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what do you love and hate about yr city?
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I thought it would be really cool to find out what everybody loves and hates about the city they live in?
I live in New York currently, and it's definitely a love and hate relationship. I love the multipluralism and diversity the city has to offer; wheteher it be in it's people, the cuisine, art, etc. I feel right at home in NY in the sense that I'm not 100% spanish, n'or am I 100% american and I feel right at home with the millions of other people that are in the same situation as me.
Things I hate about the city is that it's dirty; people seem always stressed out, but probably my number one gripe is how hard I find it to escape. In order to really get away I find that I have to drive at least 3 to 5 hrs, and even then the scenery does not change that much.
Posted at 9:50AM, 22 February 2005 PDT
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(1 to 100 of 113 replies in what do you love and hate about yr city?)
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NYC..........
Love: I can eat almost any kind of food almost any time of the day or night. I can grab my camera and walk for an hour - anywhere - and snap dozens of different pictures of all sorts of people and things. The ease of getting from here to there by subway...The neverending choices of movies - always a good one to see.....inexpensive off-off-Bway theater ($10 and under)... The constant possibilities of discovery. ...The privacy.... The community - anyone I talk to answers.....
What do I hate about the city?
Crowded streets during rush hour or theater time. (Visitors don't know how to walk, and it's not their fault, so I feel bad yelling at them and barging through.)... People who block doors when I'm trying to get on/off the subway....nasty waiters....food that tastes bad....expensive martinis....
Posted 41 months ago.
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brighton engaland, it got city status a few years ago but its not really a city
love that its by the sea
hate that there is not much work here and i have to london for that!
Posted 41 months ago.
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Knoxville...hmmm... I love the diversity of culture that is here due to the University. Not quite as many ethnic food shops to choose from as Chicago (Home town area), however, we have Korean, Indian, many Mexican and Chineese resturants, Even King Tut's Egyption resturant! I like the fact that I am 5 min from downtown yet almost secluded in the woods around my house. Hate Red necks (They know who they are)and the maddness that the "VOLS" bring on Game day. Wish the city was larger.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Wellington, New Zealand
love the cleverness of the graffiti, the old crumbling buildings, the rabbit warren of footpaths and steps between streets, the sculptures and artworks everywhere.
hate the shiny platic retail stores, smoking stench and cig butts in the streets, single occupant motor vehicles at rush hour.
Posted 41 months ago.
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São Paulo, Brazil
i am completely in love with this city--every ugly inch of it. I love that this is a great city in which to be a fan of cinema (esp if you live in my neighborhood). and a fan of visual arts. and a fan of theatre. i love that brazilian modernism happened here and therefore most of the modernist paintings and sculptures are here (and tropicália too!). i love that this is a city of immigrants (from other countries and from the rest of brazil) so we have strange and delightful cultural combinations (not to mention a lot of great food). i love that it is a diverse city (in the u.s., this is a codeword for "multi-racial" but i mean that you are likely to see about any kind of person at any given moment). i love that greater são paulo is arguably home to the two best universities in the country and the intellectual environment that accompanies that. i love that we have great bookstores. i love the chinese yaki soba vendors on the center side of the paulista.
what do i hate? the inequality of it all. i have access to all sorts of great cultural and intellectual resources but many people have never even seen the outside of the world-class art museum that is visible from my bedroom window (and located on arguably the most important street in town). i hate the traffic. i hate that our metro is completely inadequate and figuring out how to get to a new place on the bus is an adventure. i hate that there are people in my neighborhood who have never even been on the metro and haven't been on a bus in decades. i hate that this city, unlike other brazilian cities, is one where the elite can live without ever seeing how the other 90% lives. and i hate the endless rain and drizzle between november and march.
given the choice, would i want to live anywhere else? probably not.
Posted 41 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
THIS IS A FABULOUS TOPIC, nachosan!!!
Berlin, Germany
Just like nachosan described his dual love-hate relationship with New York, mine with Berlin is very similar. I have witnessed this city from THREE perspectives: East Berlin as a student and solitary dweller, living there 3 years under job prohibition by the Eastgerman regime, surviving as a freelance translater/interpreter and thanks to the most wonderful solidarity of its artists and intellectuals. Then I saw West Berlin several times after finally getting my emigration permit and now I am back here after many many years abroad, witnessing the city in its times of re-unification and total reconstruction franzy.
I have been told by visitors that this city has the most amazing scope of cultural and subcultural scenes with an unbelievable amount of creative events going on. I wholeheartedly agree.
But then there is its people, of whom I love the witty and unafraid "snoddiness" of alternatives and punks, the splendid intellectual culture of many of its people but I HATE HATE HATE the overwhelming emotional cold and remoteness of the great majority of its inhabitants, their permanent protection wall raised high around them, their unwillingness to make contact and to relate to other humans, their eternal fear of letting down guards ...
as I said, an authentic love-hate-relatinship, impossible to be resolved ;)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Portland, Oregon
Love the small town feel, and yet hate that it's such a small town sometimes.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. 10,000 in town, 25,000 total in area
Intentional move here from Vancouver 8 years ago.
