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Mar. 19th, 2008
Thoughts on Cities
Mar. 19th, 2008 09:41 pmThings I Need a City to Have in Order to be Happy There in the Long Term:
Trees: They must be large and happy and clearly in danger of overgrowing the sidewalk. Flowering varieties and willows get extra points.
Water: City must be on either the ocean or a large navigable river. Breadth matters, as well as centrality of location. The Spree is good, the Wien is too small and most of it is covered and made very manageable.
Nature: Pigeons are not nature. Rabbits are nature, as a interesting varieties of crows and songbirds. Rats may or may not be nature- in any case they are very cute and to be encouraged.
Graffiti: More is not necessarily better- gang-related tagging is bad, but large sprawling works of public art are great. Berlin had graffiti everywhere, but almost all of it was a) names, or b) clearly trying to be a work of art and demand something of the viewer- thought, conviction, amusement, whatever. It was also everywhere, too.
Public transportation: Lots, and late. I cannot be bothered to figure out what routes are running at night- just keep them all going! Or least some of the major parts.
Diversity: Vienna is blindingly white. Since last September, the only black people I've seen have been trying to sell me newspapers in the subway. I can feel myself developing assumptions based on skin color, and I don't like it! Lots of different kinds of people, all mixed together is great. I want to walk down the street and see afros, headscarves, blondes, brunettes, black hair and spiked mohawks.
Fashion: : CLOTHES ARE FUN. If you have forgotten this, you are wearing them wrong. If everyone wears the same thing, you are all wearing the wrong thing. I do not want to have dress like a thirty year old just to fit in!
Public feeling: This one is hard to explain precisely. I want to be able to wander around and find stuff going on, not just for tourists or people begging, but motion and activity and life! It doesn't have to be planned so long as it is happening.
Age: There needs to be people of all ages in a city, from very small to very old. There should be a place for me without having too much of any one group. However, there should also be places to go that are specifically for people in their 20's and 30's who are restless and a bit stupid.
Buildings: Not all the same kind- I should occasionally turn around and laugh in delight at how a building has been decorated (In Berlin there was one building painted bright red from the first floor up, with real and graffiti roses covering the base of the building. I could have stayed and sat around looking at it for a looong time.) Brick gets extra points, but they should be different and interesting and have weird little spaces and groups that feel lived in.
Price Range: I need to be able to live there and not be stuck feeling really poor all the time.
Language: I suppose I should really be more attached to my native language, but honestly, I don't really care that much if the city is in English or in German. German, I think, would be fine.
Trees: They must be large and happy and clearly in danger of overgrowing the sidewalk. Flowering varieties and willows get extra points.
Water: City must be on either the ocean or a large navigable river. Breadth matters, as well as centrality of location. The Spree is good, the Wien is too small and most of it is covered and made very manageable.
Nature: Pigeons are not nature. Rabbits are nature, as a interesting varieties of crows and songbirds. Rats may or may not be nature- in any case they are very cute and to be encouraged.
Graffiti: More is not necessarily better- gang-related tagging is bad, but large sprawling works of public art are great. Berlin had graffiti everywhere, but almost all of it was a) names, or b) clearly trying to be a work of art and demand something of the viewer- thought, conviction, amusement, whatever. It was also everywhere, too.
Public transportation: Lots, and late. I cannot be bothered to figure out what routes are running at night- just keep them all going! Or least some of the major parts.
Diversity: Vienna is blindingly white. Since last September, the only black people I've seen have been trying to sell me newspapers in the subway. I can feel myself developing assumptions based on skin color, and I don't like it! Lots of different kinds of people, all mixed together is great. I want to walk down the street and see afros, headscarves, blondes, brunettes, black hair and spiked mohawks.
Fashion: : CLOTHES ARE FUN. If you have forgotten this, you are wearing them wrong. If everyone wears the same thing, you are all wearing the wrong thing. I do not want to have dress like a thirty year old just to fit in!
Public feeling: This one is hard to explain precisely. I want to be able to wander around and find stuff going on, not just for tourists or people begging, but motion and activity and life! It doesn't have to be planned so long as it is happening.
Age: There needs to be people of all ages in a city, from very small to very old. There should be a place for me without having too much of any one group. However, there should also be places to go that are specifically for people in their 20's and 30's who are restless and a bit stupid.
Buildings: Not all the same kind- I should occasionally turn around and laugh in delight at how a building has been decorated (In Berlin there was one building painted bright red from the first floor up, with real and graffiti roses covering the base of the building. I could have stayed and sat around looking at it for a looong time.) Brick gets extra points, but they should be different and interesting and have weird little spaces and groups that feel lived in.
Price Range: I need to be able to live there and not be stuck feeling really poor all the time.
Language: I suppose I should really be more attached to my native language, but honestly, I don't really care that much if the city is in English or in German. German, I think, would be fine.