I've lived in some of the biggest cities in the world and I've lived in small farming regions as well. From that, it has been my experience that “freaks” are far more likely to be truly accepted in a rural or small-town setting. Sure, in a big city you can have little pockets where you're “safe”; where you're “allowed to be”, but if you stray outside those regions don't think that other pockets of city fashion will appreciate you being there. While fashion in the city moves faster and is more progressive, it's much more codified and restrictive. Fashion being “ten years behind” in the sticks is a good thing.
Ever watch those TV shows on odd-ball inventors, people with crazy looking houses, and so on? Did you notice that almost all of them live in the country? This is because rural environments tolerate eccentricity far more so than the city. The country responds to people who “don't fit in” by getting to know them and integrating them into a diverse culture (after all, the only other option is “kill them”, which I'm happy to say is very rare). The city responds to people who “don't fit in” by forcing them into ghettos, a virtual concentration camp for that eccentricity. While freaks are safe inside their own ghetto, they are rarely a part of the whole like they can become in the country.
And ultimately if you just want to be left alone so you can do your own thing, that's not really an option in the city. If you want to be free, buy yourself ten acres or more with some nice farmland, a good woodlot, and a spring or otherwise decent fresh water. Oh, and learn how to weld.
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