The greatest city in the world????

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by taylan007, Nov 23, 2005.

  1. Baron Max Registered Senior Member

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    Yeah, so now we should have to write about the ugliness of the "greatest city", too. Surely no one would want to mislead us, right?

    Baron Max
     
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  3. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    Every city has a unique character and personality, just like people. They may be equally "great" in terms of cultural resources and even tolerable weather, but they're still different. For example, most New Yorkers and Los AngeleƱos are doomed to feel like outsiders in each other's city, even though they appreciate it and have difficulty expressing dissatisfaction except in purely emotional terms.

    In addition to many American, Canadian, and Mexican cities, I've also been to Prague, Sofia, Budapest, Bucharest, Thessaloniki, Barcelona, Munich, Vienna, Venice, and many more. They all have their charms and I could spend a long time in any one.

    But as for living there... I'm a Californian. The only cities I feel at home in are Los Angeles and San Francisco. (I don't care how big San Diego and Sacramento are, they're not cities.) No matter how nice anywhere else is and no matter how long I stay there "getting used to it," I feel like a visitor from another planet.

    If you've been to L.A. and S.F., you're probably thinking that they're as different from each other as Rome and Stockholm. That's my point. They both have that "something" that makes me feel like I belong there, just two extremely different neighborhoods in the same community. I don't feel that anywhere else.
     
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  5. valich Registered Senior Member

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    Ironically we've had three profs from our school that have transferred to New Zealand permanently after doing short and longterm research there because of its animal diversity and wilderness. But as far as the girls go, the ratio of men far outnumber women. So what do you mean by "liberal to fuck." It's also a relatively small country compared to its neighbors (Australia), so what's there to do there?
     
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  7. bianca Registered Member

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    vancouver, canada
     
  8. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    are you joking?, every part of london apart from central is a shithole, you live in tottenham all you see when you look out the window are high rise tower blocks and crack heads, same goes for me in my area, london is great if your rich i guess, i personally wanna move out of london, 20 odd years here is enough for me, i think chinese and japanese cities are the nicest looking i love there buildings,

    same goes for NY, you try living in brooklyn, bedstuy for 10 years then come back and tell me you had a "blast",

    peace,
     
  9. Xerxes asdfghjkl Valued Senior Member

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    Right now I'm taking a course in urban studies (one of two in Canada). And the prof gave a nice example of this 'something' today: Purchasing and eating ice cream in Europe Vs Calgary.

    When you buy ice cream European cities, it's an experience. The area is designed for walking and making one feel 'welcome'. People live and work in high density, mixed use communities (though *not* high rise.)

    Here, the area is paved. You have to cross a busy thoroughfare. That sense of welcomeness one finds in European cities is nonexistent. The whole thing is reduced to a commercial transaction.

    Of course, the point is we live in an automobile-centric society which stresses private life and closed privately owned businesses. The density is too low and there simply aren't enough pedestrians. Our cities are exclusive rather than inclusive.


    I used to think Calgary, my city of birth, was perfect. We have a hot economy, a great hockey team, beautiful skyline and nature. It's one of the the cleanest and safest cities in North America, yet Calgary is sterile. In case you people didn't know, Calgary also happens to be one of the lowest densities at a million people spread across 700km^2 (New York is 800km^2). We have a larger urban footprint than Los Angeles.

    Now tell me, how is a clean impersonal city better than one where you can walk to the ice cream parlour, have that sense of community and spend your entire life without needing a car?

    Freiburg, Germany has been described as the perfect city. I haven't been, but from its description it gets my vote.
     
  10. stretched a junkie's broken promise Valued Senior Member

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    Are you a ex-muso Fraggle?
     
  11. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    Well I guess not. I don't understand what the word even means! It took a while with Google even to get an idea of the meaning and it's still vague. Anyway, NO to both meanings that I've managed to piece together:

    1. I am not a former player of a Japanese anime-based virtual-universe group computer game.

    2. I am not a former devoted fan of popular music who used to own a lot of musical equipment. I am a CURRENT devoted fan of popular music who still owns a lot of musical equipment and I play electric bass.
     
