Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The US is WAY too much into private property rights to allow that.
There's an odd case in the courts in California at the moment, in which one beachfront owner is insisting he has the right to ban strangers from walking on "his" beach. This, in spite of the fact that CA has had a law on the books for at least 60 years declaring tidelands to be open to the public. All beachfront below the high tide mark is open to the public in California. That doesn't suit some homeowners, though.
Thing is, people in Europe are also into private property. I mean, they're into ownership too. They just happen to like community, and having huge, beautiful, unsprawled territory surrounding it. They're not into sprawling like a cancer. Cancerous, spreading sprawl is what goes in the U.S.
Thing is, people in Europe are also into private property. I mean, they're into ownership too. They just happen to like community, and having huge, beautiful, unsprawled territory surrounding it. They're not into sprawling like a cancer. Cancerous, spreading sprawl is what goes in the U.S.
Tell me more about that. What is going on there? What is the "cancer" you're talking about?
I heard of most parts of Texas were private property and there was almost no possibillity to go into nature because all land is fenced. People with horses had to drive for hours to find a place to ride into nature.
I spent most of my time on private property since i was on a ranch. The guy had 15.000 hectare of land. It was a working ranch were i joined in the round ups. But on our way through the plains and mountains, we met a lot of campers. I guess they were on his property and he didn't have a problem with it. We did also ride on a lot of BLM land, surching for lost cattle and those parts of land seemed uge.
So how does that work? Is Wyoming one of the few states with "open" land for the public? Because even though a lot of land is public, to me it seems there's still plenty of it, especially comparing to the Netherlands.
But that's from a dutch man's perspective ofcourse.
Tell me more about that. What is going on there? What is the "cancer" you're talking about?
I heard of most parts of Texas were private property and there was almost no possibillity to go into nature because all land is fenced. People with horses had to drive for hours to find a place to ride into nature.
I spent most of my time on private property since i was on a ranch. The guy had 15.000 hectare of land. It was a working ranch were i joined in the round ups. But on our way through the plains and mountains, we met a lot of campers. I guess they were on his property and he didn't have a problem with it. We did also ride on a lot of BLM land, surching for lost cattle and those parts of land seemed uge.
So how does that work? Is Wyoming one of the few states with "open" land for the public? Because even though a lot of land is public, to me it seems there's still plenty of it, especially comparing to the Netherlands.
But that's from a dutch man's perspective ofcourse.
Sprawling out to own every bit of land like a cancer over the American landscape, suburb after suburb, ever-expanding like metastases.
Saritaschihuahua - I don't know where in the world you live, but America is HUGE. I mean MASSIVE. For me, getting in the car and driving 13 hours doesn't even get me close to driving halfway across the US. And trust me, after you've been in a long long car ride, usually heading from one of the coasts to the middle of the country, you'll see a lot of nothing. I take that back - it's something. Usually farmland, forests, trees, mountains. Once you drive out of the suburbs from the city, there is a lot of 'not much going on here'. Take a good look at the satellite pictures of the US. I can drive 45 minutes from city center and find….mountains, a historic battlefield totally preserved, rivers, loads and loads of farmland and some back roads that when you drive you say to yourself 'I hope to god I don't get in an accident because it will take forever for the ambulance to get up here'.
I lived in quite a few different American cities and visited many many others. I can tell you once you leave the urban and suburban sprawl, it's a HUGE vast amount of nothing. Despite living close to the Washington, DC area, I still have deer running across the street into traffic. I have Manassas Battlefield not that far from my suburban area. Middleburg is close by with it's vast preserved lands for hunting and riding (fox and turkey hunting area), we have large amounts of farmland just outside the suburban border and the Appalachian mountains a bit further down the road. We have the Blue Ridge Parkway that is absolutely gorgeous to drive down. I know of many parks and preserved wetlands areas still within the suburbs. We have the W&OD trail, which I highly suggest you look up. I know many people who bike it to get to work. Sure we have some dense residential and business areas, but both Maryland and Virginia suburbs pride themselves of making sure there is still lots of green around. Several brand new suburban developments in the Northern Virginia region - Brambleton and Broadlands, and even Aldie area…they have been focusing on keeping surrounding farmland (those that didn't sell their farms) intact and many are pre-designed with public shopping close by, public transportation, PLENTY of green and park space, and wider roads and walking trails.
But, having lived in a few other American cities - if you just base your experiences on just a few major cities and just a select number of suburban sprawl, then your view of suburban will be biased towards the bad. As dirty as Milwaukee was when I lived in it, just a few miles out is some of the most gorgeous small towns and farms and clean green areas I've come across. Same with Chicago, some suburbs are horrid, and some are very good. Go just a bit further out and you will have a completely different picture of city suburbs. Just outside of Austin, TX is even loads of green space, parks, water conservation, etc.
As for European cities - you forget that most of the major European cities have tripled in size with their own sprawl since the 1920's. My god, how London and Paris have grown substantially with their own suburban sprawl in the last 80 years.
Personally I'd rather live in a spacious home on a spacious lot, one with comfortable rooms and a big kitchen, with my own private back yard oasis where the kids and dogs can run and play outside for hours, rather than a small cramped apartment where I have to store my bike on my tiny outdoor patio and drag it down three flights of stairs every time I want to use it. That's why I chose to live in the suburbs rather than a city center. The cost of living is actually lower in the average suburb of Anywhere, USA than it is in a crowded city center. The air is fresher and the overall living is more comfortable. But hey, that's just me. To each his own.
United Burgers of McDonalds vs. History, Culture, Food, Architecture, Fashion, Music, Freedom, Beauty, Conservationalism, Technologoy
Europe's history is very selective. North of the Med, Europe doesn't have much history, so boohoo. European history holds no candle to China's.
What culture? When I was in the UK and Germany, I saw the same culture as I do here. People go to work, come back home, eat, and sleep. Wow, so much culture.
Considering we have a lot of immigrants from Europe living here, I can get almost all the same food as I can over there. Plus, we have more diversity of immigrants here and I can get food from more remote corners of Asia easily in my state alone.
European architecture is pretty bland. East Asian architecture is where it's at.
Sorry, but New York City compares with Paris in the fashion world, and many of the West's trends come from New York City, not Paris.
What music are you talking about?
Very country specific. The UK has less freedom than the US does, did that figure into your equation of Europe?
Beauty of what? Landscape? People? If it's people, that's highly subjective, as for me that kind of beauty is in East Asia, not Europe or North America.
I'll give you the conservation one.
Technology wise, about 1/3 of new technology is researched in Germany, 1/3 in the US, and 1/3 in Japan.
I think you have some growing up to do, get out of your little bubble and see the world outside of the EU
Last edited by theunbrainwashed; 06-26-2014 at 08:14 AM..
Personally I'd rather live in a spacious home on a spacious lot, one with comfortable rooms and a big kitchen, with my own private back yard oasis where the kids and dogs can run and play outside for hours, rather than a small cramped apartment where I have to store my bike on my tiny outdoor patio and drag it down three flights of stairs every time I want to use it. That's why I chose to live in the suburbs rather than a city center. The cost of living is actually lower in the average suburb of Anywhere, USA than it is in a crowded city center. The air is fresher and the overall living is more comfortable. But hey, that's just me. To each his own.
I might have enjoyed living in the middle of London when I was in my 20's. No desire to live in a city any more though, had enough of those. We have a spacious house on 1/2 acre across from the sea. Plenty of places to walk or cycle, forests, mountains, beach. Clean air and water. Zero complaints here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
