I stay on of my own choice, not merely because of inertia or because I am already here. It is my city, among other reasons, because it is a good city to be a writer in. It is home to other writers, which makes it an infinitely pleasant base camp for me. Writing is extremely lonely work, and the opportunity to go for a walk with a friend or have dinner with a colleague once a week is one of the city's special pleasures. My friends and I do not have to see each other every day, but the knowledge that we are there for one another, that an unofficial support system is close at hand, that we can get together whenever we want, is a comforting one, something not to be underestimated.
Readers are everywhere.
What I do is valued here. I meet my readers all the time. And they are by and large extremely nice. We meet as serendipiters. Sometimes I am walking my dog and they are walking theirs.