Love: funky, friendly, artistic, alternative, safe, more great restaurants than a town this size should be able to support, Nelson has kept most soul killing chain stores out in favour of friendly, creative local places. That means no McDonalds!
The only thing I've come to dislike is that it's difficult to keep enough people interested in Argentine Tango to have an occasional milonga!
Posted 41 months ago.
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Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
At one point, Brisbane was one of the largest cities in the world in terms of land area, but only has a population currently of 1.6 million. As a general rule, I don't overly like cities, but Brisbane is an acceptable mix of "country town" and "capital city".
What I love about it, is size, the open nature of the place, and the greenery. It's more like a large, ever sprawling town than a city.
What I dislike about it, is the city like most others, does not really give you a chance to run in to people you know on the street. You generally don't know your neighbours, and there are so many people.
Posted 41 months ago.
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This is a great topic, Nachosan!
St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
I love the rich history, I love the architecture, I love the small-town feel (sometimes), I even love the insane local politics. I love that we are always topping these weird lists, like "fattest city" or "most dangerous city". It's a really inexpensive place to live, too. There are a lot of free cultural institutions, which I also love. Oh, and super restaurants, as well.
I love it all.
Well, not all. The city itself never ceases to charm me. I am not very charmed by the flight to (and creation of more) suburbs. Some of the crazy local politics mentioned above also mean that this is a fairly economically depressed town. Businesses don't generally move to here, but away from here. Thus the population dwindles and....
I didn't used to be so in love with my town, really wanted to move someplace much more progressive. But then I worked in the social service field for 6 years and saw some of the most downtrodden and beautiful parts of this place and I decided I'm not eager to leave. I want the progressive changes to happen here.
Posted 41 months ago.
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San Francisco, CA
What I love most, especially lately, is San Francisco's geographical and meteorological complexity. There is a canyon in the middle of this city. There are hills, peaks, and valleys. There are spots of nature in between concrete.
What I hate: SF is very dirty and littered. Visitors are appalled by the number of homeless on the streets. And the working class is being driven out by high rents and home prices. The piers are turning into malls. Starbucks on every corner.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Kren [deleted] says:
Ankara, Turkey
more than 5 million people
Although it's a very big city, Ankara is relatively easy to live. It's big but small. It was made to be small, nobody expected this population boom when it was made the capital city in the early 20th century. So the so-called avenues are narrow, streets are usually narrow, and ironically, Ankara has the biggest number of cars per person in Turkey. This "miserable" city is commonly belived to be "ugly". It has become the sign of devastating modernism with its gray, lifeless buildings and organised surroundings. The city was re-built according to a plan. But the plan simply does not work now.
What I like in my city? Everything and nothing. I live here because I live here, and most often than not I'm bored, but if I move elsewhere I know I'll be missing Ankara.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Houston, Texas - U.S.A.
-I love the parks. This is a very green city with some terrific parks to walk, jog, picnic, or just plain people watch. Plus, we have many lovely blue-sky days here, so we get to partake in the parks quite often.
-I love the blend of high brow and low brow entertainment. We can enjoy sipping our wine while watching a world-class ballet, or we can enjoy throwing back a beer and listining to music at a neighborhood blues joint. All the same, it is never a dull moment.
-I love that we are "Space City." Having grown up five minutes from NASA, and having parents working for the program, I really appreciate what this city contributes to modern day exploration.
- I love the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world. Each year around 5 million patients are treated at one of the 42 member institutions, many which come in from out of state or country for their treatment. In addition, more heart surgeries are performed here than anywhere else in the world.
-I love that the city is very rich with cultural divirsity. It adds to the city's international flavor. Plus, there is a real acceptance of that diversity, something that adds to the friendliness of the city.
-I hate the billboards. The city could be so much more beautiful without the "Eat at Tom, Dick, and Harry" signs littering the roadways.
-I hate the traffic jams. This is very much a car city, so that creates quite a bit of havoc at rush hour.
Posted 41 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
This topic is just fantastic! I love to read about everyone's places and motives to live there, the things you cherish or hate about your place and how all these things together somehow determine the appeal of your city! Keep telling your stories please :)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Melbourne, Victoria - Australia.
Oh boy where do you begin!
» OK Love, the food, the culture, the diversity of the architecture, the parks, the trams.
Melbourne is a very spread out city (although density is increasing rapidly) this allows me to feel like I'm in another world just by commuting from my home to work, a 45 min drive and 1 hour 10 PT trip. The other advantages to this are the 'pockets' of culture around the city. Groovy and downbeat Smith St. The food frenzy that is Lygon St. The Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic and Jewsih sections of town all with their own foods and shops and restaurants, it's a fun way to spend the weekend jaunting around on the rattling old trams or silver speedy trains to met folks for lunch or catch the latest and greatest photography exhibition.
» The weather, while the notion of 4 seasons in one day really applies here, I actually like the changeability it makes for some interesting conversation and even after 3 or 4 days of 38 C +
( that's 100 F in the old scale) you can be positive that a change will eventuate.
