One of the reasons I love Berlin. City. With LOTS and LOTS of trees.
Same with the area around Golden Gate Park in SF, being close to so much well-maintained and curated nature is delightful. The place is a real treasure.
The words "well-maintained" and "curated" don't usually rhyme very well with "nature", IMO. Real nature is by definition unmaintained. When it's maintained it becomes a park/garden, and loses more or less all its diversity. Fine, if you just want to look at some green leaves (which is great in a city) but we shouldn't call it nature just because something is alive there.
From the article: > In recent years, study after study has found that living in neighborhoods with abundant green space is linked to positive health outcomes. But it specifically calls out trees as more beneficial than other green spaces. > But when it come to promoting human health, not all green spaces are created equal. That’s the conclusion of new Australian research, which finds higher levels of wellness in area…
I think the OP may have a point, though. You can have an area with lots of big buildings, take one lot and make a "greenspace" with it: some grass, a fountain, some bushes. But to make an area with trees (especially plural), you need some place fairly wide, that has light, and has enough ground water to support the trees. An area that supports those trees will have to be less built up than the average area that can s…
> An area that supports those trees will have to be less built up
You reminded me of Central Park. I wonder what it will be like in 20-40 years:
What are some great cities with surrounding nature for software engineers? I was looking at Atlanta, GA which I heard has the most trees for a city. According to Wikipedia, it has 47.9% tree coverage
Stockholm is not bad at all for a nature loving SW developer. I know lots of people who moved from here, to the valley (biggest opportunity), London/Berlin (bigger than Stockholm while still European cities) and lately some successful people started leaving for Singapore (taxes & climate reasons) but I don't think any of those offer the same nature opportunities. We have a pretty damn good tech/IT scene here, and from the city center you can go on a run and be in a huge, empty natural reserve forest within 20 minutes (it's about 2 miles out). You can also head out into the archipelago of 25,000 islands just east of the city. Lots of space, pretty unspoiled and accessible to all regardless of ownership, thanks to a law that gives the public the right to hike or camp anywhere in the country. I'd imagine there are few IT startup hubs that can compete in this. Portland maybe? Helsinki or the Baltics certainly have the nature, but smaller startup/tech scenes.
Rural and small town living is the way to go for me. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone here defending the aesthetics of cookie-cutter suburbs.
To clarify, I meant 80s and 90s suburbs, not the godawful European-looking Stepford-wife monstrosities they build now. Suburbs with tree cover where you may or may not be able to even see the house next door. The kind where every house looks different because it was built by a different company and none of the lots are smaller than half an acre.
That's not very dense even for suburbia. There is a lot of suburban housing from that era that doesn't look like that at all.
I work in central London and feel the same way. Coworkers are often surprised that when I moved to London, I chose to go quite a bit north and have to take the tube for 45 minutes to get to work. But I live on a one way street with no traffic, and when I look outside my window, there is a giant field of grass with lots of huge trees. I can go outside, lie down in the grass, enjoy the peace and quiet. I will watch the…
Why do people say London density is so bad when there are homes with trees only 45min away?
Idk. London has amazing parks. Hampstead Heath being my favorite.
You guys have trees inside the office? Can you explain how that works? Plants I understand, but not trees.
I've been in a few places with inside trees: Most notably, "Arby's" (a fast-food restaurant) and nursing homes. Sometimes, places simply have a hole in the foundation that allows access to the ground. These holes often have more dirt on top and can support a rather tall tree. Other places have large containers of dirt which support smaller trees. It really isn't much different than folks planting trees in the middle…
Well you could’ve move in with your partner, and meet your friend somewhere. I get what you are saying but London is damn expensive so living out a bit makes sense for many people.
Most people go through a period of time where they are 'dating' someone but not ready to move in.
Yep this is the stay over for the weekend (and some weeknights stage). Totally doable up to a 2hr commute.
Not if you just mow it and let whatever grows grow.
I am a borderline lawn nut. After spending a lot of time getting the lawn well established, healthy, and vibrant, the on-going maintenance to keep it looking very nice is not particularly onerous. I doubt it's even 25 hours of total labor across the year, all told (for a 6500 ft^2 of lawn city lot).
I'm the opposite. I don't like lawns, not just for the looks but mainly because as far as biodiversity goes a trimmed lawn is almost dead. So I converted the lawns which came with the house into meadows. Nature thrives, and as far as maintainance goes it is also beneficial: depending on conditions I'm mowing twice or ideally just once a year. Even with a scythe it takes less time than standard lanw maintainance.
I've been in a few places with inside trees: Most notably, "Arby's" (a fast-food restaurant) and nursing homes. Sometimes, places simply have a hole in the foundation that allows access to the ground. These holes often have more dirt on top and can support a rather tall tree. Other places have large containers of dirt which support smaller trees. It really isn't much different than folks planting trees in the middle…
Uh, and sunshine.
Proper windows give lots of sunshine. Greenhouses are full of them. You can also mimick it by the right lighting.
If I were really going to include something I missed, though, it'd be wind.