Carol, I have to say that I'm having a similar revelation about big city life. I, too, was raised in the country, always said cities were not for me. After experiencing many of them over the past year, including NYC (which, btw, is my favorite American city, too,) my viewpoint has changed.

I visited Harlem a couple weeks ago but don't share Miles' enthusiasm for it. Astoria is where I'd move if given the opportunity. I LOVE the tiny little row houses with the tiny little front lawns and tiny little living spaces. Less to clean, less to mow, but parking right at the door and some even have garages. A brief subway ride and you're anywhere in the city you want to go, no tolls, no traffic--although I found that navigating the Big Apple in a car to be infinitely easier than any of the rumors suggest. I had zero trouble driving in the traffic, zero trouble finding free parking, and zero trouble getting anywhere I needed to go. New York City rocks.

I no longer believe that country folk are congenial. There are exceptions to every blanket statement, but generally speaking, rural communities are hostile, hateful, intolerant, and backward. I'm sure I'll take heaping amounts of abuse for this pronouncement, but I challenge anyone to walk a mile in my shoes down the path I've traveled. I know Central Appalachia is by far the worst rural region to live in, but I grew up in the Deep South and see shades of overlap. Not so in the cities. I am quite ready to move at this point, just not sure where I'm going.