» Melbourne is an easy city to get out of several major roads lead west and north and this enables a speedy depature if needed, particualrly on weekends, where the open counrtryside is only 1 hour away from the anywhere, provided you are willing to pay a toll.
What do I Hate?
» The traffic (one bingle/calamity anywhere in town can have huge adverse effect all over town.
» The way sport dominates our culture, (Melbournians are sadly renowned Worldwide for their sporting interests : ( not this little black duck thankyou).
» The trend towards user pays on our roads, I'm sorry but our state government collects an annual registration fee and that should be enough to keep our roads free for all.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Lovely topic!
Amsterdam...where to start?
I was born here,lived elsewhere for three years and came back to study and live again when I was 20
It's a city with enormous culture and history
Maybe it has to do with me getting older, starting to look at it from a different perspective?
Amsterdam to me is becoming more and more a city with (also) a lot of stressed out people, more rude people, cultural differences seemingly becoming a problem more often
What keeps me here is the possibilities, friends ,family, and beautiful spots and places still to be found at all times..
Posted 41 months ago.
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Vancouver BC Canada
My adopted city since 1990. What I love - I live downtown and walk everywhere. It's clean, the arts and culture scene is constantly evolving, the air is fresh, the great outdoors is only a 20 minute drive away, it's a healthy city with healthy people. I don't miss Montreal ...much.
What I dislike - oh the whining! the small-town attitudes that prevail. the lack of originality in the city's architecture. the desperate need to appear 'world class' whatever that means. the loss of heritage buildings to commercial enterprises (example: preservation of Woodwards' and BowMac's signage even though these businesses are long gone). The relentless condofication of the downtown core. The despair and poverty in some parts of the city. The widening gap between haves and have-nots.
But I love the warmth of the people, our innate connectedness (this is a two-degrees-of-separation kind of city) and the fact that, no matter the season, the approach into Vancouver by plane, car or train is absolutely spectacular. For an amateur photographer, this is THE place to live and shoot.
Posted 41 months ago.
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am i allowed to reply twice?
Wellington, New Zealand.
I love that there is a festival here every week.
Last week was gorgeous (gay + lesbian) the week before was Buskers festival.
This week was cuba street carnival, next week the fringe festival (celebrating oddballs and non-maintstream artists)
the week after that it's roller disco..
what i hate? damn dirty smokers with their stench with littered cig butts - demolition of historical corners of he city to make more roads for single occupant motor vehicles.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Vancouver sounds cool...
And by the way:
far too many cars in Amsterdam too, this city was NOT build for cars
That's why I ride my Bike at all times (and my motorbike if the weather is above 15 Celcius) and that's probably why I married a Bike-repair -man, too Dutch to be true...
Posted 41 months ago.
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Kren [deleted] says:
If you live in the city, Amsterdam is definately not a car city, everyone should use bikes (and do, I think)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Baltimore: I love that there are places like this:
It makes me sad that there are so many places like this:
Posted 41 months ago.
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Houston, Texas USA
and
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
I agree with everything that Slight Clutter says about Houston. I love big cities but I especially love living close to downtown Houston. For over 30 years we lived in the 'burbs and that was okay but being close to the theatre, the parks, the speciality shopping is wonderful but also wonderful is not having a "commute" to get to everywhere I want to go.
We also live parttime in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. It is a small town of about 75,000 people with a foreign population of about 5%. Still it retains its Mexican personality. Lots of art, music and festivals. I love walking everywhere and feeling so connected to the street. I love walking up and hearing roosters crow, having the man selling Ranchero cheese come to the door, the whistle of the knife sharpener as he goes down the street, the church bells, the fireworks with every festival, the sound of a drum and bugle corp somewhere in the city. Mmmm.....wish I was there right now.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Morganthemoth-
I hate the city {San Francisco} too for the profusion of starbucks, but of US cities I have seen, it has some of the most and best independent stores, and not too many chains, though yes, four blocks from my house thare are two StarBux across the street from each other.
All in all, I love the city for easy transit, beutiful old houses, compactness, pretty good social climate and natural climate.
I hate it because it is too expensive to live in anymore for so many people.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Los Angeles, California
i hate that everyone in the rest of the world thinks that L.A. = Hollywood....there are so many great, distinct neighborhoods here that have nothing to do with what you have seen on t.v. or in films.
that said - rush hour traffic can be somewhat sucky - all those cars...but i love that from where i live in Silverlake i can ride my bike so so many parts of the city with no problem whatsoever
Posted 41 months ago.
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as a vagabong observer of LA (ie been there twice over weekends) what struck me was the potential to get lost and not care about it.
You are always in the city boundaries, driving around.
You can always get off the next exit and turn right back.
