Spent 12 years in “the City,” in Charleston, SC to be exact. Watched it go from “hidden gem” to “how much more Carpetbagger can we take.” Mixed blessing there, sold our meager home for a lot more than it should have been worth and moved to the mountains. No more getting cut off every other stop light. No more pistols brandished in traffic. No more “oh wow our across-the-creek neighbor had a home invasion.” All in all, seems with a certain level of density people just lose their mind and sense of decency. All those whacky stories you’d hear growing up about senselessness on the streets of a true city like LA or New York.
It may sound stupid in hindsight, but I grew up in a small coastal town of about 10,000 and growing up going to college and then a city for work was “the path” - it never occurred to me that maybe not everyone is built for a city, big or small. I’m not all that interested in the nightlife beyond the couple years I spent going out as a young adult. There really isn’t anything interesting about that $20 cheeseburger with an “aioli” on it. I’ve seen the couple of bands live that I wanted to.
At a certain point I’m just paying too much money to live in a place that makes me mentally ill to be in. With remote becoming no longer a weird exception - take advantage if you can.