Why does every American city look the exact same?

Full video:

The world needs your content so bad it’s not even funny. Thanks for your contribution to humanity. Let’s make things more beautiful!

Thank you!!

@HarrisonHSmith Why is she speaking to me like I’m an ESOL student

Sodosopa always prevails. I can have the same chipotle and blaze Pizza view anywhere in the country so it always feels like home.

😂

This is why we make Los Angeles unique with trash, graffiti, and homeless encampments

Monoculture at the micro level is joyous. But monoculture on a macro scale harms our souls.

Beauty is a revolt against progress. Unique expressions of identity must be smoothed out, so that technology can expand as efficiently as possible. Mass produced sameness becomes law in the modern world.

private equity 🤝 real estate developer slop

Because almost all cities hire consultants that suggest the exact same national "guidelines" and code standards regardless of any regional flavor. And large businesses and construction companies love it. We are the Borg.

Brilliant. Also one of my favourite poets.

He’s amazing!

I totally agree. A great philosopher as well.

Because of weak local politics and cronyism. Big business pays to develop; small business can't compete. Those big businesses then develop as cheaply as possible and generically bland so that it appeals to as many customers as possible.

I've been saying essentially the same thing. One of the joys of traveling is the experience of seeing the sights and hearing the sounds and tasting the food of different cultures. It's more than a little disappointing to go to other countries and see the same chain restaurants and stores that we see at home. And where is the creativity in architecture? It was only recently that Philadelphia, the nearest big city, has developed a distinct skyline. Even so, it is not very different from other cities. Asian cities in particular have very unique buildings that are immediately identifiable. In Europe, it is mainly the churches that stand out. In the US, the buildings are rectilinear, and there are too many chain restaurants and stores. Even music has become uniform. This is one of the reasons why uncontrolled immigration is so harmful.

I've noticed in my own lifetime that the Texas accent is basically going out of existence because of globalization. Nowadays most Texans sound like everyone else.

A lot of the post-WWII architecture in the USA is based on socialist ideology--humans as worker bees, etc.--and the buildings reflect that ideology, unfortunately. No mystery, no story to tell, just boxes.

Really great video! I'm reminded of G.K. Chesterton's 1909 essay on Indian Nationalism. His contention was that national movements lose their soul when they imitate foreign forms instead of expressing their own culture. His essay famously struck Mahatma Gandhi so deeply that Ghandi translated the essay into Gujarati, abandoned wearing an English suit and started wearing traditional Indian clothing.

Interesting! I’ll read the article. Thanks for attaching!

I wonder how much of it is finacial, the internet, and the lack of social third spaces. My house is going to look ugly cause I want to cut cost. My predominate hang out is interacting with random people on the internet. My irl friends don’t live in the same neighborhood either.

Outstanding.

Smart!

Not every city looks like that. The bigger cities do, but small cities still maintain their sense of “self”.

Very wise tidbits in TS Eliot's writings. Thanks for sharing.

It’s soulless and characterless! 😴😴😴

Well said, and interesting perspective. I'm still a fan of your content. Keep going! You're doing great.

Thank you so much!

You're welcome! Peace be with you. 🙏🕊️

All the mom and pop store were destroyed by corporations. Corporations are for profit entities... beauty is only required for marketing and packaging

And some satellites are remnants of once great peoples

Corporatism.

Car dependence (urban sprawl + gated/ cul de sac communities + strip malls/big box stores & large parking lots) is what’s primarily to blame. Add on top of that bad architecture and you get American cities. The below lacks all of those things and is beautiful:

I bet cheaper buildings cost you buy in bulk save money .

These new apartment buildings that are mushrooming everywhere are identical no matter where you are. West or East cost. Now even in Europe. Sad, confusing, with lingering questions, why? why? And quiet rebuke in ones mind: I am never living in one of those, no matter how desperate.

"Appear to have no culture at all" I have felt this forever. If it weren't for some modest Mexican culture, churches and restaurants, there would be no expressions of culture here. My neck of the woods.

because its one giant franchise

American cities are just goy hives now.

PPPs killed city personalities. The projects are so large - like stadium developments - that only @blackstone entities can deliver the scale using other BX entities. Nothing truly organic or local. And often tax extractions that locals are forced to subsidize. State corporatism

Preach girl!