The huge distances allow for collosal navigational mistakes, yet there is always a chance to get back in the game... and find the destination. It's a place meant for roaming, so getting lost is desired rather than despised.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Portland, Oregon (again -- see hummanna, above)
Portland is a great city. It has a very progressive feel, similar to Seattle or San Francisco, but much smaller. We have tons of bicycling lanes (our mayor actually partakes in 'Critical Mass'), decent mass transit including light-rail and trolley cars, very good land-use planning laws, parks, etc. We have great neighborhoods full of beautiful old houses and great independently owned shops and stores. The ‘urban growth boundary’ allows for farms to be only a few minutes drive from the center of town and we have farmer’s markets nearly year round. Portland is about an hours drive to the beach to the west and about an hour to snow capped mountains in the east. The Columbia River Gorge is stunning! On a sunny day we get gorgeous views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, and once every 20 years or so the volcano pops off! :-)
The downside to Portland is that it has the usually ignorant SUV driving suburbanites like all US cities. Rush hour traffic is horrendous and getting worse. The land use planning laws are under constant attack. The public schools are poorly funded. The weather can be very gray for weeks at a time in winter, which seems to make nearly everyone cranky. Plus, we seem to have a bad rep: we're the home of ice-skating-thug Tonya Harding, the groping senator Bob Packwood, and the infamous NBA Jailblazers.
Still, I like Portland and there is nowhere else in the US I’d rather live.
Posted 41 months ago.
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oslo.norwey.about 500000 inhabitants.
i love/hate this city for all the same reasons i guess.
i love/hate traffic in the early morning.
i love/hate the city planning.
i love/hate people smiling&cursing at you in the same movement.
i love/hate the tranquil hideouts that suddenly appear in an otherwise typical city-atmosphere, seemingly from thin air.
i love/hate decay.
Posted 41 months ago.
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san francisco, california, usa
+ the weather is literally the best...i hate the sun
+ a huge liberal socialist network of intellectuals and activists
+ more then 1 vegan restaruant
+ public transport is reliable enough to not have a car
+ right on the pacific
+ can be on a deserted beach or isolated forest in 30 minutes flat
+ awesome underground film theatres and festivals
- everyone falls into the most boring cliches of "urban style"
- the scensters are amazingly vain uncreative and trite
- rent is out of control expensive
- no one knows how to drive in the city
- the chasm between socioeconomic classes is heartbreaking
- the single men are rude and desperate for attention
- racial/sexual stereotypes are amplified and cemented by the archiac territorial boundries
- for every activist trying to make a difference, there are 15 self absorbed wastes of carbon running around pretending to have street cred as fashion designers or hair dressers while mummy & daddy foots the bill
- the public university is severely under funded and over crowded
- noise pollution (ie - no one knows how to turn down their music and close their windows)
- the severe lack of manners in public (ie - spitting, drunkeness, cellphones, pissing)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Ok, let me chime in: great topic Nachosan.
I will try not to repeat what others have said about the cities I will mention.
NYC: My adopted home. It feels "right". I describe living in NYC to having a relationship that you KNOW is not healthy for you, you KNOW stresses you out, you KNOW you have had enough of, and you see all the reasons another place just might do,
but you just
can't
let
it
go.
:)
The stressors and escapes from the stressors to the Cloisters etc. in Washington Heights like Susan mentions, are addictive.
The most negative aspect to me is that it is not the cultural melting pot I had once viewed it as when my family moved here as immmigrants when I was in the 6th grade. Then we moved away to the midwest for ever long, only for me to find my way back here, and my family to find their way in California. So, California is my "home" that I am exploring still.
In that regard, I just recently visited San Francisco, and it is the first time I have felt I could leave NYC---it is similar on many levels (and hell, it is as expensive as NYC, so it won't kill me)but, in someways without the pain. Besides the homeless people everywhere, it is beautiful. I fell in love with it because of the architecture.
Parents live out in Wasco , California. A teeny-tiny town near Bakersfield (everyone knows Bakersfield because it is 2 hours north east of LA and on the way to everything else, north and south).
+ I love, love, love our house and how I can escape all humanity and just be with this earth, and smell this beautiful earth.
-too small for me to live there (perhaps my view will change when I get to be oldererer!!!)
Spent a good chunk of my time (8 years) in Kansas City.
+ Great food.
- Illogically conservative.
It is truly delightful to read everyone's posts since I suffer from wanderlust. :)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Yrogoyen writes:
oslo.norwey.about 500000 inhabitants.
what quaint little towns y'all live in...
;)
Posted 41 months ago.
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it's as big as they get over here.
nothing like the buzz of busy Sao Paulo for sure,but hey.. it's my cozy little town;)
Posted 41 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
most wonderful insights by everyone here! I so love and enjoy reading about your love-hate relationships with your urbes. It is a true urban testimony and reflects as much of our reality as do the wonderful images belonging to our group pool here!
Keep them coming please :)
Posted 41 months ago.
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A new (7 months) arrival to Paris
I'll start with hate so I can finish on a happy note
So I hate the traffic, the pollution, the lack of accessibility for cyclists (or people in wheelchairs). I hate being swallowed up in the morning commuter void. I hate the expense of a lot of things, people who are really rude, graffiti on beautiful structures, people who push through behind me when I go through the metro styles (ie scamming their free entry with my passage) and I really hate the dogs**t
I love the cafés, the history, the bendy little streets of the old quarters with unassuming plaques on wall that recount the passage of age old events, or the little known people who died on the spot you're standing during a war long ago. I love the architecture, the doors, the views. I love the cultural banquet on offer year round, and people who will stop and give strangers a hand with their bags or prams in the metro stairwell. Paris has an evolving inner appearance through its exterior appears to be static.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Great topic...
