With these words, Bill Bryson starts his book on small town America. He then goes on to give a description of Des Moines, painting a rather eerie picture of the city.
How accurate his description is, I don't know. But in every country there are towns and even cities which just makes you wonder why people would want to live there. In South Africa, I can think of several.
Two small cities which qualify, are Secunda and Welkom, both founded in the past 50 years, and the results of modern planning from scratch. You'd think that because of it, they should be near perfect. Yet both are just damn ugly and without "personality". Both cities are regarded as a bit of a laughing stock by the rest of the country, jokes often being made about them.* And in both cases the people tend to be regarded as, how shall I put it delicately, a little common.... The same kind of situation that Bryson describes in Des Moines, with people growing up there and simply staying there for the rest of their lives, leading pretty much dreary lives, also exists in Welkom and Secunda.
* A joke currently circulating about Welkom: Message at the end of a funeral letter: Please do not dice in the funeral procession....
Places like that in your country?
Benjamin [inactive]
Re: Horrible towns
André in Zuid-Afrika wrote:
Places like that in your country?
Scotland has many such towns, most of which were created from the 1940s to the 1960s as population overflows for Glasgow (and to a lesser extent Edinburgh) after the slum-clearances which took place around that time. The first was East Kilbride in 1947, followed by Glenrothes, Cumbernauld, Livingston and Ivrine, and places like Motherwell also serve a similar purpose even though they aren't technically 'new towns'. They tend to be very grey and unimaginative, with lots of concrete blocks of flats.
Though to be honest, a lot of towns in Scotland are quite run-down and gloomy. The countryside is beautiful though.
Travis
Things aren't quite like that here, as most of the run down areas and dreary apartment blocks are in the middle of the city. However, what does exist here and in many other American cities is a wide expanse of unplanned subdivision development outside of cities, which really lacks any kind of cohesiveness and in the end is practically dreary and soulless, with random collections of large houses that look largely the same extending as far as the eye can see and not much else. These newer developments may be aimed at the upper middle class rather than the working class and lower class, but they really are not much better from what you guys describe in the end. These areas are not planned as cities in which to live, but rather are intended to require driving a good bit of a way ot get about just anywhere, and hence do not have things that one would associate with a city or an older suburban area such as sidewalks. Hence they have a sense of general emptiness to them, for all the huge houses built in them.
fab
In France, The phenomenon of "grands ensembles" which consisted cités made in the sixties based on the principes of "modern urbanism" theorized in the years 20/30 has created what we call today the "cités de banlieue" socially and urbanly problematic (despite the fact that the architecture itself is not passionating). Those districts were not completely distints cities but more some "cités dortoirs" surrounding almost all french cities.
After this period were planified what was called "villes nouvelles", which consist of a very different conception. Those cities were satellite cities, but, contrary to the "grands ensembles" were initially thought as complete and diverse cities (with housing, but also commercial centers, working areas, etc)
The architecture was more, let's say, experimental (unfortunally not always in the good mean of the term) and diverse (too much diverse most of the time). The result is architecturally and urbanilly not really satifacting, but at least those are fonctionning better than the grands ensembles.
most have been created around Paris, 5 "villes nouvelles" have been built : Evry, Cergy-Pontoise, Marne-la-Vallée, Melun-Sénart and Saint-quentin-en-Yvelines.
Concerning the fact that every country has not beautiful cities, even if they are not "new towns", but historic cities with a reputation of not being good looking...or being boring.
Limoges, Toulon, Le Havre, Sain Nazaire, Saint Etienne, Valenciennes, Arras, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Maubauge, etc... and many more... most of these are provincial cities with a old traditional heavy industry activity, now finished most of the time - so those cities are often, not only seen as unbeautiful by many, also often hit by heavy unemployement rates.
Elaine
A good candidate for eerie towns would be Barstow, California, way out yonder in the Mojave Desert, midway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. There's something awfully peculiar about a town in the middle of nowhere, especially one smack dab in the desert, where the oppressive heat can drive a man to insanity. People who live there were either born there and somehow got stuck there (and they can't possibly be too happy!), or were born elsewhere and are running away from something (the law, perhaps?)
