"But instead of that stuff you get relationships with people and neighbors that you would never get in a city. People in small towns are a lot more open"
About this Quote
There’s a quiet flex hiding in this line: the suggestion that the “stuff” cities sell you is overrated, and that the real luxury is being known. Genevieve Gorder frames small-town life not as a sacrifice but as an upgrade in social texture: fewer transactions, more ties. As a designer, she’s fluent in surfaces and objects, which makes her dismissal of “that stuff” feel pointed. It’s not anti-consumption so much as a recalibration of what counts as good design in a life: not the countertops, the walk-in closet, the curated coffee scene, but the human infrastructure.
The phrase “instead of” does a lot of work. It implies a trade-off narrative that’s baked into American mobility: you move to the city for opportunity and culture, you move away for space and peace. Gorder flips it by making the city the place of diminished access - not to amenities, but to intimacy. “People and neighbors that you would never get in a city” isn’t just pastoral nostalgia; it’s an indictment of urban anonymity as a kind of social design failure, where proximity doesn’t guarantee connection.
Her claim that small-town people are “more open” lands as both observation and aspiration. Subtext: openness is a practice supported by slower rhythms, repeated encounters, and stakes that persist past one night out. It’s also a selective openness - the warmth of being welcomed can coexist with the chill of being watched. The line sells community as the ultimate home feature, while quietly acknowledging how rare - and how engineered - that can feel in modern city life.
The phrase “instead of” does a lot of work. It implies a trade-off narrative that’s baked into American mobility: you move to the city for opportunity and culture, you move away for space and peace. Gorder flips it by making the city the place of diminished access - not to amenities, but to intimacy. “People and neighbors that you would never get in a city” isn’t just pastoral nostalgia; it’s an indictment of urban anonymity as a kind of social design failure, where proximity doesn’t guarantee connection.
Her claim that small-town people are “more open” lands as both observation and aspiration. Subtext: openness is a practice supported by slower rhythms, repeated encounters, and stakes that persist past one night out. It’s also a selective openness - the warmth of being welcomed can coexist with the chill of being watched. The line sells community as the ultimate home feature, while quietly acknowledging how rare - and how engineered - that can feel in modern city life.
Quote Details
| Topic | Friendship |
|---|
More Quotes by Genevieve
Add to List