Detroit, Michigan
Is there enough room for this?
Let me just say one thing about Detroit that I haven't said yet in my photo commentaries:
The thing I love the most about Detroit is that, no matter what anyone thinks about it - good, bad or indifferent - Detroit cannot be branded. It's not a trademark. No one can label the city as one thing or another; it is it's own living, breathing organism, brimming with life of all kinds. Through the years, trends come and go all around, and Detroit never ever gets caught up in them. It's like the city is made of this impervious armor that protects itself from outside influences. Detroiters can walk down a street and instantly point out who lives there and who doesn't. For us that live here, it's a sort of unspoken pride that we're all mixed up in this crazy place full of hope, despair, love, hate, success and failure. And all the while, people here take it all in stride. We constantly get beat up in the press, and yet new businesses open up. The same day Detroit is named Murder Capital of America is the same day ABC names Detroit one of the 5 Up-and-Coming Neighborhoods in the U.S. And truth is, no one here really cares about all that. What Detroiters want is a chance for equality; a chance to make friends and not enemies; a chance for people to not snicker when they know you live here.
So, in the end, Detroit can't be branded. Not by companies, not by culture, not by racist politicians. Detroit is its own brand.
And I love it.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Bremen, Germany (500.000 inhabitants),
i'll also start with the things I hate. Actually there is not much I hate about the city. What I really hate are the dirty streets (well, dogs play a part in this case...) and sometimes the traffic (all in all it is a very bike-friendly city).
It's really easier to talk about what I love about the city. I think it has the perfect size of a city. It's not too big, you don't loose the overview. But it is not too small so you can live anonymously if you want to. Every quarter has it own spirit (and is often a small city it self). You have everything from the old port and working class districts, traders' villas from centuries ago, to the medieval core of the city. And if you have the chance to see the city from a higher point (hard to find, very flat land here ;)) you'll see more parks and green areas than you expected. I also like the cafes and pubs in the summer (you have to go downtown or the the 'viertel' therefore) and you get a rather wide spectrum of cultural possibilities for the size of the city.
I'm not a big soccer fan but I also like the down-to-earth style of the local soccer-club which I think is typical for the city.
To few space to put all feelings here (and way to hard to express in a non-native language for me ;))
Posted 41 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
You know what Urban Tiki? After reading your wonderfully candid testimony about Detroit I was reminded of this medieval saying here in Germany, that only urban air set you completely free!! Of course it was originally meant in a totally different sense, but it so applies to what you said in your great response :)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Oh and gosh...don't get me started on the HORRIBLE weather!
Posted 41 months ago.
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Edinburgh, Scotland
I do love this city. It's absolutely the most beautiful city I've ever been to - and I've been around. :) I love the buildings and feel of the Old Town, I love the history of the Royal Mile, I love the HUGE amount of culture available at my fingertips. I love that I can walk most places (thanks to living so close to the city centre) and everywhere else, I can get a bus - the transport system here is great. I love that it's a short distance to the Highlands - one of the most amazingly beautiful places on earth.
What do I hate? I hate that Edinburgh people tend to be quite closed off, and are hard to get to know (even the friendliest of people are hard to get to know here). Openness is hard to find. Even a smile on the street seems somewhat rare. I hate that its incredibly expensive. I hate the snobbery.
Posted 41 months ago.
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And of course, even if it's sunny right now, it never lasts the whole day!
Posted 41 months ago.
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glad you said that because i was going to comment on the fact that even when it's sunny it rains in edinburgh--somehow there will be one tiny little cloud that happens to be right over your head...
Posted 41 months ago.
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Dallas Texas is a young city in world terms being only able to trace its formal city roots to 1841.
Sadly only a small number of remnants remain of the beginings of the 1800s.
This shows that span.
New elements make a sometimes city better but older elements are the foundation.
Big cities have the bonus of a diversity of worlds in small space... from the best to the worst.
However, I would not trade for it.
Posted 41 months ago.
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yikes.. My country was "founded" in 1840... your city is almost as old!
it's very rare to find any structure more than 100 year old here.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Amsterdam again.... see here.
I love your calm waters, I love the room in your people's heads; but I hate your cramped houses and your small streets.
You're asking me, willl my love grow? I don't know. You stick around, it will show.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Funny thing. Just 6 days ago I posted that one of the fun things about Portland, Oregon is "Mt. St. Helens... every 20 years or so the volcano pops off!" Well, it just did it again!!! My girlfriend got the whole sequence from Council Crest a hilltop in SW Portland. See It here!" 
Posted 41 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
Carst, your usage of song lyrics seems sooo fitting in your case :)
Posted 41 months ago.
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Well Luna, despite all my curse I love her very much. I hope she will stick around, and love me back.
Posted 41 months ago.
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Toronto, Ontario
Canada
LOVE
HATE
Questions?