From wikipedia:
Quote:
In a 2006 state-funded economic survey, Barstow ranks among the 10 poorest cities in California. One third of residents receive public assistance and 4 out of 10 receive welfare and social security funds. Its long distance from major cities and urban centers has created economic problems, and Barstow is seeking projects to boost the economy. However, there are three casinos planned for the area. Numerous construction projects have been announced for Barstow, including a Wal-Mart distribution center, retail growth, and an increase in lodging accommodations. The Barstow economy is seeing positive growth that will continue well into the next decade.
- median house price : $115,276 (in 2005), significantly below California state average
- 10.4% unemployment is above state average.
- 9.1% of population have a bachelor's degree or higher, significantly below the state average.
- Crime index : 445.9 (U.S. average is 330.6)
- Temperature : 33 - 102 °F (0 - 39 °C) range
Uriel
You'll see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino.....
It's the curse of Route 66. Ever see Cars? I watched it with some friends, and even before the movie started on about its message of how the interestate highways had bankrupted all of the little towns who had previously depended on Route 66 traffic, my friends both laughed at the little town Lightning McQueen gets stuck in, and said, "Oh look -- it's Tucumcari! Or any other little town along I-40!" (a remnant of Rte. 66)
Joanne
Re: Horrible towns
André in Zuid-Afrika wrote:
Places like that in your country?
Oh, wow. I live in New Jersey, so I guess a few cities or towns like that would be Paterson, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Jersey City, Union, Union Township, the Oranges, Asbury Park, New Brunswick, North Bergen, Fairview, Englewood.
Oh, ferchrissakes... the entire state is a hellhole!
Elaine
Re: Horrible towns
Joanne wrote:
Oh, ferchrissakes... the entire state is a hellhole!
I can't imagine why that would be. Didn't NJ rank as the richest state in the nation last year? And isn't nicknamed the "Garden State"? Sounds like a lovely place to live.
Travis
Re: Horrible towns
Elaine wrote:
Joanne wrote:
Oh, ferchrissakes... the entire state is a hellhole!
I can't imagine why that would be. Didn't NJ rank as the richest state in the nation last year? And isn't nicknamed the "Garden State"? Sounds like a lovely place to live.
Just remember that New Jersey is the state where, if one tells another person from New Jersey that one is from New Jersey, you'll likely be asked "which exit?" in return.
Joanne
Re: Horrible towns
Elaine wrote:
I can't imagine why that would be. Didn't NJ rank as the richest state in the nation last year? And isn't nicknamed the "Garden State"? Sounds like a lovely place to live.
Yes, you have to make money in order to be able to live comfortably in NJ. The cost of living is pretty high here. It's funny that the New Jersey you see in the opening credits of The Sopranos is called "The Garden State," right? But a mere four Turnpike exits from there is Deliverance country, and a couple of exits from there is farm country. NJ is full of contrasts. Nope, it doesn't surprise me at all that a state whose cities have ghettoes which rival Harlem and the South Bronx came out as the richest state in the US.
Travis wrote:
Just remember that New Jersey is the state where, if one tells another person from New Jersey that one is from New Jersey, you'll likely be asked "which exit?" in return.
Exit 18, and off 46 East
Oh, and don't forget... New Jersey is also called "The Armpit of America"
André in Zuid-Afrika
Great to see you back, Joanne!
Joanne
Thanks! It's great to be back!
Geoff
Here are some recollections concerning Australia:
a. From time to time, some town officials advise/advertise that there
is free land available in their town. There are usually some conditions
such as that you need to arrange to build a house on the land within a
certain time period. These offers have also been taken up by people
from overseas such as the USA.
b. Not too many years ago (in the early 2000s) someone bought an
established house and the land that came with it for nothing, $0.00.
The house and land was for sale for $AUS 6000.00 (six thousand
dollars) , but at the time there was a Government grant of
$AUS 7000.00 available for first home buyers.
