Monday, August 04, 2008

The perfect city

Note that "perfect" does not equal "good", but if cities are your thing then New York is the perfect one. It is not new, it is not shiny and it is not clean, but it works. It didn't just happen accidentally like London; it was meticulously planned, to the point of ruthlessly eradicating the natural form of an entire island and replacing it with pavement and buildings. The entire island is dedicated to being an effective city for its millions of inhabitants. The subway trains are basic (though air conditioned) but I would rather travel on their hard plastic seats, actually going somewhere, than sit on a padded Tube seat in the middle of a tunnel for a year or two. The sidewalks are wide enough for a large pedestrian population. The wide streets crawl with yellow cabs. The grid system of street numbering means you really have to work hard to get lost.

I could live and work here. But cities aren't my thing and so I'm glad I don't. No offence.

Tomorrow Bonusbarn flies home, taking this laptop with him, so the postponed search for an internet-enabled computer somewhere in North America will recommence. I may or may not apply myself to it, so you may get my thoughts on Denver spread out over the next week, or you may have to wait until I get back. Let's see.

1 comment:

  1. I have just caught up on your posts. Glad you're enjoying the experience. We we're amazed at how much Art Deco stuff still exists.

    We didn't get to Washington Square Park while we were there, but we did spend quite a lot of time in Central Park.

    We also found The Strand - a wonderful second-hand book shop with 18 miles of books (allegedly).

    Shame we won't see you on Wednesday. Enjoy Denver - maybe your hotel will have a "business suite" you can pop in to.

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