> I expect this is how most of HN's crowd grew up, too. To be fair this is evidence of bias, not evidence of superiority > With more people and shops etc in

> I expect this is how most of HN's crowd grew up, too. To be fair this is evidence of bias, not evidence of superiority > With more people and shops etc in your neighborhood comes noise and chaos. This isn't necessarily true. Not all urban spaces are built like manhattan. If you live on main street next to the shops, sure, but a very easy and pleasant urban form is one with a main street with shops and quiet side streets with apartments and houses. For example, a lot of the neighborhoods in Brookline, MA[0]. The bigger issue is that because there's so few neighborhoods built like this, the few that exist are incredibly expensive and desirable, atleast in greater Boston. [0] consider the map view here. Residential, tree filled streets all close to a shop-lined (and rail-lined) main street https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3396099,-71.1361021,426m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3396099,-71.1361021,426m/dat... . I lived 1 building away from the main street (just across from the school) and the only "urban noise" was the school. It was a peaceful and an amazing neighborhood. I would have moved there permanently if it wasn't like 700k for a 2 bedroom in an old building (or $3MM for a brand new 4 bedroom townhouse).