“there is nothing to do in this city”

this kind of discourse needs to be developed like 10x more than it is now. there is tons to do on any smartphone or computer. an Amazon prime subscription and a field of grass allows you to do so many sports and exercises. so... what do people mean?

usually they mean consumer oriented placeseeing - as in going to restaurants, bars, and a few other things you'd go and pay money for like shows or whatever. but when you distinguish "things to do" from consumer-oriented placeseeing, the "things to do" list shrinks considerably.

most of the time, in basically any kinda-big city, the sequence of events is "go out to place -> see person at place -> do thing at home I'd do anywhere".

the "things to do" concept is broadened by the number of options in the "places to spend money at" category, of course, but the basic concept is the same.

we need WAY more vocabulary in this area of thought. like, going to a park and having a nice conversation is something a lot of people enjoy doing but it's a way different kind of "doing something" than what most people mean when they say "things to do".