Homesickness? The plummeting sensation of realizing that home could have been a place that nurtured us with dedicated infrastructure and access to the arts, education, and public rights to waterfronts and nature.
What a strange feeling. As someone who was reared in the countryside, my anxiety and apprehension about high density urbanism quickly turned into a sense of disillusionment. Without a car, I underestimated how much more access I would have to public spaces, cultural centers, educational resources, and the ability to simply get from one place to another.
How much more is there to see in this life?
Affordability is another thing to consider, but I have a hard time understanding the true cost of living when Chicago is a place whose minimum wage is more than double ours. How does cost and affordability actually relate across places that are so different in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, and policy?
And what would my relationship to home look like if access to nature, culture, education, and public space were treated less as amenities and more as shared rights?
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