I grew up in a town of 2000 people, which was a pretty great thing. Every time I visit the city, I get swept away by the tall buildings, the constant sounds, and just how terrifying the city actually is. Being from such a small town, everybody knows absolutely everybody else. Theres no real way around that, my graduating class had about 120 people, and that's with four other towns pouring their kids in to our high school. We had the typical small town businesses, and a city council which doesn't actually do a whole lot other than attending new business openings and fancy ribbon cuttings (read cutting a large piece of ribbon from Hobby Lobby) that don't really do anything other than make people feel good about living in such a small area, only to serve a small area and barely make a living. Our surrounding towns had about 20,000 and 15,000. The closest "city" was Joliet, and even going there was kind of a huge surprise because I had pretty much never seen more than one person that wasn't white at a time.
Fast forward to college, and learning about the city, still being unable to wrap my head around how the city can function the way it does. Through these readings, I've learned a little bit, but its hard to wrap my head around. Cities in 1200 BC had more people than my small town did. Everyone in town had a sense of purpose, because everyone is known. In the city, they aren't. You can be a total nobody in the city your entire life and people are okay with that. The people may only really be known in their neighborhood, but that's still just a speck of dust in the scope of the city. It makes me think of Simmel, who was a farmer living the life I do, and he goes to the city and makes the realizations that he does. You can lose your sense of identity. In the city, you have to create something of yourself, and as the book states, Simmel now needed to change his entire lifestyle as time and money were the real big issues of the city. The city is an impersonal abyss, to me. No one has that sense of connection to one another in the street, people just make awkard eye contact and keep on walking, whereas I am used to just people looking each other in the eye, saying hello, asking how the family is, and keep on walking. Simmel's example makes me think about how life in the city requires a massive adjustment in your life and how you really need to alter the entire way you live and act in order to get a way to survive there.
The reading also mentions how smaller rural communities get absorbed by the city, at least back when the city was still growing it did. That also made me look at how the towns around mine have begun to change. The demographics have changed significantly. More people from my area, which is about 65 miles or so from Chicago, have begun to commute to the city for work every day, when that honestly never used to be the case. The racial composition of the towns have changed from almost all white to now actually semi-diverse. I can go to the neighboring towns and actually visit a real Mexican marketplace and get some actual mexican food instead of thinking Taco Bell will be my Mexican food salvation. The city has definitely still been managing to change toe area around it from the time of its conception to now.
All in all, the readings made me reflect on how my life is totally different from one in the city, and how if I were to move to the city, my life would be changed and I would probably become far less of a personal person when I'm walking down the street or hanging out at the family business. Even in DeKalb, it was a huge shock. People don't know each other here, and they're all okay with that. That personal touch is gone, and it's really strange to think about, let alone live like that.
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