[kbutler]

As a counterpoint, my reaction to big cities has generally been "Nice place to visit, but I sure wouldn't want to live there". And my vacation photos are way more likely to be landscapes than cityscapes.

I do like the ocean, though!

[hestipod]

Are your landscape photos of endless flatness, strip malls, and pavement? Or are they beautiful mountains, forests, seasides? I am not saying liking rural places is "wrong". I am saying you give up a LOT to live in the "cheap" middle because it's the same everywhere you look in nearly all regards and is far from anything "different" in about every use of the word, including those beautiful landscapes.

[thatfrenchguy]

That’s a very US centric view though. If you live in France in a lot of middle-size cities, it’s both cheap and cute. And don’t pretend like California is void of strip mall either, most of the Bay Area is boring-as-fuck strip malls and single family houses.

[kbutler]

Sounds like you have a lot of hostility for "the culture, politics, climate, geography" but I'm not sure you've ever actually been to these places you detest so much. Maybe try getting out and meeting and talking to people that don't think or live the same way you do?

Let's see what the internet can show us:

Kansas: Monument Rocks - totally postcard worthy. https://www.thecrazytourist.com/most-beautiful-places-to-vis... And the Cheyenne Bottoms, largest wetland in mainland US? Even beats Florida & Everglades, wow. And Geary Lake Falls are very nice https://www.thecrazytourist.com/most-beautiful-places-to-vis... And the lavender farms of Topeka https://maps.roadtrippers.com/us/topeka-ks/nature/ingwerson-... OK, I've got things I'd like to see in Kansas.

Little Rock: https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.inarkansas.com/10757/fall-in... that's lovely, and a candidate for a monitor background. (from http://www.metrolittlerockguide.com/post/21127/little-rock-p...)

Endless strip malls and pavement are much more prevalent in and around big cities - and you have lots of traffic to ensure you have plenty of time to enjoy them. And for what it's worth, Florida beats Kansas for flatness by a long shot (and for strip malls and pavement, too, come to think of it).

"the vast sameness of the Midwest"... Just because you haven't heard of landmarks and variation in a place, doesn't mean it isn't there. Many people think of Africa as mostly flat - maybe because we largely see flat maps, and we hear of Kilimanjaro in Africa, see pictures of savannas, and know of the Sahara, and tend to think that's all there is, but there is so much variation.

[CDSlice]

I don't know, as someone who's visited Kansas I honestly think that it's some of the most beautiful country in the US. You can see pretty much everything for miles around. But to each their own I guess. :)