The Small-Town Trap: What City People Get Wrong About Escape
Why leaving pressure behind doesn’t automatically create a life that works
When I lived in San Francisco, the Bay Area was like many parts of the United States. You could leave The City to afford a house in the suburbs. During that time, people regularly made the trek down the Peninsula or across one of the iconic bridges to buy a home.
They told themselves they were tired of throwing money away on rent and wanted more space—green grass, porches, backyards with pools.
I never saw the allure.
An old guy I worked with back then—1999, 2000—named Sam Castro told me and a co-worker that we should buy a building in Oakland. I likely could've made that work back then. Today, I couldn't touch a studio apartment on either side of the Bay.
He was right. But the people who moved and confused making an investment with lifestyle—they were and always will be dead wrong.
Remember the exodus to the suburbs during the pandemic? Five years on, there’s a ton of regret—alongside renewed interest in moving back to even more expensive cities.
Today, we're seeing a similar dynamic alongside the move abroad trend. People who can't afford to buy in the U.S.—or could, but prefer to no longer live there—see the allure of a home in small European cities and towns or maybe out in the countryside.
This is distinct from the ground we normally cover—rooted in my personal preferences and experience—of people moving to large Spanish cities from places such as the United States. The folks who came from suburbia sometimes encounter the culture shock of density they never fully comprehended back home. But what about the people who leave large metropolitan areas or city neighborhoods for the perceived space and solitude of small town Europe?
I often wonder about these people. The same way I do the disillusioned—and often misguided—people making the move from city to suburb in search of the runaway American dream.