The buyer was a first home buyer but he/she did not get to
pocket the $AUS 1000.00 difference as there was another Government
rule covering cases like this. He/she was therefore only provided with a
grant of $AUS 6000.00.
C. An extended family bought an entire town for $AUS 1,000,000.00
(one million dollars). They ended up with many houses and a number
of buildings which probably typically included a police station, a library,
a school, a Fire station, parks with playground equipment, a shopping
centre etc
Rio
Elaine - those towns look eerily like South Australian towns to me, particularly Whyalla and Port Augusta; dusty industrial towns. It always surprises me how similar the Californian photos are to SA.
Whyalla
Also Gladstone in Central Queensland is a bit unattractive as well.
Doesn't show the industrial part of Gladstone much
JGreco
Wow passing through Louisiana there were a lot of dreary towns. I guess you can include South East Texas the area along the I-10 corridor at least. The worst and the absolutely hideous town was Lake Charles Louisiana. If someone could pull up pictures you would see that its not nice. As you come in off of I-10 You go through a large shanty town and a series of industrial complexes unflattering to the eye. I guess what got me was when we stopped in a suburb of Lake Charles by the name of Sulfur, Louisiana to eat at McDonald's, that had artist renderings of all the pollution factories that are around town in a naturist view.
Elaine
Rio wrote:
Elaine - those towns look eerily like South Australian towns to me, particularly Whyalla and Port Augusta; dusty industrial towns. It always surprises me how similar the Californian photos are to SA.
Yes, those look like towns that I'd find too stifling if I lived there.
Benjamin [inactive]
Apparently, Cumbernauld has consistently been voted the most dismal town in Scotland. I go through it when I go to Glasgow on the bus, and there isn't really anything there — in the centre, there's just a mostly abandoned shopping centre, a very large Asda, a very large Tesco and a very large Dunnes Stores.
Loic
Cumbernauld looks like a really gloomy and depressing sort of place to live in if these photos are representative of the dreary kind of architecture I'd expect to get there.
Rio
OK, we can't beat in regard to the skies.
Deborah
Re Cumbernauld, please tell me those drab structures with the blue garage doors aren't apartments...
Benjamin [inactive]
I'm afraid they are. Though admittedly, my house isn't much prettier.
Elaine
Benjamin wrote:
I'm afraid they are. Though admittedly, my house isn't much prettier.
My goodness! It looks so... dire. Even LA's low-income housing projects look cheerier than that!
"Oooh, pretty colors..."
greg in noord-frankrijk
Elaine wrote:
"Oooh, pretty colors..."
J'adore ! Sérieux.
Julian
greg in noord-frankrijk wrote:
Elaine wrote:
"Oooh, pretty colors..."
J'adore ! Sérieux.
I like it too. Although, the Metro Red Line Station underneath it takes that same color and pattern motif a little too far. Why no one hasn't gotten dizzy and fallen off the platform yet is a mystery to me.
Walker
Julian wrote:
Why no one hasn't gotten dizzy and fallen off the platform yet is a mystery to me.
Yah, that's strange. I would at least get a headache at that place.
André in Zuid-Afrika
Walker wrote:
Julian wrote:
Why no one hasn't gotten dizzy and fallen off the platform yet is a mystery to me.
Yah, that's strange. I would at least get a headache at that place.
Imagine if you walk in there, and you've had a few....
Elaine
My goodness! I've only passed thru that station, never actually set foot in it, fortunately. That would give me a splitting headache.
I do like the design of the Vermont/Sunset and Hollywood/Highland stations though, which I think I'll post pictures of over in the moribund Public Transportation thread.
greg in noord-frankrijk
Julian wrote:
I like it too. Although, the Metro Red Line Station underneath it takes that same color and pattern motif a little too far. Why no one hasn't gotten dizzy and fallen off the platform yet is a mystery to me.
Looks a bit like the locker room of a swimming pool.
The same kind of situation that Bryson describes in Des Moines, with people growing up there and simply staying there for the rest of their lives, leading pretty much dreary lives, also exists in Welkom and Secunda.
But a mere four Turnpike exits from there is 
