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I'm in New York City as well and I definitely think Osaka's infrastructure is much ahead of NYC's especially when we are talking about the metropolitan area. The differences in how extensive the two systems are somewhat less than when it comes to a comparison to Chicago, but the state of good repair is worse and outdated and dilapidated very much can be applied to NYC's infrastructure.
Your post doesn't make any sense, because no one was claiming anything about NYC nor is that even a worthwhile point since by that token pretty much anyone from anywhere that's not a handful of European and East Asian cities can comment without you getting into a huff because there are a scant few cities that have infrastructure that can compare to Osaka's. There is not much to argue here--infrastructure in the US has been neglected and poorly planned for quite a while despite the US having quite a large GDP per capita. It is what it is and what it is is bad.
Anyhow, Nagoya is probably the more apples to apples comparison in many ways.
I’ve never been to Nagoya aside from passing through on the train, so I wouldn’t be qualified to comment on that comparison.
What kind of a lifestyle do most people in Osaka have in terms of the square footage of their homes, their number of bedrooms and bathrooms and number of cars per family?
Also, do they usually have spacious kitchens with granite countertops and state of the art modern appliances?
What kind of a lifestyle do most people in Osaka have in terms of the square footage of their homes, their number of bedrooms and bathrooms and number of cars per family?
Also, do they usually have spacious kitchens with granite countertops and state of the art modern appliances?
From what I can tell it’s definitely first world conditions and the homes are generally functional, clean and have decent appliances. But a lot of them are absolutely tiny by American standards and people often sleep on futons on the floor. In terms of cars, I think both the intra-city and inter-city train systems are good enough that many families don’t need one.
From what I can tell it’s definitely first world conditions and the homes are generally functional, clean and have decent appliances. But a lot of them are absolutely tiny by American standards and people often sleep on futons on the floor. In terms of cars, I think both the intra-city and inter-city train systems are good enough that many families don’t need one.
There is a big difference in cultural expectations between the U.S. and Japan. Americans prefer bigger living spaces, bigger vehicles, wider streets, grander architecture, etc.
It would be easy to make a city super-urban if you squeezed things together and made everything smaller. But most people wouldn't desire that if given a choice.
What kind of a lifestyle do most people in Osaka have in terms of the square footage of their homes, their number of bedrooms and bathrooms and number of cars per family?
Also, do they usually have spacious kitchens with granite countertops and state of the art modern appliances?
Living situations differ a lot (like, where in the city are you living in, how convenient / desirable it is). Square footage is generally smaller compared to most US city apartments and houses, but rent is also pretty cheap in Osaka. Standard bedroom / bathroom numbers are pretty common (i.e. parents / couples usually share a bedroom, kids generally have a room each, maybe there's a den, maybe there's a spare room). The bathrooms often have the toilet and sink separated from the shower / bath area (the idea of having them together is kinda gross to some) and it's very common for the entire shower / bath area to have a floor drain. Japanese houses sometimes have the room where the bathtub is in completely a shower because of that floor drain and the bathtub is often smaller in terms of length, but much deeper as the preferred position is to have the water come pretty high up. Japanese cities are also much more likely to tear down older houses (and by older, I mean even just a couple or few decades older) and build anew especially in areas with mass transit access and that is a lot of areas since mass transit is very extensive.
As for modern appliances--well, yea, it's Japan. How many homes in the US do you know have washlet toilets that have a remote panel that controls jet streams, temperatures, sensor functions, etc.? One thing to keep in mind is that East Asian homes generally do not have ovens. Roasting and baking simply aren't as common in practice, though broilers often exist in Japanese homes that are usually used for fish, because they are pretty big on fish there. LIKE REALLY BIG ON FISH. Range hoods or general exhaust for stoves are very common. Rice cookers are, unsurprisingly, very common with the vast majority of households having them and not necessarily always used for rice. Washer and dryer combinations are somewhat common, but the dry function isn't universally used even when the machine has it, because there's often a preference for hanging things out which leads us to how extremely prevalent balconies are in Japanese urban housing. It's pretty odd to not have a balcony. Central heating and AC is generally uncommon with it mostly being independent systems in different rooms. An air vent system to outside air (independent of windows) is also common.
One thing to keep in mind is that the walls in most construction aren't all that thick or sound absorbent. Japanese cities in general are super quiet outside of the interiors of nightlife spaces. Very little horn honking or yelling and no one wears shoes inside a house so no clomping around from upstairs despite the thin walls and the lack of carpeting (carpeting is super gross to a lot of people).
The big difference is the number of cars per family. It is far more common in major Japanese cities to either not own a car at all or own one car per household. If you need a bunch of parking spaces and garages and lots of walkable neighborhoods, then that's essentially counter to having a large number of cars and parking spaces and garages. They opted for the former, and to me, it makes the city a lot more fun in a lot of ways.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 06-22-2019 at 05:20 PM..
Explain. Chicago is a top 10 global city. Where's Osaka? Osaka is likely a great city, but the long shot comment is a head scratcher. I would think Chicago would be on top in most categories.
Some, but certainly not most. Global city rankings are really quite meaningless when discussing urban characteristics like vibrancy and infrastructure. For example, the Foreign Policy study lists Washington DC at No. 10 -- ahead of some of the most vibrant cities in the world like Seoul, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
The Osaka urban area has 17+ million people in 1100 sq miles -- that's almost double the population of Chicagoland in less than half the area. Heck it's over 3 times the pop density of the NYC urban area.
Of course, density is not everything. But Osaka is not just a dense and crowded mega city. It's one of the most technologically advanced and infrastructurally developed cities in the world. Its cuisine and restaurant scene are world renown. And it's got a long, rich history of its own (to say nothing of neighboring Kyoto). The fact that most people in the west know little to nothing about it is a shame but it's pretty meaningless. Btw -- there are plenty of YouTube videos
Osaka has lots of new things that are phenomenal. Chicago has diversity in its neighborhoods, even if the el stations to get there aren't all that great.
Asian cities and I'd say also Latin American (for instance, Buenos Aires) and Middle Eastern (for instance, Tehran) cities are laughably underrated by the American populace and they are ignorant about.
For the many issues that even Beijing for example does have (AQI, etc.), it is laughably ahead of even the most urban American centers on so many levels, including certain QOL. Not meaning to jump too far off topic, just a general observation.
Out of curiosity do you have that list of busiest individual train stations? I had it at one point, but do not have it anymore at this time.
Asian cities and I'd say also Latin American (for instance, Buenos Aires) and Middle Eastern (for instance, Tehran) cities are laughably underrated by the American populace and they are ignorant about.
For the many issues that even Beijing for example does have (AQI, etc.), it is laughably ahead of even the most urban American centers on so many levels, including certain QOL. Not meaning to jump too far off topic, just a general observation.
Out of curiosity do you have that list of busiest individual train stations? I had it at one point, but do not have it anymore at this time.
Thanks!
Beijing??? Last time I was there I couldn't see the ground from my hotel room because the pollution was so thick.
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