Casual Conversation

1956 readers

134 users here now

Share a story, ask a question, or start a conversation about (almost) anything you desire. Maybe you'll make some friends in the process.

RULES (updated 1/22/25)

Be respectful: no harassment, hate speech, bigotry, and/or trolling. To be concise, disrespect is defined by escalation.
Encourage conversation in your OP. This means including heavily implicative subject matter when you can and also engaging in your thread when possible. You won't be punished for trying.
Avoid controversial topics (politics or societal debates come to mind, though we are not saying not to talk about anything that resembles these). There's a guide in the protocol book offered as a mod model that can be used for that; it's vague until you realize it was made for things like the rule in question. At least four purple answers must apply to a "controversial" message for it to be allowed.
Keep it clean and SFW: No illegal content or anything gross and inappropriate. A rule of thumb is if a recording of a conversation put on another platform would get someone a COPPA violation response, that exact exchange should be avoided when possible.
No solicitation such as ads, promotional content, spam, surveys etc. The chart redirected to above applies to spam material as well, which is one of the reasons its wording is vague, as it applies to a few things. Again, a "spammy" message must be applicable to four purple answers before it's allowed.
Respect privacy as well as truth: Don’t ask for or share any personal information or slander anyone. A rule of thumb is if something is enough info to go by that it "would be a copyright violation if the info was art" as another group put it, or that it alone can be used to narrow someone down to 150 physical humans (Dunbar's Number) or less, it's considered an excess breach of privacy. Slander is defined by intentional utilitarian misguidance at the expense (positive or negative) of a sentient entity. This often links back to or mixes with rule one, which implies, for example, that even something that is true can still amount to what slander is trying to achieve, and that will be looked down upon.

Casual conversation communities:

Related discussion-focused communities

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Is life in a big city what I think it is or am I just dreaming? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey,

I live in a small town in europe, built a house and well it takes me about 25 minutes to the next bigger city (not huge one, lets say 50.000 people live there.

I sometimes find myself getting frustrated because the next gym is 7 minute drive by car to another smaller town. Grocery shopping I also do in another town nearby. Same people, same stuff, nothing new.

I am thinking about selling my house but I love the quiet area too. I love my freedom in my house and yard and I know everyone in town but nobody has my interests.

I can't just go to board game nights, meet many people in a bar, go shopping, go to a cafe and all that. I always have to drive those 25 minutes first.

But would I do all those things I wrote above if I'd live in the city? A few friends live in that city and say everything is so expensive and they do the same as I do (same gym, same grocery, same routine) just in the city.

But I feel like I am missing out.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Central Oslo resident:

Gym is about 8 minutes by bike away. I've gone to gyms further away to train with my PL club but ultimately the gym between here and work wins out (work is about 10 minutes by bike away).
Groceries are usually five minutes by foot away. Within ten minutes on bike I have access to bigger and more specialized shops.
There are plenty of bars within walking distance, with various concepts, so we can visit one we're in the mood for.
Quiz nights in bars are generally packed. They also frequently have board games available, but I tend to ignore them.
It's actually pretty quiet here. There are some noisy party streets, but you more or less just need to live a block or two away to not hear any of it.
We also have plenty of parks and easy access to the waterfront for Sunday Spaziergang and swimming.
IMO Oslo could learn a bit from German cafe/Konditorei-culture. We have good coffee pretty much anywhere, and some good pastries here and there, but not their cake selection. There's also plenty of restaurants around, again within walking distance. Depending on our mood we can just get a döner and watch Star Trek at home, or we could go out to eat at something mentioned in the Michelin guide, or something in between, or even get Foodora. (The Frau was severely pleased when one of her favourite places got a Bib Gourmand.)

A significant difference for the household economy is if you can own your home in the city and not have to own a car. The home will appreciate, while a car depreciates. Generally energy costs will also be lower if you share walls with your neighbours. And, of course, being two helps. Living with a friend or two in a collective is pretty common.

But also going to work and getting groceries is something almost all of us have to deal with. We have to wipe our asses in the city, just like everywhere else.

The bathrooms in the building need to be refurbished and I'm actually thinking of getting a Japanese style toilet with a built-in bidet.