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Adjusting To Spain Is Already Changing How I Approach City Life
It’s time not only to embrace a new culture, but the less organized ‘chaos’ of cities
Amid my academic background in urban studies and planning and 25-year plus obsession with urban life, I have focused on how we function in cities and how their design can impact us.
Over the years, I have tried to combine this formal experience with my personal experience to come to conclusions about my relationship with cities. We all perceive cities differently. Our perception becomes our reality and often dictates where in a city we choose to live. For some people, it rules out city living as a possibility altogether.
On January 2nd, my wife and I moved to Valencia, Spain.
Visiting old European cities that also do modern day urban planning so incredibly well changes your idea of what cities are, can and should be, particularly if you come from the car-centric American perspective. Knowing that you’re not on vacation — that you’re going to call whichever place home — does it double.
After just a week in Valencia, I have been forced — I have forced myself—to reconsider how I perceive cities as places to live. Already, I think I am better off for it, particularly as we get ready to start our…
