What's Happening?

One of the criticisms of urban life is that it is noisy and in your face. There's no respite from it as soon as you step outside of your building. Even where I live, which is basically a residential neighborhood made up primarily of single-family homes, there are people walking by at all hours of the day and even into the night. They're not always noisy, but they're out there. You can't sit on your front porch and not see at least fifty people a day walk by. Some say hi or comment on your garden or your dog ("You need to get that dog into your house!"), but most are silent. But they're active. There's always something happening.

If you're into people-watching, this is a dream come true. Sometimes I wish for more privacy, but mostly I enjoy seeing who is out and what they're doing. I think I would enjoy it even more if we lived in a more congested area of the city. I think I'd like looking out my window and down at the activity on the street. (My husband, however, likes a little more solitude.)

Unfortunately, illegal activity--or at the least, socially unacceptable behavior--is also a part of urban life. Or at least it's more obvious than in the suburbs or the country. The prostitutes and drug dealers, gangs and burglars, shooters and murderers--you can kid yourself that they're not around, but the news often brings you back to reality. I wince when I hear on the evening news that a shooting occurred in our neighborhood, or other inner-city areas. I know that these occurrences give city living a bad name. And rightfully so; I'm not so naive as to say that anyone can stomach that part of urban living.

I used to drive through the neighborhood where I live now in terror, sure I was going to become the victim of crossfire in some kind of gang war. Now I walk these sidewalks without fear (although not at night--that's just asking for it). Not long ago there was a shooting in a parking garage on the edge of the university district (which is approximately seven blocks away from our house). The result was a fatality and the shooter ran away into the surrounding city streets before he finally gave himself up. We weren't even aware of it happening until we saw the evening news. Yes, we could have been in that parking garage--there's a movie theater attached to it. But how do we know that it couldn't have happened in any parking garage? You just have to trust that you're going to be safe as long as you don't do something stupid. That might not always be true, but safety can be uncertain in the suburbs, too.

For the most part, you are safe in the city. There are some areas you want to avoid at all costs, but that's not the kind of city living I'm talking about. You do have to use some common sense when you move to a city neighborhood. You might be surrounded by a lot of activity, but not all, or even a majority of it, is illegal. Only you can decide what kind of activity you're comfortable being around. But if you're like most city dwellers (at least the ones who are there by choice), you'll thrive in the environment.