On that note, let me discuss a little more about why I love cities. Right now, there are at least eight million people living in New York City and nearly twenty million people living in the metro area. All of the people there are there for different reasons. Perhaps they were born there or moved their due to the sparkle of promise of Big City (a draw that has been around as long as New York has been a city).
In an average day, each of these millions of people will come into contact with dozens if not hundreds, if not thousands, of people. These interactions range from standing beside someone on the subway to conversations that will lead to life long relationships, or even discussions that will create an empire of commerce or creativity. Together, these interactions form the basic social fabric of the city and there are billions of interactions per day in a city. That, to me, is amazing, but what I love about cities is not so much that, but rather the nature of these interactions.
The vast majority of the interactions we have reflect our fundamental human nature: The vast, vast, vast majority of these interactions are either friendly or at least non-hostile. There are people who look at the city and fear it, but I look at the positive. There is crime and violence in the city, but it is a mistake to assume that that is the city. The city is comprised of the millions of people and billions of interactions that peacefully co-exist in a single place. This diversity and generally cooperative nature gives rise to the individualization and market niches that can only exist in a city.
To me, that is wonderful and why I love cities.
