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Yes, thats the case with the vast majority of Chinese, Italian and Mexican restaurants in the US. Almost none are following an authentic recipe of any kind and instead are using cheap ingredients based around what was easily available and to fit the pallet of uncultured Americans that don't know any better and where largely afraid to step outside their comfort zone.
I have Mexican relatives that cook authentically because they can find what they need at the Mexican markets in the area, same goes for Japanese food, a friend of mine is Japanese and she regularly goes to Chicago and Milwaukee to get ingredients, but even then she has to have some things shipped over from her relatives in Japan as no place, not even special order shops online carry them here.
As for Italian, compared to the regional based dishes you see on travel shows like Bourdain's the "red sauce" joints you see here are the furthest thing from what is going on there. Especially once you figure out that Alfredo sauce doesn't exist in Italy, And half the dishes you see on the menu here don't exist there either.
Italian-American cuisine has be recognized as its own cuisine for over a century. Its generally what is served here in the US - I even have some Italian relatives who, shock horror, like it.
Chinese-American cuisine also has a long history in this country too.
What's the problem?
I'm an immigrant myself, not originally American, but I've had some godawful attempts at what might be considered American-origin cuisine in foreign countries.
So what?
And really - what non-perishable cooking ingredients can't you buy nowadays online? Even some fresh ones - I can get fresh yuzu (when in season) and enoki even in my NY suburb.
If people simply want cosmetic differences between cities then you get Celebration, FL everywhere. Trying to build cities to look different from each other will result in tacky revival architecture. With American urban planning, form largely follows function, which is the best touchstone.
I'll assume that the basis for comparison is European cities, as that's almost always the basis for comparison.
European cities grew over millennia using local materials because they were the cheapest (gray Edinburgh vs pastel Rome) not because people wanted them to look different. The street layouts are pell mell because they were originally foot paths, not because some planner thought the view from this alley into this square would be attractive.
If you try to recreate the trappings of European cities, which evolved for function, using modern materials and needs then you are just making a pastiche. It is better to design a city to be functional now and appreciate the form many decades later, than to be locked into the forms of the past. This is what makes a living city and not a museum piece.
Incidentally most European cities get to be the same after a while. Here is the medieval warren with a gothic cathedral in the middle, then there are Hausmannesque boulevards with beaux arts buildings, then there are Bauhaus, modern type buildings, then there are outer parts that look surprisingly similar to suburban architecture worldwide.
If people simply want cosmetic differences between cities then you get Celebration, FL everywhere. Trying to build cities to look different from each other will result in tacky revival architecture. With American urban planning, form largely follows function, which is the best touchstone.
I'll assume that the basis for comparison is European cities, as that's almost always the basis for comparison.
European cities grew over millennia using local materials because they were the cheapest (gray Edinburgh vs pastel Rome) not because people wanted them to look different. The street layouts are pell mell because they were originally foot paths, not because some planner thought the view from this alley into this square would be attractive.
If you try to recreate the trappings of European cities, which evolved for function, using modern materials and needs then you are just making a pastiche. It is better to design a city to be functional now and appreciate the form many decades later, than to be locked into the forms of the past. This is what makes a living city and not a museum piece.
Incidentally most European cities get to be the same after a while. Here is the medieval warren with a gothic cathedral in the middle, then there are Hausmannesque boulevards with beaux arts buildings, then there are Bauhaus, modern type buildings, then there are outer parts that look surprisingly similar to suburban architecture worldwide.
If people simply want cosmetic differences between cities then you get Celebration, FL everywhere. Trying to build cities to look different from each other will result in tacky revival architecture. With American urban planning, form largely follows function, which is the best touchstone.
I'll assume that the basis for comparison is European cities, as that's almost always the basis for comparison.
European cities grew over millennia using local materials because they were the cheapest (gray Edinburgh vs pastel Rome) not because people wanted them to look different. The street layouts are pell mell because they were originally foot paths, not because some planner thought the view from this alley into this square would be attractive.
If you try to recreate the trappings of European cities, which evolved for function, using modern materials and needs then you are just making a pastiche. It is better to design a city to be functional now and appreciate the form many decades later, than to be locked into the forms of the past. This is what makes a living city and not a museum piece.
Incidentally most European cities get to be the same after a while. Here is the medieval warren with a gothic cathedral in the middle, then there are Hausmannesque boulevards with beaux arts buildings, then there are Bauhaus, modern type buildings, then there are outer parts that look surprisingly similar to suburban architecture worldwide.
Excellent points.
Not sure why anyone would tour prospective places to live in the US and judge them primarily by what the buildings look like, anyway. Buildings are temporary. Makes little sense to me.
But suburban cul-de-sacs don't even function well. They are very car dependent and contribute to an unsustainable lifestyle. Form over function would be somewhere like Philadelphia, New York, or Buenos Aires, where the urban layout relies on an easy-to-navigate grid with walkable blocks. They didnt plan the Fifth Avenue with the intention that seeing all the skyscrspers in a straight line would be "cool", they built it so that it would be easily navigatable and convenient for business
Function well for what purposes or by what standards?
Do they function well by urban standards...or by suburban standards?
These questions bring up another question-what do you want out of life?
Cul-de-sac function well by suburban standards. It gives me some privacy. Less through traffic. Less crime.
"What do you want out of life?" : Good question. I like where I currently live and am happy with it. In fact I have lived here in a cul-de-sac for 13 years. My next home will also be in a small 8 home sub-division.
Suburban dwellers are generally happy with their lifestyle. The ones who are not move to cities. I have not seen the suburban people criticize the city dwellers on their lifestyle, avenues, transport, shopping etc unless they are provoked and resort back.
What is it with city dwellers who have constantly have to criticize the suburban living? Are they not happy with what they have. If so can't they keep it to themselves and let others enjoy what they like. How does it matter to a city dweller on what a cul-de-sac does or does not do,
They're probably trying to justify their decision to live in smaller, closer, far more expensive quarters; that and they're usually either younger and naive or just narrow minded in general.
I realize this may not be true in all cities and towns around the country, but to me, Generica is no longer just in the suburbs, but also the revitalized main streets of cities and towns across the country.
I live in South Carolina and every single city and town in our state is doing the same thing the same way, putting in a new auditorium or revitilizing an old playhouse, putting in an art studio out of an old mill, putting in a boutique hotel and nice restuarant, and of course putting in a new growler "haus."
While it may not be suburbia nor is it chains but don't kid yourself, its a mirror image of every other town that size and very little is unique about it.
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