Posted 41 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
I think she will Carst! The lovely old lady has many hidden charmes I am sure :)
Posted 40 months ago.
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I love that my immigrant grandparents made a life here, and my memories of their house across from the park and the museum, and hearing my grandmother's Yiddish as a child. I love the railroad tracks and the boarded-up coal mines and the slag heaps. I love the careless accents and the affability of my neighbors' voices. I love that there are soaring cities to the east, and endless forests to the west. I love that we still have our original chrome diners and our wonderfully awful newspaper, and one remaining human elevator operator. I love that Harry Chapin sang a silly song* about our town.
I hate that so much was lost when our city fell ill, around the time that I was born, and the youth and optimism that bled away over the years. (I love that health is returning, though.) Sometimes I hate that my city isn't quite big enough, so that foreign films and foods and people don't find their way here. I hate that the nearby farms are turning into housing developments, gated communities full of New Yorkers, wealthy and imprisoned. I hate the inept, corrupt and - worst of all - unimaginative public officials.
I love and hate the idea of leaving it, someday. I am Scranton.
*30,000 Pounds of Bananas.
Posted 40 months ago.
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Hong Kong, SAR, CHINA (7.5 million people)
Oh god, this place is so amazing and yet so annoying. The amazing tends to outweight the bad tho in many many ways.
* the food. Chinese food - real dim sum, roast duck, huge dinners
* The Peak - one of the best places to view Hong Kong.
* outlying Islands - great places to escape and check out something that is not a city
* Country parks - great places to go hiking and relaxing
* nightlife - many places to go dancing, drinking, socalizing
* the people - most are very friendly and very nice , loads of expats
* the skyline - with it's gloriously large buildings, neon lights and ever changing make-up
* Cheapness of markets - food and fun goods are cheap cheap if one can fight through the markets and find all that is good.
* Closeness to other places - great chances to travel, even for a weekend, and check out China, Thailand, Japan or Macau
* Cheap public transport - and highly efficient as well
* Bilingual. Loads of people speak both Cantonese and English
* Cheap movie tickets, cheapest I have found in Asia.
* Loads of concerts and theater shows are now coming to Hong Kong.
* The history, the culture, the places to see.
- Sometimes, all those people get in the way. Slow walkers, kids, confsed tourists. I walk fast. I want them to move.
- The noise. On buses, trains, in restaurants and bars, Chinese people can be SO LOUD.
- Smoking. No real laws about smoking in buildings, so everyone does it and it is gross.
- Humidity in summer is stifling. No heating in winter means inside the buildings are just as cold as it is outside.
- High cost of rent
- Confused government
- Lack of suport for teachers
- Little TaiTais who elbow you in the gut when grocery shopping
- The smells of the fresh chicken and meat markets is enough to make me gag.
- Students who are not keen on learning English, which makes my job a little tough. An Education system SO RIGID that nothing will ever change it.
I love my city. As an Expat in HK, I think it is the best best place in the world. I won't go so far as to say I AM HONG KONG, but part of me will always live here.
Posted 40 months ago.
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London.
Love:
Historic Pubs
Blue Plaques
Great restaurants
Art galleries and museums
Music venues
Hate:
Grey skies
Property prices
Commuting
Hmmm, I'm struggling to find much that I hate - I must love it here then. :-)
Posted 39 months ago.
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Brussels
Love ... it is still a big village especially if you live in the center
Hate ... nothing that can destroy my love fr the city... ok the wheather in Autumn and winter maybe
Posted 39 months ago.
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Atlanta, GA
Hate: the pathetic mass-transportation system we have makes it pretty impossible to get around without a car. There are lots of problems with city planning, zoning, and suburban sprawl. Not enough sidewalks along the roads to walk or jog along in many areas. Traffic is horrendous.
Love: being an architect-in-training, I look forward to the possibility of solving many of the urban problems - I always love a challenge. I think Atlanta has a lot of potential for growing culturally and socially if people can decide that is what they want. The best thing about Atlanta, is the looooong spring and fall. Beautiful weather for most of the year (except for July & August that are too hot & humid).
Posted 39 months ago.
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Portland, Oregon
Love:
walkable downtown
forest park
washington park
great people
good transit
Hate:
small city blocks make driving hell
bad freeway access
Posted 39 months ago.
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Detroit
Love - the history, the buildings, the people, the music, the feeling I get, the places, the art, the atmosphere, showing people the real Detroit I love, the photo ops, the possibilities...
Hate - the bad attitudes of the burbs, the frequent bad press, bad rap, lack of decent public transport(but then again it is the Motor City)
Oh, and UT nailed it on the head above too.
Posted 39 months ago.
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A friend of mine once said that Detroit would be the "Rome" of the United States. In reference to its history and interesting buildings, that one day when our "empire" is long gone and people are excavating its ruins to study it, Detroit would provide a fascinating tapestry of different architectural styles, complex culture and an evolution that allowed for change while preserving the history at the same time, like Rome.
He made me want to visit Detroit very much.
Posted 39 months ago.
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wow, now I wanna visit Detroit as well!! I'm sure there's some really great architecture left over from the hey days!
