Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

Post by pas » Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 7:48 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #271

jfengel wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What really strikes me is just how many ordinary buildings are older than our country. The monuments and palaces are one thing, but it's very common to eat in a restaurant or pub that dates to the 17th century. Not as a tourist trap or destination, but just as a perfectly ordinary building that has been retrofitted (sometimes awkwardly) with bathrooms and lights and such. I've been in 500 year old cottages that weren…

One thing I wonder is, how frequently are new European buildings made of stone? I occasionally encounter comments from people confused by American home renovation shows where people literally burst through walls Kool-Aid Man style[1] when demolishing them, but most of our walls (even exterior) are wood-framed and mostly hollow, and once you take out the framing there’s just drywall. [1] Not from an actual renovation…

Post by pas » Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 7:52 PM UTC

ben_w wrote: post #65

lordnacho wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a European, it's not the age that matters so much as the uniformity of American cities. A lot of places between the coasts seem to be the same simcity arranged slightly differently. Come to Europe and see very different styles within a short distance.

So much so, that I didn’t really understand SimCity until I visited the USA. I don’t think I’ve even seen a water tower outside the states, and if I have they are disguised as other things. (Unless you count the tanks on top of literally every Cypriot building, but even those are nothing like the American/SimCity type).

Post by bluGill » Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 7:53 PM UTC

matchbok wrote: post #218

johnbrodie wrote: post #84

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I'm confused as to whether you're describing urban living or suburban living. Both have everything mentioned, the latter without being stacked on top of your neighbors.

In no way do the suburbs have the quality and diversity of food that any urban core does. 0%. I've been in both, they simple do not compare.

Post by amaccuish » Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 7:54 PM UTC

brmgb wrote: post #227

maxsilver wrote: post #134

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Obviously they haven't, and they remain great options for people wealthy enough to afford Parisian Townhouses. But unless you somehow gift me one million dollars USD or more (and the same to every single person I know), none of us are going to be able to afford to live anywhere in Paris that actually has close access to all of those things you've described, with the living situation described above. If we're magicall…

> But unless you somehow gift me one million dollars USD or more (and the same to every single person I know), none of us are going to be able to afford to live anywhere in Paris that actually has close access to all of those things you've described, with the living situation described above. Have you ever set foot in a European city ? I currently live in Paris. Bus, metro and Vélib' are three minutes away and I am n…

Post by msla » Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 8:00 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #255

RangerScience wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO this is part of why why protests started marching down freeways. In LA, if you protest by marching down basically any freeway, you snarl up that freeway (and likely more) for tens of miles, at least (AFAIK). (the 101 between hollywood and DTLA is essentially a single thing, the 10 between DTLA and West Side, the 405 from culver city up to over the pass in sherman oaks...) AKA, the "center" isn't geographic, but..…

It also gives a great sense of your own power (which is very important to protest movements) in marching along and shutting down a freeway, which you could never in any other situation just calmly walk down the middle of. Critical Mass is invigorating for the same reasons.