> and imagine that more congested areas(cities) might be less welcoming of new traffic.
I live right next door to a very large metropolitan area and the advantage is that there is a lot of diversity in terms of who is on the air. I have 50 repeaters programmed into my dual-band radio and almost all of them some kind of regular activity from weekly nets to casual drive-time QSOs. Lots of older retired gentlemen of course but plenty of other stuff going on too.
I live right next door to a very large metropolitan area and the advantage is that there is a lot of diversity in terms of who is on the air. I have 50 repeaters programmed into my dual-band radio and almost all of them some kind of regular activity from weekly nets to casual drive-time QSOs. Lots of older retired gentlemen of course but plenty of other stuff going on too.