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You look at Europe and they got a great long history.
You look at East Asia and they got a proud culture
What is so special about USA. History? Nope Europes better and they
got tons more of it.
Much of USA is also sterile. Same neighborhoods, same Shopping malls. Even
some of the people act the same. Not my idea of culture or interesting country
for that matter.
If it wasn't for NYC and maybe Chicago, there'd be no reason for anyone to visit USA.
The main problem are cars and suburban culture. Once Americans recuperate city cores and expel criminals from those areas, American cities will become walkable and nicer. People won't be a bunch of paranoic fatsos sheltered in suburban communities, forced to spend their lifes in a car or in a mall.
I don't see why most American cities cant' reverse the suburban trend initiated in the 20's, and reverse the "doughnut effect" that wasted most downtowns after equal rights laws in the 60's.
I agree a lot of the US is hardly exciting. Yes there are some great cities, but beyond the cities, there are lots of boring small towns and places full of farmers, lumberjacks, hicks, red necks, mountain men and bible bashers.
Even a lot of US Cities don't have the city centres or walkability of most European Cities and Americans tend to have a greater reliance on the car and shopping mall.
The vast size of America means rural areas are often far more isolated and that suburbia is often miles and miles of the most depressing uniformity.
Suburban America, Rural America, The Deep South and Small town America are a constant feature of American life, parodied in US films and television series such as 'Footloose', 'Deliverance', 'Southern Comfort', 'First Blood', 'The Last Picture Show', 'South Park', 'Groundhog Day', 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Napoleon Dynamite', 'American Beauty' and numerous other movies and TV series. Even the American classic 'It's a Wonderful Life', is about a man who dreams of escaping from the small town he has spent his whole life in.
The America where they all sit out on the front porch and look over those wheat fields. The America where kids trapped in small towns in the middle of no where dream of their escape in to the real world, far away from the choking claustophobic confines of the small hick town where everyone knows your business. A lot of America is small town and very insular, with cities just a distant dream, hardly the most exciting of places.
Then again America is a vast country of extreme contrast and there are some exciting areas and cities, it's just that America has been such a dominant force when it comes to promoting itself, usually through action films, that people going there tend to have expectations of a country where everything is exciting.
The main problem are cars and suburban culture. Once Americans recuperate city cores and expel criminals from those areas, American cities will become walkable and nicer. People won't be a bunch of paranoic fatsos sheltered in suburban communities, forced to spend their lifes in a car or in a mall.
I don't see why most American cities cant' reverse the suburban trend initiated in the 20's, and reverse the "doughnut effect" that wasted most downtowns after equal rights laws in the 60's.
Seattle did a great job of revitalizing its downtown core back in the 80's. It's now a very desirable place to live, very walkable, great public market. So it's definitely do-able.
Here's why cars rule over public transportation: auto industry lobby, highway lobby, petroleum industry lobby. They worked together in the 1950's to destroy public transportation in major cities around the country. And inter-state transport also was cut back tremendously. There's a documentary of this that plays on Public Television from time to time.
Corporations rule in America, to a much greater extent than in Europe, though that may be changing after the formation of the WTO. That's why positive change is so hard to achieve.
I wouldn't say it's boring. When there were armed robberies right in front of my apartment in downtown Milwaukee that was definitely exciting. j/k
But anyways, I wouldn't call it boring by any means. I did grow up in Europe and sure, we have "more" history, but how exactly does it affect us? Those pretty gingerbread houses in Germany, that are 500+ years old for example... very nice to look at, but terrible to live in. Most of the architecture that American tourists look at in the bigger cities is from the 1700's or 1800's - the age of some East Coast cities. And whether I live in a 300 year old city or a 2000 year old city usually does not affect my everyday life very much. There are also tons of sterile, generic cities in Europe with not much history left. Ever taken a look at cities in the Ruhr Area of Germany? Just google Dortmund or Essen for example.
America definitely beats us when it comes to nature and be it only because it is such a large country.
I wouldn't say it's boring. When there were armed robberies right in front of my apartment in downtown Milwaukee that was definitely exciting. j/k
But anyways, I wouldn't call it boring by any means. I did grow up in Europe and sure, we have "more" history, but how exactly does it affect us? Those pretty gingerbread houses in Germany, that are 500+ years old for example... very nice to look at, but terrible to live in. Most of the architecture that American tourists look at in the bigger cities is from the 1700's or 1800's - the age of some East Coast cities. And whether I live in a 300 year old city or a 2000 year old city usually does not affect my everyday life very much. There are also tons of sterile, generic cities in Europe with not much history left. Ever taken a look at cities in the Ruhr Area of Germany? Just google Dortmund or Essen for example.
America definitely beats us when it comes to nature and be it only because it is such a large country.
Overall I agree... I used to live in Rome: more than 2000 years of history.
And after one month I realized that old ruins and some old buildings don't change and improve your life at all
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