Posted 39 months ago.
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Check out UrbanTiki's or my flickr streams. We both have a ton of Detroit architecture in our photos.
And yes you should all visit Detroit. It is a terrific city with a great selection of architecture by Kahn, Yamasuki and Mies Van Der Rohe to name a few....
Posted 39 months ago.
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Austin Texas
I'm preparing to move this summer, so I have been thinking about this a lot
I love that it is completely open to explore, and within a short period of time you find the strange streets and local landmarks. I love that within 30-40 minutes you can be in the most Texan of small towns, but home is still fairly cosmopolitain.
I love that in winter you maybe have to put on a scarf. I love that you can subsist on a ridiculously small amount of money. I hate that most people have to.
I love how diverese and fluid the city is when it comes to culture.
I hate that you have to have a car here.
I hate the opressive heat of the summer.
I hate that it is really a small town despite almost a million people in the greater city area.
I hate that it is still mired in the racism and classism of the South.
I will probably miss the conversations with strangers, brilliant plants of early spring and barbeque when I move to (back) to Canada.
Posted 39 months ago.
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Vancouver:
Love:
- the cultural diversity, great food, good people
- downtown livability: people live downtown, which makes the city alive. There are plenty of suburbs, but people aren't afraid of living in the city proper - even right downtown.
- scenery: Vancouver has some amazingly beautiful surroundings.
- climate: not too hot, not too cold.
Dislike:
- crime: property crime is very high here. It's not taken seriously.
- politics: often Vancouver politics (and BC overall) leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
- cultural ghettoization: some of that still goes on here.
- architecture: one word for Vancouver architecture, particularly since the 70's - BORING.
I've lived in other cities, but I wouldn't live anywhere else.
Pierre
Posted 39 months ago.
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belo horizonte.brazil (4mi people in metro area; 5 hour drive north of rio):
as a student of urban theory this is something i ask myself each day, and the list would go on and on, and wouldn't fit well here. considering that all other things are pretty much alike (in the sense that all cities have big problems concerning issues in politics and economics, some more - some less, but they're parallel somehow), culture is the big thing to look for in any local context, and in mine:
1st of all, it is cheap to go out and see good stuff and have a descent time.
i love how city life here resembles the city's hinterland, since the city is so young (a little more than 100) it's a big mixture of people from different parts of the countryside surrounding it meeting up here and melting things together
i love how the city is JUST big enough for one to know enough people from different backgrounds, w/o really losing touch anytime.
and ironically, this is also a reason for hating this town. it's irritating to run into people you know all the time, especially when you simply don't want to. it's like a small town, every new acquaintance is already friends with someone you already know. the degrees of separation will never reach 3, so you know everyone indirectly!!!!! lol
Posted 39 months ago.
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I loved my brief weekend in Detroit! Great party town.
Posted 39 months ago.
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I have two homes. London UK and Toronto Canada.
LONDON -
Love: the energy, the Thames, the double decker, the history, the crowds, the chaos, the shops, the variety of architecture, how no matter how long you are there you always find a place you haven't seen before, the fact it is just so fabulous
Hate: The ineptitude, the traffic jams, the high cost of essential items, the low standard and high cost of living
TORONTO
Love: the high standard of living coupled with the low cost of living, the safety, the number of cool things no one else in the world knows about, the liberal attitudes, cheap restaurant food, ethnic diversity
Hate: The blandness of the people, the homelessness, the winter, the too-hot summers, the predictability, boring supermarkets
Posted 39 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
SO many great responses!!! Love to read about all these diverse personal angles, your preferences, your hate-love relationships with your cities. This topic is one hell of a ride if you want to learn about urban existance in diverse countries and places. What I like to see that despite cities becoming rather more similar, there is still a lot of proper characteristics most towns preserve, which makes them unique.
Posted 39 months ago.
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love: my comfort zone. it's summer all year round (no winters).
hate: having to share it with people who are not civic conscious - litter, drive like maniacs, impolite, ignorant, inconsiderate, lacking in basic manners and can't keep toilets clean & dry!
Posted 39 months ago.
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where are you mvo168?
Posted 39 months ago.
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Manila, Philippines
a city of extremes
i hate:
-the traffic
- potholes and craters on the road
-jaywalkers
-ruthless jeepney drivers
-annoying novelty dance songs
-the billboard boom
-newspapers promoting a culture of excess when most of the population is starving
-the red tape in government offices
i love:
-the food!!!
- warm weather
- some signs of progress like a decent park like Baywalk and the Avenida Plaza
- the facades of Old theaters in Recto
- thrift stores and junkyards
- tourist traps like intramuros and luneta
- endless array of malls
- friendly lokal folk
- underground cultures in tondo and makati
-bootleg bins of arthouse films
i think what's surprising is that there's Starbucks everywhere, its thriving despite the bad economy.
Posted 39 months ago.
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ADELAIDE, Australia
(lived here most of my life. as I was born in the most beautiful of cities- Sydney- I find I continually compare all cities to this most revered benchmark)
LOVE:
- fabulous food market with exquisite local produce
- Adelaide has a seedy side that sits kinda uneasily with its (other) media image 'the city of churches'
-perhaps because of this, we have a vibrant arts community
- the Adelaide Festival!
