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People probably consider NY to be unique just because it's NY. There's really very little substance behind these claims, and whenever people try to explain why they think NY is unique, they end up rambling and sound horribly incoherent - "New York is unique, just, because, I don't know, there's something about it. It's like a universe in its own right, ya know?"
No I haven't, but I can still simulate an opinion.
Well, thats your opinion.
Venice, Rio de Janero, London, Paris, Edinburgh, Havana Rome and Athens are not just as unique surely you can understand some of these cities are way more unique than New York City. If I want tall buildings I can go to Chicago or Sydney, if I want a dingy ''canyon'' feel again I can go to Hong kong.
And many more Cities with big screens but can't find them.
Obviously there's no real point debating because this is all based on opinion but I find it very hard to understand your point of view.
Never heard of The valley, San fernando Valley, Weho, Venice, Malibu, Burbank, Pasedena, Compton or Watts. So for a start LA isn't that famous afterall the only thing I know about LA is its large Hispanic population and Hollywood thats all.
That reflects your lack of geographical knowledge. All these places are household names, you don't have to be a geography expert to know them.
Ever heard of the term 'Valley girl'? The whole teenage suburban mall culture thing sort of began in the San Fernando valley.
I'm sure you know West Hollywood - WeHo, the Sunset Strip on Sunset Boulevard, Melrose Ave. Extremely important for the music scene/industry in the 60s for instance. SF had the hype, but LA was already the centre for the music biz in the 60s.
Venice Beach - doesn't ring a bell?
Malibu? You really don't know Malibu? The beach, surfing, homes, the hills.
Burbank is where many of the big movie studios are.
Pasadena also very well known.
You weren't aware of South Central? It's reputation for gang violence.etc? I guess you probably never listened to NWA or saw Boyz in the Hood. Countless gangster wannabes around the world talk about South Central.
All these places are extremely famous.
NY's uniqueness is more than the skyscrapers and neon billboards...as Billy Joel put it it's the 'New York State of Mind.' I know it's a sort of wishy washy concept, so I admit yes, it's subjective, yet I'm not the only one to have noticed it.
People probably consider NY to be unique just because it's NY. There's really very little substance behind these claims, and whenever people try to explain why they think NY is unique, they end up rambling and sound horribly incoherent - "New York is unique, just, because, I don't know, there's something about it. It's like a universe in its own right, ya know?"
When I go to NY I somehow feel that this is still the centre of human civilisation, it's still the most globalised, urban way we live. Nowhere else encapsulates that better than NYC.
When I go to NY I somehow feel that this is still the centre of human civilisation, it's still the most globalised, urban way we live. Nowhere else encapsulates that better than NYC.
Based on nothing at all, though. You're just making statements that have been plucked from thin air.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Postman
That reflects your lack of geographical knowledge. All these places are household names, you don't have to be a geography expert to know them.
Ever heard of the term 'Valley girl'? The whole teenage suburban mall culture thing sort of began in the San Fernando valley.
I'm sure you know West Hollywood - WeHo, the Sunset Strip on Sunset Boulevard, Melrose Ave. Extremely important for the music scene/industry in the 60s for instance. SF had the hype, but LA was already the centre for the music biz in the 60s.
Venice Beach - doesn't ring a bell?
Malibu? You really don't know Malibu? The beach, surfing, homes, the hills.
Burbank is where many of the big movie studios are.
Pasadena also very well known.
You weren't aware of South Central? It's reputation for gang violence.etc? I guess you probably never listened to NWA or saw Boyz in the Hood. Countless gangster wannabes around the world talk about South Central.
All these places are extremely famous.
NY's uniqueness is more than the skyscrapers and neon billboards...as Billy Joel put it it's the 'New York State of Mind.' I know it's a sort of wishy washy concept, so I admit yes, it's subjective, yet I'm not the only one to have noticed it.
So, is gang violence a positive for making a city appear unique? Lol.
Either way, they're not household names. South Central might be known by some people here but the term valley girl isn't. You're exaggerating how well-known these places are to the average person.
When I go to NY I somehow feel that this is still the centre of human civilisation, it's still the most globalised, urban way we live. Nowhere else encapsulates that better than NYC.
Ok, why? From having more tall buildings? Corporate logos? Something else?
I guess I should flattered you're referring to my "home city"* as so unique and the center of the world. But it seems like hyperbole to me. As for other American cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago being similar, the downtowns have similar architecture. The difference is the volume of people on the streets, and outside the downtown — the residential neighborhoods of NYC are far denser and busier, much less car-oriented, and generally there are always shops a few blocks away. It's a type of city experience you can't really get much outside of NYC. But you can in Europe and Asia.
