Cities and Personalities
November 25, 2024
I highly recommend reading Paul Graham's piece, "Cities and Ambition" (2008), to better understand how city cultures shape people and personalities. His ideas resonated with me because they were experiences and feelings I had felt but never ascertained into a processed and articulated thought.
To provide some background, my family and I often travelled while growing up. I kept this habit throughout my adulthood, and as a post-graduation gift to myself, I travelled for a year in 2023. While my travels enhanced my personal education, I also appreciated leaving my usual scene in Toronto.
Toronto gives the impression of New York City's younger sibling: heavily focused on attaining corporate and financial status. The suburbs of Toronto even have their own personality, more focused on nuclear family-based structures.
This 'personality' can be best described with Graham's proposition that cities project their culture through their people, local conversations, and even store products. No matter how subtle, these messages shape our interactions with a city.
His discussion shows us how to reflect on the significance of these messages, affirming their importance in a way I resonate with. Reflecting on this idea, I realize how much my passion for travel connects to the unique personalities of each place I visit. Every city carries its own identity, shaped by its history and cultural context. I find that experiencing them adds layers to my understanding of the world, whether through Paris's artistic charm, New York City's energy, or Rome's rich history.
When I returned to Paris in 2023, the city resonated with me as an artist. Its dedication to artistic expression was everywhere—from architecture to the sculptures casually placed in parks to the street painters absorbed in their work. Walking through it felt like experiencing a living museum, where art wasn't just displayed in galleries but lived in the streets.
It's impossible not to feel connected to Paris' deep art history, but seeing it first hand was different. The city values creativity in a way that feels so present as if art is part of the everyday rhythm. There are few places in the world where the importance of art is tied to the city's identity like this.
Rome spoke to me similarly to Paris, though less for its aesthetic value and more for the weight of its history and energy. The people—especially the younger crowd- stood out to me. They were lively, friendly, and welcoming, bringing an energy to the city that made it vibrant and alive. There was a playful charm in the way they interacted, often flirtatious but always warm and engaging.
Finally, New York City felt like the place where I truly belonged. I've always considered myself highly ambitious, and NYC's energy matched that drive. The city opens doors to endless fun and fascinating people if you have money and status. More importantly, it aligned perfectly with my career goals in law, art law, and politics. The city showed me what a high-status position in these fields could look like, making it clear that my future could quickly unfold here.
Not every city shouts its message, but they all have something to say. Cities, like people, each carry distinct personalities shaped by their culture and history. It's not that some cities are silent, but rather that some are more subtle, their stories quieter and more intimate. New York City, for example, is bold, loud, and unmistakably influential on a global scale. In contrast, a small town like Hearst, Ontario, tells its own story—bilingual, rooted in Francophone pride, connected to nature, and shaped by a deep sense of community and heritage. It's not a matter of whether a city communicates, but how its message resonates.
Spending time in a place helps you understand these layers, but even brief encounters can offer insights. Sometimes, being an outsider lets you pick up on subtleties that longtime residents might overlook. Whether you're deeply embedded or passing through, a city's character always leaves an impression—it's just a matter of listening closely.