>>1558235I disagree on your first point. A local culture can benefit from assimilating foreign cultures, provided groups aren't outright hostile and some common norms are held. But I don't think we will persuade each other on that matter so a will respectfully move on.
It is the life that is lived, not the place it is at. I have seen sticks more lively then a dead city, and seen a city bursting with joy that would drown some dreary little town. The community and the culture, not the streets or buildings is what make up the life.
The push to cities is largely driven by two interrelated factors. Jobs, the odds of getting paid more money are much better in the city. The other is networking potential. In a city if someone has an idea they might know some people who know some people who could help make that idea the next big thing. So projects happen faster, and the mixing of different people helps generate new ideas. A small town can't do that, mainly because those odds are proportional to the number of people. I sometimes wonder how rural internet could change that, but don't see it doing much given the way it is going now.
Define "nothing", because when you see a whole town gather to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Or cheering and dancing and having a grand time in that little dance hall with a 2 person no name band you might just skip that good restaurants or quirky store. People can make fun and interesting cultural venues anywhere. Drop them in the middle of the woods and you'll get a woodsmen club with some smile, ... or maybe a horrid mess of folks who keep crying they don't have cell phone service.
