City Living

I have lived in a lot of different places, which we will visit as soon as I introduce my main idea. I prefer living in a city over other locations, but it isn't perfect and I'd like to share some of my grievances. I was concerned that a list of city-living grievances would make it seem like I don't like living in the city, which I do. But these things have got to be said, so I'm going to say them. But first, a trip down my list of habitations.

I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where my parents were going to massage school. There is a tree planted there, celebrating my birth. Legend has it that my placenta nourished this tree as it too began life. Why yes, my parents are hippies. What makes you ask?

My family then moved to Bend, Oregon where my sister was born. I do not remember Oregon at all because I was between 1 and 3; I'm just trying to give you a flavor of my upbringing and maybe shed some light on why I find it difficult to grow roots.

We drifted for a while after this, but ultimately we landed in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia where I spent most of my childhood. This is a beautiful place to visit, but a god-awful place to grow up. It's a tiny, small-minded place. It's the kind of place that validates West Virginia jokes.

From there we moved to Hagerstown, Maryland, which seemed like the big city when I first moved there. And to be honest, it was probably a good transition city for me: just big enough to get into trouble, but not enough trouble to do permanent damage. I moved there when I was about 13 and didn't leave for 10 years. I briefly experimented with moving back in with my mom when I was 23, which didn't go over well at all, so I moved to Baltimore, Maryland.

I lived in a kitschy neighborhood, but didn't explore much beyond school, work, and the grocery store, mostly because I didn't have time. Then I met a boy and moved in with him out in suburban hell. It took a year and half, but I convinced him to move away from his hometown with me to Baltimore, where I think we'll stay.

But back to my point. I love the fact that because I live close to work I drive so infrequently, I actually forget where I parked my car. I love how easy it is to get involved in all kinds of interesting social movements. I love that people are different and culture is celebrated.

On the other hand, parking is a pain in the ass. I live near (a block away from) the baseball stadium, so whenever there is a game, you can't park anywhere near your apartment. Do you know how long baseball season is? It's freaking 9 months long or something. I lived in suburbia long enough to feel entitled to free parking, so there's no way I'm paying to park my car in some garage for like $150 a month. If I had an extra $150 a month, I would do something much cooler than park my car in some stinkin' garage. But that just means I have to walk varying distances from undisclosed, unrestricted street parking.

Also, getting a haircut is harder than in other places. I have gotten one haircut since I moved to Baltimore 5 months ago, and I drove up to Hampden to do it. I don't want some fancy-pants haircut. I just need someone to cut off the dead ends and help me not look like a spaz, but all the places around my apartment are all boutique-y and expensive. I'm used to hittin' up the mall for a Hair Cuttery or whatever, but they just don't exist downtown. If you have advice for good, cheap haircuts, please let me know. My hair is starting to get frazzled again.

So that's basically it. The benefits outweigh the costs, but the costs are still annoying. I think Baltimore is a charming place not without its problems, but I'm a fixer-upper by nature so the problems don't discourage me.

If I had a point, I think I made it.