[TremendousJudge]

>Growing up everyone around me saw the city as somewhere you begrudgingly went out of necessity and only lived there if you had no choice

I assume you grew up in the United States?

[jimmaswell]

Yes, upstate NY.

[eli_gottlieb]

Where? I ran screaming from the Albany area first thing I could when I turned 18.

[jimmaswell]

Hudson Valley, somewhere around Hyde Park. I went over some of the features of the area here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20218742

What's so bad about the Albany area? I haven't been there since I went as a kid for some medical facility.

[jotm]

Cause European cities are so much better? They're not. Overcrowded, overpriced, just for jobs and getting out asap.