For a start LA has the most famous metropolitan area in the world: in what other city are the far flung outer suburbs/parts of the city household names: 'The Valley' San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, WeHo, West Hollywood, Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice, Burbank, Pasadena, Compton, Watts - all of these are scattered around the metro area.
They may (or may not judging by some posters here) be well known, mainly from the movie industry but most people don't know much about them other cliches. Los Angeles is unique in being so decentralized and car-oriented for the size and density it has, that's probably a negative though. Century City is the epitome of a sterile postwar American business district, though someone on another forum mistaked it for downtown LA.
The southern California beach culture is distinctive, but San Diego obviously has that. And so does Hawaii and Australia.
Based on nothing at all, though. You're just making statements that have been plucked from thin air.
So, is gang violence a positive for making a city appear unique? Lol.
Either way, they're not household names. South Central might be known by some people here but the term valley girl isn't. You're exaggerating how well-known these places are to the average person.
I could explain it, but you would feel differently. Look I'm not saying it's a 'fact', but i think it's a sentiment many can relate to.
Everyone knows what I'm talking about when I mention South Central to. I'm sure you've heard of those names, plus famous streets like Santa Monica Blvd, Wiltshire Avenue, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Blvd, Mulholland Drive, Melrose Place, state highway 1 - if even from TV.etc. Orange County had a TV series named after it, everyone knows Anaheim. There's no denying LA probably has more household names than any other city in the world along with NY. Yes, even more than London or Paris. Blame the American entertainment industry for it.
When I go to NY I somehow feel that this is still the centre of human civilisation, it's still the most globalised, urban way we live. Nowhere else encapsulates that better than NYC.
The fact that this place has some of the greatest disparity of wealth in the western world doesn't bother you?
Diminishing middle class.
Worsening homelessness.
Increasing number of undesirables.
Frequency of shootings and violent attacks on the rise.
Worsening litter/pet discipline and public impropriety (people just peeing on the sidewalks in broad daylight with their johnson in full view of passing traffic).
Worsening culture of corporatist fascism.
Little regard for private property - graffiti scrawled over newly built condos.
This is truly the center of civilization? I guess we're all doomed then.
Ok, why? From having more tall buildings? Corporate logos? Something else?
I guess I should flattered you're referring to my "home city"* as so unique and the center of the world. But it seems like hyperbole to me. As for other American cities such as Philadelphia and Chicago being similar, the downtowns have similar architecture. The difference is the volume of people on the streets, and outside the downtown — the residential neighborhoods of NYC are far denser and busier, much less car-oriented, and generally there are always shops a few blocks away. It's a type of city experience you can't really get much outside of NYC. But you can in Europe and Asia.
*didn't grow up there, but close enough.
Maybe it's because well NY is constantly pushed in our face. Think of your favourite American films or TV series that are set in a city. There's a better than even chance they'll be set in NYC, or LA. Films as diverse as King Kong, Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone, Midnight Cowboy, Ghost Busters, Annie Hall, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, An Affair to Remember, created the 'mythos' of New York City. Or even James and the Giant Peach...if you remember the book/film James is fascinated with NYC and travels on a giant peach across the ocean to get there. I was already well aware of all the landmarks probably when I was 7-8. Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, Metropolitan Museum of Art. I don't know, the fact that so much of life on film, as unreal as it is, takes place between the Hudson and the East River, between Downtown and 115th street, made it seem like it's own little world to me. Come to think I'd say LA is similar, but in a more spread out form.
London featured too, but it wasn't in as many movies. In fact movies like Mary Poppins and Oliver Twist were the first to form my childhood impressions of what London was like which were, interestingly, set in the London of the past.
Maybe it's the fact Tokyo or Hong Kong doesn't have that personal connection - they're big cities, but they don't mean so much to me, has something to do with it.
They may (or may not judging by some posters here) be well known, mainly from the movie industry but most people don't know much about them other cliches. Los Angeles is unique in being so decentralized and car-oriented for the size and density it has, that's probably a negative though. Century City is the epitome of a sterile postwar American business district, though someone on another forum mistaked it for downtown LA.
The southern California beach culture is distinctive, but San Diego obviously has that. And so does Hawaii and Australia.
Well yeah, again it's because these places are so known to us, we know them vicariously. Everytime we watch a film or a TV show, or listen to a song, we're transported there. Of course the real LA often doesn't live up to the hype, whatever that is, I think America is good at really trying to sell things. In the 90s at least LA was some kind of paradise...there was always some character trying to get to LA to make it big or something.
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