Thanks so much for your help sending in stories about your places in the U.S. and Canada. Now, I’m working on the global edition of Who’s Your City?
Now, I’d like to ask for your stories about global cities, especially from people living outside of North America.
Tell us about the place you live. Why did you pick your city or region? How did you go about picking it – what was your strategy? What other kinds of places did you look at? How has that choice affected the rest of your life? Your job or career? Friends, family, or romantic interests? Fulfillment and fun? Real estate jackpots or money pits? Would you do it differently next time? What cities and regions are on your radar for the future and why? Do you see yourself moving to another country to live/ why or why not? That’s it.
Please send your stories to Patrick Adler at
patrick.adler@rotman.utoronto.ca,or post them on the comment section of
this entry, or do both. Thanks in advance.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I once had the privilege to live in the center of Paris for a semester. I enjoyed the public transit, the food, the cultural opportunities. I suffered from the short, gray winter days. We had no friends in town. But I still viscerally miss the place because it is so beautiful. More than the buildings and views, I miss the public parks. Each one is a unique jewel, landscaped for interest throughout the year, well-maintained, and safe during the day. The ugly parts of town are redeemed by their gardens, shoehorned anywhere they can find the space. There even is a garden on top of the train sheds at the Gare Montparnasse. I used the station half a dozen times before I realized that the garden was there. Landscaping fashions of half a dozen centuries are maintained in one place or another. Some parks are for children, others have sports facilities, others capitalize on a view or honor the history of the individual neighborhood. One has huge glass conservatories, another is a scent garden for the blind. One is built on top of an old railway viaduct. It’s perhaps 40 feet wide, several miles long, and passes through at least one modern building. I haven’t seen them all.
After returning home to a college town I have become an advocate for public beauty, particularly for our small downtown. I argue that, when competing with big box stores in strip malls, we cannot afford NOT to make downtown beautiful. People will go out of their way to spend time in beauty, and once there they will linger. Visiting alumni don’t buy artist’s prints of the local Walmart.
I also reworked my own garden. It’s not Paris, but I can enjoy it with friends even on a bright winter day.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
As a gay man living in Connecticut, I do not understand how on earth you would ever put Hartford anywhere near the top of gay-friendly places. The gay life in Connecticut is in New York and Boston. Your formula is deeply flawed if it leads you to these conclusions.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
JR – Our rankings do not rate places as “gay friendly.” They simply rank where gay people actually are located.
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Hi Richard,
thanks for your great work on what makes cities to what they are:-)
For me there are actual a few cities where I would move right away. One essential part is a big river, lake or the ocean pretty close to it and a not-flat landscap which opens new opportunities of sights every day depending where you stand.
It seems that all the rest comes with that as it nurtures the acceptance of change (flooding, droughts, ice, waves, etc.)
On my personal list are:
Vancouver, Canada: school exchange in ‘82, loved the city and the people diversity despite the pooring rain in autumn, great opportunities for outdoor, perfect fit for my interest for Ultimate Frisbee,
Dresden, Germany: been there right after the fallen wall in ‘90, visited it ever since, stayed they for two months in ‘93 and loved the city and the people, especially as they write my last name correct (which never happened in my home town, Mainz), river, mountains, vineyards, culture (from high to sub, everything available) – great place to live:-)
Cologne, Germany: lived there in ‘98 for one month working at a intermodal containerterminal, loved the city from the first day on, can’t say really why (besides the huge river Rhine flowing right beside it)
Montreal, Canada: just a day-trip up from Cape Cod, enjoying the diversity of French and British Canadians living in the same city
Strasbourg, France, and the Vosges: lovely area to live and enjoy life, just know it from some trips some years ago with nice rememberings
Best regards
Ralf
June 25th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Richard,
I just read an article in the Village Voice about Sam Shephard and I though the following paragraph could have come right out of your book:
“If New York’s a somewhat haunted site, populated by people and places no longer extant, Shepard has recently found himself reinvigorated by Dublin. His voice rose and his sentences quickened when discussing his connection to the Abbey Theatre and its artistic director, Fiach Mac Conghail. He also speaks admiringly of Ireland’s younger writers, particularly Conor McPherson (‘I love The Seafarer’) and Martin McDonagh (‘I think he’s fantastic—he’s got the chops’). Mac Conghail is largely responsible for Kicking a Dead Horse. Over lunch last year, Mac Conghail mentioned Rea’s availability, ‘and I started racking my brains,” Shepard says, ‘about what I could write for him, and then this horse thing came up.’”
More and a link here:
http://mirroruptolife.blogspot.com/2008/06/where-scene-is-at-sam-shepard-and.html