Were cities able to talk with one another as men can, and as foolishly as men often do, I have no doubt that many a hustling middle-western city would patronize Charleston, precisely as a parvenue might patronize a professor of astronomy; nevertheless, Charleston has a stronger, deeper-rooted city entity than all the cities of the Middle West rolled into one.

This is no exaggeration.

Where modern American cities strive to be like one another, Charleston strives to be like nothing whatsoever.

She does not have to strive to _be_ something.

She _is_ something.