Since moving to Columbus I’ve had a lot of “where you have you lived?” conversations. I am happy to oblige the small talk and my responses sometimes earn me a “I wish I lived out West” response to which I usually disagree. There’s nothing special about the West coast and you won’t find happiness there. It is, however, worthwhile to make the effort to live in a destination city just to discover that for yourself if that’s what you need. Happiness is found in your hobbies, friends, family and companions and the place you live only matters if it impacts one of those categories.
So, a surfer will benefit living in San Diego but an artist is just wasting rent money living there. Even “artistic” cities aren’t anything special. You can buy paint in Columbus that is just as bright as the paint in Portland. Furthermore, what kind of artist are you if you follow the herd? In this article, I share what I’ve learned from a decade of living in destination cities and why I believe you should save your money.
I was born in Flagstaff, Arizona and lived there until I was eleven years old. My parents were divorced at age seven and although they attempted to recover the marriage for the next four year, it was doomed. By age eleven, my mother moved us to Ohio to be near her family. Her sister had passed away from cervical cancer and my mother was understandably distraught and reassessed the value of family (hint, hint). I graduated high school at eighteen and then made my first attempt at post-secondary via Columbus State Community College. I failed due to an inability to handle college level mathematics. Out of personal disappointment and confusion I decided to move out West.
I purchased a one-way Greyhound ticket and moved onto an organic pumpkin farm in Longview Washington where I labored for room and board until I could find an apartment in Portland. Once in Portland, I worked at several restaurants for a year until I earned in-state residence status for tuition purposes. During that year I self-taught the mathematics which I had failed in Columbus. I enrolled at Portland State University and completed four internships including a six-month laboratory internship in Toulouse, France. By 2020 I had completed my bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering. After graduation I relocated to Maryland and lived in the DC metro area until 2024 when I moved back to Columbus, Ohio.
By Western standards I’ve certainly lived where “the grass is greener”. West Coast, East Coast, and France. But I didn’t find happiness in any of those places. Rather, I wasted my time in each of them smoking weed and chasing women. I had few close friends and no relationship with God. I missed both of my niece’s births and was their “Christmas uncle”. I visited them often enough only to notice a few inches of growth and remember their names. I hated feeling distant from them. Moving back to Columbus was the best choice I’ve ever made.
Rant incoming
Another reason why it’s foolish to live in destination cities is because of the sheer pretension of the inhabits. There is an over-abundance of “hipsters” in Portland who think they are “legit” because they live in Portland. No one cares. There’s nothing cool or impressive about living in Portland. It’s just a city. The culture itself has been so thoroughly gentrified and marketed half-way to heck and back so as to be entirely fake. Portland has been mined for wealth by the marketing executives smart enough to know that twenty-something wanna-bes will flock their just to be able to say they live in Portland.
The same thing goes for DC. There are so many yuppies in DC who think they’ve made it because they can see the white-house from their apartment. Not to mention that they can barely afford rent or that they are abused and exploited by their bosses. No, they’re “accomplished” because they live in DC. And then there’s France. France is the epitome of pretension. Literally a country full of people who think they’re hot-garbage because they live in France. If you aren’t French you can get lost and they will gladly let you know directly that it’s how they feel.
End Rant
Columbus is different. Most people in Columbus have no issue understanding that where you live has nothing to do with who you are. Yet nearly each day I meet someone who congratulates me for where I’ve lived. I always respond that I’d rather be in Columbus. Columbus is better than Portland or Washington DC because people don’t associate living in Columbus with their identity.
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