- people are genuinely friendly and dont seem to mind being dropped in on (unlike sydney)
- the fact that the city is planned with a green lung (parkland) wrapping the guts of the CBD
- ALWAYS running into so many people one knows
- the food, wine, relaxed pace
- its so hot here in summer one can legitimately lie comatosed on the floor as there is simply nothing else to do when it is over 40 degrees for the 5th day in a row. strangley, this is appealing!
HATE:
- the relaxed pace
- ALWAYS running into so many people one knows!! very irritating when trying to take photos.
- it is so dry. my skin literally pines for the more humid sydney climate
- adelaide doesnt have a decent harbour
- lack of edginess that faster cities have... a sense of expectation
Posted 39 months ago.
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Manchester UK
LOVE
The students,
Rusholme - my home, a mile of curry shops
the gay village,
the drug scene,
the redbrick estate in hulme (filled with punks for some reason)
the dutch imports,
birchfields park,
hulme arch,
strangewayz soundsystem,
free raves,
the clubs,
the house i was born in,
my mum,
afflecks palace (and the whole northern quarter),
the happy mondays,
the animal house,
Manchester City FC,
Lemn Sissay
THE MANCUNIAN WAY
HATE
The students:1.Student only bars
2.filling up the buses in the morning
3.Being asked "what course are you on?" NONE I JUST LIVE HERE
The police,
the racism (in some areas),
the pollution,
the thieves,
people who live in didsbury,
manchester united,
whoever decided to knock down Maine Road,
council tax,
car dealers,
pigeons,
the rain,
the cold,
the fights in town (traditional part of manchester life),
Jilly's rockworld,
and man u fans
Posted 39 months ago.
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London:
Love the spaces that no-one uses at the same time as you. loathe the unhappy faces that pollute the commute. Love Highbury stadium.
oh and the grey skies suck large ones so does the stupid price of property.
Posted 38 months ago.
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Paris
I love
All the usual great views
the fact that it gets different all the time
the hustle and bustle
the Luxembourg gardens
that I can discover new places every day
the transport system
I hate
you can't walk or sit on the grass
drug dealers and pickpockets
dog and pigeon poop in the street
trash on the pavements
cars
Posted 38 months ago.
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Washington, DC
DC is surprisingly vibrant. When people bother to scratch below the surface (or the Mall, as the case may be) it has a lot of personality, and there are really interesting, unique neighborhoods. The city has a fair number of green spaces (though it could use more), and some truly gorgeous architecture. As the seat of government there is a lot of power pulsing through the place (which is one of the less attractive things about it), which draws not only the standard narcissitics, sycophants, and toadies (again, less attractive aspect), it also attracts lots of very cool, very motivated, and very idealistic people who are trying to get the ear of power to make the world a better place.
It does have its downsides. The most important downside (from which I believe all the others stem) is the marked social stratification. The capital is like a petrie dish: you can find all the plagues of the country inside the beltway. The rich are very, very rich. We're talking off the spectrum. DC has the highest number of PhDs, MAs, and post-graduate professional degree holders of any city in the country. But the number of district residents who didn't make it past the sixth grade (or who graduated from a district high school reading like they were in the sixth grade) is appalling. There are whole blocks of burnt out houses in some parts of this city, and yet the real estate market is so out of whack here that you can't buy an 80 year old row house that needs a new kitchen, bathroom, and roof sandwiched in between the prostitutes of 14th street and the chorus of drunks singing in front of the bodega for under $450,000.
But you'd be hard pressed to pry my out of my city.
Posted 38 months ago.
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Toronto
Love: The absolute sense of individuality.
Hate: How isolated this can make one feel.
That's why I call it the damagedcity.
Posted 38 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
RIPope: I think you have summarized with a few words the very essence of urban exi-STANCE :)) Great words everyone, wonderful observations, so many imminent invitations for new places, THANK YOU ALL :))
Posted 37 months ago.
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photo guerilla [deleted] says:
Aachen, Deutschland
pop: 250.000, within 40.000 students.
I hate about Aachen:
- it's sooo small, you can reach nearly every point in this city in 20 min - on foot!
- here are NO hills
- no good clubs, in fact: no clubs
- no music-concerts
- too much enigineer-students/nerds (more than 50%!)
- did I already mentioned that Aachen is too small?
- Aachen is too small
- you go out and always see the same faces
I love about this city:
- students playing a big part
- nice cafés around the university
- Lindt has a factory outlet in Aachen
- Belgium and Holland are some mins away from here (to reach by bus)
- a picturesque Old Town, perfect if my grandparents are visiting me
Posted 37 months ago.
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lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] says:
photo guerrilla: for international flickrati you might mention, that Aachen (or Aquisgran in its ancient latin denomination) once was the capital of Charlemagne, Karl dem Großen, who reigned over his vast empire from this city!!!
Posted 37 months ago.
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Praise and curse of the city /
Discuss
