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I grew up in one of the most sterile cities in the country, Rochester, MN, with their famous Mayo Clinic, where it wouldn't surprise me if they cleaned the sidewalks with Pine Sol every night. I really think it does something to someone living in an environment like that, like when they travel somewhere and experience a more normal city, for a change, like some litter on the streets, and some hairs out of place.
All is hidden, and don't let your curiosities lead you to their mammoth, stinking landfills!!!
Over time, I've come to appreciate being in cities with lots of hairs out place, because they seem so much more natural to me, and I see the beauty in it, and I can relax more. It makes me uptight being in a city like San Diego, it all seems too unnaturally perfect to me, until I throw a candy wrapper on one of their sidewalks!
And you? Being in cities with few, if any, hairs out of place, that doesn't disturb you?
I think so, cities like DC, Houston, Charlotte, pretty much any city in Florida, etc. Are very cookie cutter, look bland and town centers that look like outdoor malls, not my cup of tea.
I think so, cities like DC, Houston, Charlotte, pretty much any city in Florida, etc. Are very cookie cutter, look bland and town centers that look like outdoor malls, not my cup of tea.
What?
DC is anything but bland. Has real "town centers" such as Dupont, Capitol Hill, Eastern Market etc. etc. Hell, just about every metro stop in DC is a "town center" that resembles nothing like a mall. Have you even been to DC?
Houston has unbelievable amounts of rundown, frankly scary looking, neighborhoods. And much of the rest of it is a series of ugly strip malls.
I don't think it's psychologically unhealthy, I think both types of places are really cool and provide the type of place for an individual based on what they're looking for.
San Diego and Irvine are the most sterile places I have ever been. SD is sprawl on steroids. Where not even the most poor and desperate dare to walk or take transit, because it doesn't exist. The traffic congestion is unimaginable. And Irvine is just one big office park. It gives me a headache to drive through them. I don't know how people can live in such places for long without losing their minds.
DC is anything but bland. Has real "town centers" such as Dupont, Capitol Hill, Eastern Market etc. etc. Hell, just about every metro stop in DC is a "town center" that resembles nothing like a mall. Have you even been to DC?
I wouldn't call DC bland, just non-distinctive.
I also don't see why cleanliness and urbanity have to be mutually exclusive.
Probably. I heard of a guy who grew up in Northbrook IL, a suburb of Chicago that is like that. Never even had to mow the lawn until he moved away in his 30's. Being sheltered from the things most have to go through is not healthy.
San Diego and Irvine are the most sterile places I have ever been. SD is sprawl on steroids. Where not even the most poor and desperate dare to walk or take transit, because it doesn't exist. The traffic congestion is unimaginable. And Irvine is just one big office park. It gives me a headache to drive through them. I don't know how people can live in such places for long without losing their minds.
I have only one use for San Diego: the airport, and the light rail train that runs from DT San Diego to Tijuana, which carries lots of poor people, who can't afford to live in San Diego. If they had direct flights from Las Vegas to Tijuana, I could escape all that sterility/futurism entirely!
Once, in Tijuana, I can really relax and enjoy lots of hairs out of place, a far more natural city to explore and spend time in. Those rattle-trap public buses, I've ridden them there, they're fun to ride!
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