  12. Kotoko Laptop Persocom Registered Senior Member

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    Some of the best cities I've ever had the pleasure of visiting;

    Calgary, Alberta Canada
    Prague, Czech Republic
    Chicago, Illinois
    Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
    Nice, France
    Barcelona, Spain
    Sydney, Australia
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Cuzco, Peru
    Chiang Mai, Thailand
    Oaxaca, Mexico
    Istanbul, Turkey
    Florence, Italy
    Sante Fe, New Mexico
    Victoria, British Columbia
    Salzburg, Austria
    Marrakesh, Morroco
    Cairo, Egypt
    Charleston, South Carolina
    Rio De Janerio, Brazil
     
  13. Xerxes asdfghjkl Valued Senior Member

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    Kotoko,

    Can I ask what you liked about Calgary? The others are obvious, except for maybe Chicago.
     
  14. tablariddim forexU2 Valued Senior Member

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  15. tablariddim forexU2 Valued Senior Member

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    Wow, you've certainly been around and such a long way from home too. I'm impressed.
     
  16. Kotoko Laptop Persocom Registered Senior Member

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    I am originally from Edmonton, and while Edmonton has great people, there is something about Calgary that sets it above most other Canadian cities. The views and landscapes are awesome, the highways are good, the employment rate and cleanliness is good. Pair that all with a low crime rate, a good tech market and lots of things to see and do there and you really have a nice city.

    As for Chicago, there are awesome museums, great food and culture. There are such great theaters and a wonderful opera house that has amazing acoustics. The new Millenium Park in Chicago is worth a visit along with the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. They also have great festivals for food and for Jazz. It's really a friendly place, with a lot of friendly people who aren't trying too hard to get your business. It's a very hospitable town.

    I love to travel. I'd like to spend more time in Asia, preferably Japan, China, India, Burma, Tibet and Korea. I was a contractor for a long time and did a lot of training, and was in the military. There was one time that I had to get a new passport because the one I had didn't have any space left for visa stamps.
     
  17. devils_reject Registered Senior Member

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    Travelling this much you surely must have met Jesus somewhere.
     
  18. Hapsburg Hellenistic polytheist Valued Senior Member

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    Vienna gets my vote.
    Or Louisville.
    Both are centers of art and culture.
     
  19. Kotoko Laptop Persocom Registered Senior Member

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    I saw Jesus in my tomato soup once...

    Okay, well it was just his hair...

    One piece of his hair.

    Apparently, Mr. Jesus Reyes forgot his hair net before work at Denny's =(

    I did, however see the frost pattern of the Virgin Mary in a Houston, Texas grocery store ice cream section.
     
  20. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    Interesting. I've never heard the term before, neither at home in California nor here in the D.C. area. Is it pronounced moo-so or myoo-zo?

    Actually I'm just between gigs right now, although it's been about twenty years since the last one. All the songs I learned to play when they were on the Top Forty are now "classic rock" and everybody wants to dance to them. All us old hippies are dusting off our amps. I can't get over the sight of a room full of college kids getting crazy with "Sweet Home Alabama." The lyrics about Watergate and Governor Wallace and Neil Young can't mean anything to them.

    I enjoy playing most of the styles that are popular in America, I tend to like individual songs more than a particular genre. I have a good feel for reggae, old fashioned heavy metal, soft rock, and the Arab Groove stuff that the young Mideasterners are laying down. And of course if you're going to play here, where half the people live in Virginia, you have to be able to play country. Fortunately that's not hard, I know all three chords.

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    I seem to be missing the enzyme to make funk, though. I can't get my strings to pop no matter what I do.
     
  21. Closet Philosopher Off to Laurentian University Registered Senior Member

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    1,785
    I remeber reading an article about the best city int he world a couple of days ago... here it is:
    http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/10/04/eui.survey/

    Apparently, Vancouver is the best city in the world to live in. I have been to Vancouver several times as well as every major city in Canada. Vancouver is a great place as long as you stay out of the East Side. The cost of living in Vancouver is extremely high. Living in a great place has a price tag.

    Many people say that NYC is the greatest city in the world. I have been there and there is no doubt that it is an amazing place but I would prefer to live in Vancouver.
     
  22. taylan007 Madman Registered Senior Member

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    Thats all part of the challenge of living in london. Londoners can take it in their stride if you cant handle the elements then its your problem.
     
  23. taylan007 Madman Registered Senior Member

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    Those are side effects of any city, one of the things that makes a city great is how it handles these things.
     

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