It must be -- the very fact that you mention huge cities is different. Those don't exist to me, haven't for hundreds of years. Before my time, the Great War caused a nuclear holocaust, the collapse of civilization and global climate change that wiped out most of humanity. The fallout still threatens life over two hundred years later. Not just for the lingering radiation, but the mutated creatures it created and the effects it's had on the surviving population. Societally speaking, it's a bit of a nightmare.

[ Obviously, though, he's not human. He only has to deal with some aspects of the harsh world left behind. ]

I live on a small island in the north, mostly populated by humans who accepted me and my contributions to their survival enough to let me build a save haven for other escaped synths with free will. It's still not peaceful, not at all, but for the most part the humans accept us as people. So I continue to help them. It gives me hope that perhaps someday we'll be able to coexist with the rest of the Commonwealth.