If you happened to live in New York in the early naughties, the subway was dependable. However, since then, there has been a dramatic deterioration. Thanks to mismanagement and poor maintenance, trains are traveling 20 mph less than they used to, and the system is plagued with bottlenecks all over the place. This ensures that every working professional’s day starts and ends on a sour note.
2. Slow Walkers
Nothing drives a city dweller crazier than being stuck behind a slow-walker who is somehow managing to block the whole sidewalk.
3. Solicitors
Cities are flooded with do-gooders on sidewalks who will do their best to draw you in to help with their cause, whether it’s signing a petition or donating money. Though admirable, they can be quite annoying, especially when they blindside you with their canned earnestness at a moment when you’re stressed and in a hurry.
When you’re stuck in a crowded train or bus, there’s nothing more annoying than someone wearing a backpack that takes up the space filled by an average human. If you have a big backpack, take it off and place it on the floor. Or better yet, take a cab.
5. High Rent
In New York, the median rent for a 1-bedroom apartment is $2,090, which means that even those who earn a decent salary cannot afford to live alone. Many New Yorkers spend a staggering two-thirds of their wages on rent, and many other big cities, such as London, are just as exorbitant.
6. Everything Is Overpriced
In a city such as San Francisco, the average coffee costs $6.04, compared to the national average of $2.70. If that’s the difference in price for coffee, just imagine how much more expensive everything else is.
When you walk along city streets during the summer, you can literally feel the pollution all around you. Your skin is covered in dust, your nostrils get treated to the scent of trash and gasoline, and your lungs fill up with smoke. You don’t even realize just how dirty the air is until you go out into the countryside.
8. Dog Poop – Everywhere
Most metropolitan areas warn about fines for not picking up after your dog, but that doesn’t stop people from leaving their dog’s poop on the sidewalk. One of the many rites of passage of a true urban resident is stepping in a pile of warm dog poop.
9. 6th-Floor Walk-Ups
Living in a charming old building that used to be a tenement house is every artist’s dream, but most of these buildings don’t come equipped with lifts. Not only does this make moving in a major hassle, but it also robs you of the relief that you should feel when entering your building after a long day.
Tourists manage to find something to take a picture of at every corner, and they love to move through the most packed parts of the city at a leisurely pace, seemingly oblivious to the fact that some people have places to be.
11. Mean Bus Drivers
Not only is the bus always late, but bus drivers in big cities tend to be a cantankerous bunch. Train conductors wouldn’t win any awards for friendliness either. Sometimes they close the doors of the train as soon as they see that another one has arrived across the platform. And you swear that you can almost hear them laughing to themselves as the train rolls away.
12. Neighbors
In the suburbs, you’re likely to have a friendly relationship with your neighbors, and you probably invite them over every so often for a barbecue and some beers. However, humans were not meant to live on top of each other as they do in the big cities. You can hear everything they do and vice versa. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Every morning at 7 am, even on Saturdays, the garbage truck comes along and the workers make an ungodly amount of noise. We thank them for their service, but sometimes it really feels like they’re just banging steel lids in your bedroom.
14. The Commute
Imagine how sweet it would be if you could get a text from a friend asking you if you want to grab a drink and you could respond, “Yea! Sure, I’ll meet you in 10.” That’s a reality in small towns, but in big cities, everyone is spread out all over the place, which means that you often have to evaluate whether seeing your friend is worth a 1.5-hour train ride and a $50 cab back home.
15. Walking in the Bike Lane
This is not only extremely rude, but it’s also dangerous for you and the cyclists. Give cyclists the respect that they deserve and stay out of bike lanes.
In addition to not being allowed on trains or buses unless in some sort of carrier, dogs in many big cities are not allowed in zoos, playgrounds, ball fields, bathing areas, and city-side beaches. Then, people complain about how there are so many dogs in shelters.
17. Hour-Long Waits at Every Restaurant
Ten years ago, you only had to wait to be seated at New York’s hottest restaurants. Nowadays, even the local pizza joints have a line out the door, as the city is overpopulated and tourists have taken over everywhere.
18. Fluorescent Lights 24/7
It’s fun living in a city that never sleeps when you want to have a night out on the town, but your living arrangements aren’t as enjoyable when you’re trying to get some shut-eye and cannot block out those fluorescent lights.
Source: bestlifeonline
Images: depositphotos
