Do you like North American cities? Design and aesthetic/general appeal?

[Martin]

I haven't been to asia, but I have been in europe and here in NA.

Anyway my normal day is spent downtown and at home in the semi-suburbs (the 1920s/1930s style suburbs to be exact - house was built in 1929). Sometimes on weekends I venture out into suburbia proper, and I must say that I simply hate the way cities are here. So ugly, unapplealing, so badly designed.

Its hard to express myself clearly, but here are a few reasons.

- You can't walk anywhere. Suburbs take car culture to the extreme, where everything within a 30 min walk is houses.
- big box stores. God I hate these things...Home depot and walmart style. There is a new developement are here, about 20-30 such big boxes (most not as big as walmart) spread apart. There is no beauty, no green areas, NOTHING but boxes, parking and cars. I feel almost sick going to that place.
- community places - just seems that everynight everyone retires to their own little castle and that's it. Where I am from, the neighbourhood is mostly low rise apartment building and large houses with plenty of green space. Walk down any but the smallest streets and there are cafes, resturants, taverns and shops. I have been here for half my life now, and outside of downtown, I have not seen such things.


Anyway, do you guys like NA cities? or EU or Asian ones better? What are asian ones like anyway?

 

[0roo0roo]

it takes density of new york level to go without a car.

i've been to hong kong.... too crowded for my tastes. i like to drive. in suburbs houes are build around or near parks. its fine.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Weird question...some cities are completely different. I can tell you that living in Boston is completely different than living in more spread out cities like Houston. Completely different transportation, feel, etc.

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
it takes density of new york level to go without a car.

i've been to hong kong.... too crowded for my tastes. i like to drive. in suburbs houes are build around or near parks. its fine.

From what I've seen, I think I will really like NY. I just realized a short time ago how great compact cities are. This summer I went back to where I am from for 3 weeks and I was amazed that in a city of 1.5mil you could get anywhere in a 5-8 min taxi ride. Most of the time I just plain walked!

 

[freegeeks]

Most NA cities are cleaner then European cities, at least in my experience
and the design make it's easier to find your way around

the European cities are a pleasant experience because of the old buildings

 

[FrustratedUser]

European > NA cities

 

[notfred]

Are you talking about cities or suburbs? Suburbs are not cities.

I was in San Francisco today, I quite like that city, no big box stores, no housing tracts, and well, no suburbia because it's not the suburbs.

 

[miniMUNCH]

Can't compare...most cities in Europe are far older than any city in the US.

It is really easy to get around NYC without a car and reasonably easy in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Philly, and other east coast cities.

 

[TheBoyBlunder]

If you're referring to the city proper, yeah, most cities in North America are pretty cool. If you're referring to cities and suburbia, then I think North American cities are some of the ugliest on the planet. No character and nothing but streets and parking lots.

 

[Eli]

I haven't traveled enough to have an opinion...

 

[dpm]

Its one of those 'grass is always greener' things. You get used to the good points of the city you live in to the point where you don't even notice them.
Then, when you go on holiday abroad you tend to notice only the exotically different things, and miss the mundanities - if you spend a week in Madrid you probably wont notice if the commute is awful, or whether there aren't enough grocery stores around.

Plus, as Mongoose said, even within one country cities vary a lot.

I lived in the US for a year or so, and the cities I visited and lived in certainly differed. Some of them I'd love to live in - Madison, wisconsin was great, and I'd move back if I had a chance. DC was a very interesting city, with a great transport system.

I do understand your points about the suburbs tho - because I'm British, and have lived in France before, the lack of sidewalks and decent public transportation was very annoying to me. I don't like to have to rely on a car, and I like even less being completely stranded because I don't have one.

On the other hand, all the american cities I lived in had much better cycle path networks than European cities - right now I miss that a lot, as I dodge the cars on the way to work.

 

[Martin]

To me a city inlcudes both the downtown core and the suburbs, but I suppose I should have made that distinction.

I was in europe for 3 weeks this summer (one city only) and this has been bothering me since then. That particular city isn't all that (I prefer TO), but I could definately see great city in the older parts.

Anyway, the perfect city to me would be a mix of NA and european: lots of parks and trees everywhere, enough density that public transport can work, but still be somewhat car friendly. Most important, I would love to see only low rise (5-6 storeys) apartment buildings and large houses and no big boxes - have many smaller stores scattered around everwhere.

 

[Ornery]

I went out of my way to live near a mall. I also wanted to be near the freeway interchange, to have quick, easy access to the city 25 miles west, and other nearby suburbs.

There are cities on both ends of our county trying to revive their quaint "Downtown" feel, and bring shoppers back. Well, it ain't easy. Like me, most people want free, easy access parking, and the stores under roof that a mall provides.

Like 99% of the goods we consume, the buildings are disposable. Not sure how practical that is, but it seems to keep things fresh. The facade draped on these disposable buildings can be as spartan or exotic as you want. I don't know about you, but as long as a place is clean and organized, it's perfect for shopping. If I want pretty buildings, I'll go to a museum. As it is, driving my own car from store to store, mall to mall and shop to shop, parking for free at every quick stop, suits me just fine.