It just stands to reason that the more oeople you have in an area, the greater the diversity and intensity of interests, which we call cultyre. My hometown definitely doesnt have a Bat'leth martial arts class, but you can find it in a big city. Thats why you get such an influx of artsy types to places like NYC because no one ia into their art where they are from
It's quite possible to square traditional urbanism's affection for multiculturalism and an affection for artistic and culinary excellence, but it takes some nuanced language to express why those aren't in conflict.
Embracing cultural elitism while denying it linguistically doesn't really help make the argument.
First, let's be clear with our terms here. "Multiculturalism" is a heavily loaded term. Despite its Judeo-Christian heritage I would argue that the United States does not operate as a multicultural nation-state. Rather, it is more of a ethnically diverse unicultural society in that the population to a broad degree does share a common language, certain American beliefs and values, and have a unique optimistic view of the future that I've found rare in my travels...the so-called "melting-pot". A good example of a multicultural state is Iraq where multiculturalism is clearly established in policy at the federal level as the Kurds, Shia, and Sunni live in an uneasy alliance, separate into ethnic ghetto-states/territories with relatively little inter-mixing, and have vastly different agendas for the future of their country (Kurds wanting to create their own state, etc.)
After rethinking it, I believe that population density is only correlated to the amount of culture, not the cause of it. Cities like Taos, Santa Fe, and Santa Cruz have a high degree of appreciation for the arts despite being outside dense, metro city centers. I believe that openness and tolerance to unfamiliar ideas is the driver behind culture. It is also a necessary requirement for diverse urban centers, which is why you find a large amount of culture there, including the small town cultures that emigrants bring with them.
The easiest way for me to put it is this: No matter how small where you come from is or no matter how esoteric your interests are, there is some sort of meetup for all the things in a LA or NYC.
For your kind of things. In NYC, it's harder to find great snowboarding clubs, demolition derbies, Baptist churches, bass fishing, tacos, and BBQ places. I've been to a mule rodeo before. Haven't heard of something like that in LA.
Not all of those things are my bag of chips, but they're all "culture". Some "culture" either requires less population density or hasn't found a foothold in the coastal mega-cities for whatever reason.
Harder to find than where? A number of the things you mention are limited simply by geography (snowboarding, bass fishing, etc.) I'd wager that you'll also find a decent amount of taco and bbq places compared, to say, Utica. There appears to be a number of Baptist churches in NYC according to google.
When I talk about LA, I'm speaking more generally about the county and its surrounding areas...There are mule rodeos around a half day's drive from LA. You are right that some culture typically requires lower population density, but you usually find some form of it in mega-cities due to emigration.
But the best way to live differs from culture to culture -- and I'm not convinced that the rural South has the same kind of ideal as the North, which means I came on too strong earlier. What does the Celtic or Celticized world's high culture look like...?
Point taken that you like small town culture, though.
I don't especially. I appreciate it. And I appreciate urban culture. I just find the "everyone knows cities are better" meme is really inaccurate.
It's weirdly dismissive of other cultures as well, which is weird considering how much urban centers want to value diversity. People will read 30 page New Yorker pieces about Botswana or listen to an hour or pan flute music before way before they'll take time to acknowledge that there's culture in Tennessee that's worthwhile, even if it's not their cup of tea (which should be obvious because Nashville, but not everyone's as well-heeled as they think they are).
In other words, people want access to socially-dominant individuals. It's probably some sort of backwards instinct that doesn't serve us very well these days, given that for each of the top 100 people in anything, there are a million people who want that "access", and obviously only an infinitestimal fraction of them are going to get it—and living closer to those top 100 people (or even going to events they hold) won't really increase their chances of doing so, any more than living in the capitol city of a monarchy means you'll get to meet the monarch.