You can extrapolate this discussion to our nearest galaxy, Andromeda, almost 3 million light years away. That flows naturally into an explanation of the 12-15 billion light years to the edge of the known universe. Someone might then ask about the Big Bang. I need a really big telescope to impress people with the views. Jupiter and Saturn, many double stars and prominent nebulae make for good viewing with a 60-90mm refractor.
Visual astronomy is a waste of time in light-polluted cities.
It's true that many deep-sky objects will be lost to light pollution, but there's no appreciable effect on the Moon and planets. You never know who will walk by. After seeing all those images from Hubble and NASA probes, no one besides me is interested in looking through a puny telescope. There's no substitute for the real thing. This will all sound like a boring re-hash of grade school science class.