000 unless it is in israel or something

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this is not true. there are several reasons why terrorists would strike small towns.

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well this is a whole other debate, but in general it doesn't seem like they are actually picking up on this strategy, based on the last 50 years or so as evidence.

really the only terrorists you have to worry about in small towns are the crazy white people variety.

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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A9629C8B63

A good example is the IRA. Of course they hit Belfast the most, they also consistantly attacked in random small towns across Northern Ireland for many years.

[NT!]

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Travel upstate sometime, you'll see what Noah's talking about, but with lake effect snow to boot!

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when you say 'upstate,' are you talking about westchester county upstate, or like, albany? i have been all over that area and there's not much of anywhere i'd be excited to live. hudson will probably be cool in about ten years. parts of columbia county near the MA border might be ok but only because nothing in MA is remotely affordable.

[Claunchy]

NT!,

I haven't done a ton of traveling, but Austin, Fort Worth, Madison, and even to an extent Oklahoma City are all pretty decent places. Yeah, two of those are sort of college towns I guess. So maybe that's the way to go.

[NT!]

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you can pretty much bet there's a place or two on your block in NYC that will wash and fold your laundry for not much more than it would cost to do it yourself.

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Really? Damn, it's like 4 or 5 times the cost here in Atlanta.

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i get my laundry done and folded for like 75 cents a pound here. a typical ten pound load (usually have to dry it twice) would cost me five bucks or so to do myself. i usually tip a buck and they think i'm the most generous person in the world, apparently nobody tips on laundry service.

EDIT: i would guess that the high cost of doing laundry in southern cities has to do with them being more spread out and more people having w/d in their domiciles. you need population density and a lack of appliances to do the kind of volume they do in my neighborhood.

[NT!]

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NT!,

I haven't done a ton of traveling, but Austin, Fort Worth, Madison, and even to an extent Oklahoma City are all pretty decent places. Yeah, two of those are sort of college towns I guess. So maybe that's the way to go.

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yeah i think there are a lot of desirable small to medium sized cities, most of the best seem to be college towns or vacation areas though. i mean you have to deal with students or tourists, respectively, but it still seems pretty great to me. all of the cities i have been to and really liked a lot of have been one or the other.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

Wonder Boys made college town life look pretty cool.

[NoahSD]

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Travel upstate sometime, you'll see what Noah's talking about, but with lake effect snow to boot!

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when you say 'upstate,' are you talking about westchester county upstate, or like, albany? i have been all over that area and there's not much of anywhere i'd be excited to live. hudson will probably be cool in about ten years. parts of columbia county near the MA border might be ok but only because nothing in MA is remotely affordable.

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I think he meant that places upstate suck.

A lot of the more expensive areas in Westchester seem like they'd be pretty cool to live in, except that they're crazy expensive.

College towns are really hit or miss in my experience. There are sort of two distinct stereotypes... the town with lots of cool non-chain shops and cafes and bars and restaurants and stuff, and the town with a mcdonalds, a [censored] college bookstore, and a few decaying frat houses.

[NT!]

yeah i think that's what he meant too, and i tend to agree. i work in westchester county right now and i [censored] hate it up there.

[Dudd]

Yeah, I meant like the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse snow belt, I'm currently in Rochester. These pretty much fit the diluted version of a big city perfectly, a lot of the negatives and very few of the positives.

[adsman]

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Medium-sized city far from either coast is obv the way to go here. There are still plenty of convenience stores and restaurants and sporting events and asian massage parlors, but the cost of living isn't ridiculous and the traffic is bearable too.

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If I'm going to live in a city then I like to make it a major one. To offset all the drawbacks I need to have stuff that a big city can offer me. Lots of good nightlife, heaps of touring acts, just a really crazy dynamic place. Otherwise I'll just hang on a mountain somewhere.