Choosing where you live is the most important decision of your life.
It determines
1. the work you get
2. the partner you have
3. your whole life downstream.

You have to choose wisely because the city you live in becomes who you are.
Paris is fancy, grumpy, artsy - that's who you become.
New York is restless, crazy and bougie - that's who you become.
San Francisco is techy, dreamy and weird - that's who you become.

Why? First, cities have founding stories that perpetuate.

San Francisco was founded by dreamers and gold diggers from all over the world, who left everything behind, willing to pay the high price for a chance at a better life. 170 years later and this is still exactly the same. The founding stories repeat themselves by attracting like-minded individuals, generation after generation. Ask your AI about the founding story of your city.

Second, cities influence our thoughts more than we'd like to accept.

We like to think we shape our own lives through thoughts, habits, mindsets. But our environment shapes us more than we shape it. We are cells of the bigger organism of cities. Our personalities, our ambitions, our social norms... all downstream of where we are. Research in geographical psychology confirms this: your personality literally shifts to match the city you live in.

Our lives are short. Cities outlive us. The best we can do is choose the right one, then surrender to it and contribute to it. That is what it means to be a good citizen.

Once you've chosen, stay. Stay with conviction. Network effects are real. As you become your city, you attract everyone who belongs there too.

I grew up across many cities. Barcelona made me easy-going. Paris made me artsy. Now San Francisco is making me a builder. This city is only 170 years old, still being shaped, still being designed. Moving here was the best decision of my life.

I chose my city. Now I'm becoming it.
Have you chosen yours?