That wasn't the best response, but I think it's indicative of how urban high culture often becomes conflated with elitism. As I reread it, it appears that I was

That wasn't the best response, but I think it's indicative of how urban high culture often becomes conflated with elitism. As I reread it, it appears that I was being dismissive of my hometown while trying not to be. First, let's be clear with our terms here. "Multiculturalism" is a heavily loaded term. Despite its Judeo-Christian heritage I would argue that the United States does not operate as a multicultural nation-state. Rather, it is more of a ethnically diverse unicultural society in that the population to a broad degree does share a common language, certain American beliefs and values, and have a unique optimistic view of the future that I've found rare in my travels...the so-called "melting-pot". A good example of a multicultural state is Iraq where multiculturalism is clearly established in policy at the federal level as the Kurds, Shia, and Sunni live in an uneasy alliance, separate into ethnic ghetto-states/territories with relatively little inter-mixing, and have vastly different agendas for the future of their country (Kurds wanting to create their own state, etc.) After rethinking it, I believe that population density is only correlated to the amount of culture, not the cause of it. Cities like Taos, Santa Fe, and Santa Cruz have a high degree of appreciation for the arts despite being outside dense, metro city centers. I believe that openness and tolerance to unfamiliar ideas is the driver behind culture. It is also a necessary requirement for diverse urban centers, which is why you find a large amount of culture there, including the small town cultures that emigrants bring with them. The easiest way for me to put it is this: No matter how small where you come from is or no matter how esoteric your interests are, there is some sort of meetup for all the things in a LA or NYC.