Most Americanized Cities Outside America? (houses, living, military)

[fashionguy]

I don't think Tokyo is Amerianized. It has very different layout and most people live an urban life so it has so many residential towers (though not very tall, but the sheer amount of them makes it unlike any American city) in multiple city centers like most other large Asian cities. The same to Seoul. I'd rather think Shanghai and Beijing are Tokyo-ized instead of Americanized. They are more similar, with multiple city centers each surrounded by tons of residential towers. Or Shanghai and Beijing are just in their own way, but Asians think similar so they end up having a layout more resembling the earlier developed Tokyo. They all have wholy elevated highways here and there too, a scene that usually doesn't exist in America except for interconnecting ramps or multilayer bridges across water. Both Shanghai and Beijing have very huge subway construction plans aiming to reach around 1000km by 2050. That is also more similar to Tokyo's extensive rail transit system although Tokyo's subway is much shorter and relies on many other rail options too. I don't think that will happen to any American city and there is no such need either. All I am saying is Tokyo as a city figures out lots of things itself too and other Asian cities seem to follow its model more than a US model, whether intentionally or not. However, you can argue that building lots of skyscrapers can also be called Americanized because skyscrapers are born in US or having lots of cars on the street can be called Americanized because cars were born in US. In that sense, Shanghai is very Americanized, but I don't think that is relevant nowadays.

Another thing is language. Tokyo is not Americanized because you can hardly get by without knowing Japanese. Many of their websites, even for shopping centers do not have English version. I mean even for American brands they list the Japanese translation instead of the English name so you don't know anything by looking such a website. If you go to a Japanese city in google map. Most stuff are listed in Japanese too. This may be biased, but I think in Shanghai and Beijing English learning is more popular than in Tokyo. This doesn't prove that Shanghai and Beijing are more Americanized because English is becoming the world language but this somehow shows Tokyo's resistance to be Americanized.

Originally Posted by PDX_LAX

I would guess it's the most westernized countries that would have cities resembling American ones. For example, Tokyo, Singapore, and Seoul I would guess to be more "American" than Hanoi, Beijing, or Jakarta. Same with Johannesburg and Cape Town over Kinshasa and Nairobi.

[shoe01]

Cabo San Lucas and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico I've read are quite "Americanized," though I've not been to either.

[kidyankee764]

Brisbane, Australia. Very car centric, there are malls, etc. I feel like I'm in California everytime I visit!

[majoun]

Originally Posted by shoe01

Cabo San Lucas and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico I've read are quite "Americanized," though I've not been to either.

Those are both tourist towns although I've never been to Cabo.

San Miguel de Allende has had a very large population of English speaking expats for decades, although it presents itself as "traditional Mexico". The expats originally were beatniks, artists, hippies, etc. but as the years went on more and more American retirees joined them.

Chapala's more "American" in its layout and population than San Miguel, it has a higher percentage of Americans (and Canadians) than anywhere else in the world outside the US (or Canada) and seems like the Midwestern US or Ontario more than it does Mexico.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Brisbane, Australia. Very car centric, there are malls, etc. I feel like I'm in California everytime I visit!

They don't call it BrisVegas for nothing!

By the same token, Melbourne's like San Francisco, Geelong's like Sacramento, and Sydney's like L.A. crossed with NYC.

Someone else mentioned South Africa: from what I've seen Johannesburg is very comparable to Detroit.

[EverestClimb]

Look for the city where:

1) The most people are talking on the cell phone and oblivious to the world around them
2) Young people are chatting and the conversation is mostly about the latest reality TV show /mtv
3) The most people trying to be individualistic but in the process are actually following the crowd

Then you will have found your most Americanized foreign city

[18Montclair]

Many Canadian Cities could pass as American Cities.

[miamiman]

This should be in the World forum! Although, I will admit that those pictures of Dubai make it took like a strange cross between Miami and Phoenix.

[nate14ri]

Dublin & Boston are very similar. Size, Shape, Density, Irish connection ect.

[Smtchll]

I just came back from a month in the Philippines and I'd say Manila is the top most Americanized city in Asia. English is spoken by most people to some degree. The schools teach American English. The movie theatres don't dub English movies because they expect people to understand already. The latest American music is always on the radio and TV. Everywhere I went I heard American music, usually rap or r&b.

Signs aren't even in the native language, they're in English. Almost every American restaurant chain you can imagine is there, from Taco Bell to Dunkin Donuts to Outback Steakhouse. It's supposedly the texting capital of the world because everyone is always texting on their phones. Manila has some very bad areas, worse than any place in the US, so it feels like a really really ghetto version of an American city.

I also saw a lot of religious signs on cars and buildings, stuff like "Jesus is Lord" It reminded me of what I often see here in the Bible Belt, but there were a lot more in Manila.