city or suburb

bc is torn between living in a 1950s subdivision in clarkston or somewhere more close in, perhaps even an urban condominium, and he wonders why live in town? thirty years ago, as much as anything, i did it to be somewhere other gay guys would be----that’s still a good reason for me to be here, but not as critical as it was then, even if i were younger---since then, i’ve slowly realized a lot of other reasons to live in an urban environment----

part of it is just the feeling of being part of the hive, connected to the rest of mankind----doesn’t mean you are all up in everybody’s business, in fact the opposite is true---it’s a feeling that’s really been intensified living where I do now---I feel, see, and am a part of the rhythms of the city as soon as I open my eyes in the morning---when i lived on sinclair avenue I liked hearing henry going about his business, smelling his bacon frying every morning, hearing him muttering back at his mother under his breath----if the house caught fire, or some other emergency, he would be there to call or whatever---otherwise, and this is critical, he mostly left us alone---anyway i feel the same way here---right down to smelling the neighbors' bacon frying sometimes---howdies in the hall, small talk in the elevator, all that is kinda nice---and there was even more of it when dog was around---

i like living here because i can walk everywhere (i really hate driving)---besides walking to and from work (not always, but a lot) and having piedmont park, the high, and the botanical garden close at hand, all of my consumer needs are easily met: besides a gazillion restaurants, publix, cvs, office depot, barnes & noble, outwrite are all within four blocks, and atlantic station, which has dillards, target, and ikea, and ponce square, which has home depot and whole foods, are under two miles----lenox square is two stops away on marta, and even edgewood is martable, although changing trains at five points makes it a time-consuming strip---i can walk to my doctor---heck i walked down to the hospital to get my stent put in---so even if i do have to drive, it usually ain’t far---in just over 8 years, i’ve put 41,000 miles on my car---

i like the diversity of people, wherever i go---last night robert and i were at little azio, and there was quite an array of people, from dykes with a child to ma and pa come down to visit daughter and boyfriend in the big city--- two or three generations of a hispanic family out for some occasion--- college dewds getting it to go-- couples in all combinations of race, gender and sexual orientation, ---on and on ---the publix is like that, too, with a heavy dose of techies thrown in---and all of that goes for metropolis, too---gay, straight, interracial, mutli-ethnic, young and old, just in my elevator, i have heard, in addition to english (american, british, and australian), spanish, french, japanese, portuguese, hindi (i think) and german (or dutch, i can't tell them apart unless i hear a lot of it)---

a house and yard are great things, but so is not having to keep one painted and maintained ---and not having to worry about it when you go out of town---

the glass house part has only intensified my whole experience of the city----it ain’t new yawk, but it does what any good city does: it automatically draws me out, and makes it difficult (though not entirely impossible) to withdraw from the world and just concentrate on being depressed---however, not everyone has that experience of the city ---on the occasion of her first visit to the 13^th floor, cv noted that living here would probably just make her horny all the time---there are a lot of reasons to love a city---