On a podcast recently, Michael Moynihan was talking about people who live in the Nordic Countries and Western Europe (he has lived in both regions for several years). He said that Americans who have never visited Sweden, France, England etc. picture these places as cosmopolitan oases filled with fine dining, world renowned artwork, artists, musicians, intellects and educated bourgeoise.
Moynihan said, “That may be true in cities like Paris and London and Copenhagen, but if you get out into the countryside of any of these countries, you find they are full of rednecks – just like the US.”
His description of rednecks wasn’t meant to be insulting. He used it as a point of comparison when explaining how America’s political divisions are the result of lifestyles that are completely divergent – blue, liberal urban dwelling elites vs. poorer, small town and rural, less educated average citizens.
I’ve heard this argument about the US before. It’s pretty obvious whenever you look at a voting results map and see hotspots of blue for every major city surrounded by a sea of red throughout the less populated areas of the country.
I had no idea that a similar class and cultural divide was prevalent in other Western Countries.
It makes sense. Urban vs. Rural are completely different worlds. I remember years ago reading about people who were living car free. I loved the idea, but couldn’t fathom how I would get my wife to medical appointments, my pets to the vet or my groceries to my home. At the time, I wasn’t living in nowheresville – I was living in the suburbs of a midsized city.
It wasn’t until years later that I realized the car-free proponents lived in NYC, San Francisco and Boston. It was easy for them. They had many good public transit options including subways, taxis and trains. Their compact, dense cities were designed for walking. Grocery, retail, entertainment and service establishments were within walking distance of urban apartments, condos and townhomes. Traffic and parking was such a hassle and so expensive, that it made sense not to own a car.
That’s just one significant difference between urban and rural. Off the top of my head, here are a few others:
- Access to major medical centers
- Colleges
- Living Space
- Cost of Living
- High Paying Jobs
- Restaurant Choices
- Service Availability
- Police, Fire, EMT response times
- Public Education
- Private Schools
- Entertainment Options
Of course there a cultural divide. How could there not be?