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Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

economist.com

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Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#441

Post by ZoomerCretin »

voidfunc wrote: post #287
syki wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We Americans are a nation of people who spend the vast majority of our waking hours inside. We go from building to building via car isolated from the world and each other. It’s an enormous waste of land and resources since every building has to have its own parking. Most parking lots at stores sit empty most of the time. It’s unhealthy that we walk so little. It’s unhealthy that we interact so little with those aroun…

Seems like most Americans like it this way. You say unhealthy but that is what the market overwhelmingly wants.

The market doesn't want this, it wants to make the most out of land near cities. It's the government (local) that bans density and mandates car-centric development.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#442

Post by tsunamifury »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #421
tsunamifury wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So cars did this entirely on their own. Come on You might not like cars but everyone else does. They like and want cities this way and in reality it’s people like us that are the outliers. We aren’t right. We are going against the tide. We built cities around cars Because we like cars — because they put distance between us and our fellow American we don’t particularly like or want to tolerate.

I write: > Any explanation for the structure, placement, demographics and dynamics of American society that focuses on single reason for things (whether it is "elbow room", "Robert Moses" or "racism") is going to be wrong about most things. to which you respond: > So cars did this entirely on their own. Come on Is there something that unclear about what I wrote?

Because you comments are constantly just boiled down to “it’s too complicated to understand”.

Look people left cities in the 50s because they didn’t like other people in cities. It’s a well known and established fact. It’s called white flight. And it continues to this day.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#443

Post by jonpurdy »

makotobestgirl wrote: post #30
kstenerud wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't speak Japanese when I first moved there. In larger cities (especially Tokyo), there are plenty of people who speak English, so it's generally not a huge problem (although you'll find things easier if you do speak the language). The biggest issues are crowding and racism. Don't expect to get into any role of importance, and don't freak out when you hear "gaijin dame" (no foreigners allowed) in some places, or…

> The biggest issues are crowding and racism That's surprising to hear. I have lived in Tokyo a fair amount of time (5+ years) and only experienced true racism, e.g. being not being allowed in a place for being non-Japanese, a handful of times, and those were mostly for what would be considered nighttime establishment that are a bit shady. Not doubting your experience, just putting this here as another data point. Mo…

Exact same thing in South Korea. Folks afraid of embarrassing themselves with their English, but once you speak Korean (and look presentable) it's not a problem.

Funny thing about the oversensitivity to racism: many foreigners assume racism, but if they understood Korean they'd figure out that either they're not the topic of discussion, or the locals are gossiping or speaking the same way they would about a local Korean person as well.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#444

Post by fomine3 »

88840-8855 wrote: post #436
Seb-C wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often read people mentioning this ridiculous affirmation about pedophilia in Japan, but I'm still not sure where it comes from.

There’s a street in Tokyo known as "JK alley", or "schoolgirl alley", from the Japanese Joshi Kosei, meaning high school girl. There, teenagers in school uniform sell their time to passers-by, while their minders hover in the background. Men pay to hold hands, go for a walk or have a cup of coffee with the girls. Some even pay to sleep on a girl's lap. This is all legitimate, above board and legal. Japan is also home…

To be fair "JK" in such shop is mostly (hopefully?) fake.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#446

Post by kadomony »

_xnmw wrote: post #135
setgree wrote: post #117

Coming home from Tokyo to New York in 2018 was depressing. You get so used to living in a dysfunctional society that you forget it's dysfunctional, but getting off the plane at JFK, I was reminded of Biden's comment that our airports are like stepping into a third world country [0]. The next week in New York, I felt like I saw nothing but broken things and lost people. How many places in America: * have good schools…

New York is an exception though. It's a place for world's super-rich and the immigrants that keep it running. Austin, Texas is way more livable for the middle class.

Buddy, Austin has garbage public transit and infrastructure. It is not walkable. No one wants to walk in the heat 20 mins to HEB and be accosted by homeless people. It's the latest entry into the shitshow that is garbage American cities.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#447

Post by njwi332 »

patio11 wrote: post #10

It’s been notably less pleasant for the last two years, for reasons shared with substantially all cities (ex-China, I suppose). Would heartily recommend it otherwise, which would have surprised me when I was younger. In particular, the neighborhoods allow you to pick your vibe, pace, and sense of scale at multiple points along the continuum, so if e.g. the Shibuya scramble crosswalk is not your idea of a good time yo…

> you can live five minutes away by train and enjoy tree-lined streets and cozy bistros with a bit of outdoor seating instead

Do you refer to Daikanyama here? Easily my favourite neighbourhood of Tokyo (so much so that I just bought an apartment to move there in two weeks!)

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#448

Post by mysecretaccount »

njwi332 wrote: post #447
patio11 wrote: post #10

It’s been notably less pleasant for the last two years, for reasons shared with substantially all cities (ex-China, I suppose). Would heartily recommend it otherwise, which would have surprised me when I was younger. In particular, the neighborhoods allow you to pick your vibe, pace, and sense of scale at multiple points along the continuum, so if e.g. the Shibuya scramble crosswalk is not your idea of a good time yo…

> you can live five minutes away by train and enjoy tree-lined streets and cozy bistros with a bit of outdoor seating instead Do you refer to Daikanyama here? Easily my favourite neighbourhood of Tokyo (so much so that I just bought an apartment to move there in two weeks!)

Love that neighborhood. Congrats on buying a spot there - it has been my dream to do the same.
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