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The one I find myself referring people to most often is actually “Cities and Ambition”: http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html



Same here. I find that essay enormously helpful for evaluating one's current living situation and planning your future. Also, it provides a great way for explaining to others why you live where you live. I've been in Salt Lake City for a while now. People's reaction to telling them that typically falls somewhere in that awkward territory between surprise, pity, and condescension. I then tell them that like every great city, Salt Lake sends its inhabitants a very specific message. In fact, I feel it more strongly here than I ever have anywhere else. The message is, "You should be more responsible, and you should be a nicer person."


That sounds like a fantastic message to impart to your community.

Can you talk a little more about where that message comes from, the specific forms it takes, or maybe point readers towards other sources that talk more about Salt Lake City? I'm embarrassed to say I know next to nothing about the city or surrounding state...


"Cities and Ambition" is not mentioned as much as the other ones(about ~1000 times). It does have an MTS score of 9.9 though.




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