I am tired of this constant attempt to divide people based on things that are blown out of proportion. I grew up in St Louis, moved to a medium-sized town in Texas, then a medium-sized city in TN, back to Texas, back to TN and then to small towns in CT. While I enjoyed different things in Texas, TN and CT, when it came time to retire I headed back to St Louis County. There are so many things to do here that aren't available in medium and small towns. I'm attending a docent tour of the St Louis Art Museum (built for the 1904 World's Fair), I walk through our fantastic Botanical Garden, visit our History Museum, our Zoo, a nearby sculpture park, a Frank Lloyd Wright home, our public library and other historic buildings in St Louis, the Muny (outside musicals), I have season tickets for a nearby university that has a repertory theatre, and I could go on and on and on. I also see physicians who are part of Washington University/Barnes Jewish Hospital. Cities, and the surrounding areas, offer so much and, parking is almost always free. I think people enjoy what they grew up with, but it shouldn't be a "good" vs "bad" situation; that's just plain stupid.
Donald Trump grew up in an affluent racially segregated Queens neighborhood , Jamaica Estates, far from public transit, with mansion-style homes on lots that look shrunken and minuscule nowadays. As a New Yorker, a working class kid that benefited from excellent public education, transportation, access to world class cultural institutions, I have to wonder if GOP anti urbanists are posing or actually believe what they say. Then I wonder if it matters …
"The resulting diversity requires you to learn to live with many different kinds of people." Precisely. If "liberal" means realizing that other people are human even if they look different" then cities are a breeding ground. Even if you don't have diverse neighbors on your block, you encounter diversity everywhere. Franchises like 7-11 are run by minorities; store checkouts and floor helpers are minorities; doctors are diverse; you rub up against all sorts of people at events from cultural to protest to town halls. And restaurants with delicious and authentic "foreign" food abound--there is more to Mexican than Taco Bell can dream of. WAY more to Asian than "teriyaki takeout" can cover. In all of them you meet the staff, and often the owners.
And of course, recognizing that humans are diverse and more often than not delightful is anathema to a person that prefers to live in fear.
This bares watching. Populist movements have always pilloried the cities because in America the rural areas are supposed to be the inheritors and custodians of a virtue held by earlier generations. W.J. Bryan.was particularly good at this. In the famous Cross of Gold speech he said, "The great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.". He was primarily referring to monetary issues, but the anti-urban animus was there also. The idea of an earlier virtuous rural garden of Eden is an old, old theme and even in the 21st century still has lots of adherents, and politicians who use it to their advantage. The future of this political tool in America is uncertain. Were it not for the Electoral College and Senate, the two most undemocratic elements of our structure, it would have disappeared.
Yup. Bedrooms in community outside Portland, OR here. My town is full of MAGA bigots who live to wail and moan about the towns growth and development and how awful it is. They are utterly convinced that Portland is a lawless hellhole. While there is a significant and visible urban homelessness epidemic there, I have never felt unsafe shopping, going to appointments and concerts there, etc.
We had a visible homeless encampment in a rural part of my town. Residents in Facebook were terrible about it, constantly complaining. One typical comment on the community page advocated for burning down the encampment and it's inhabitants. Since Facebook showcases the worst of my neighbors and allows their inhumane rhetoric to proliferate, similar sentiments regarding homeless people, drug users and the mentally ill and disabled are very common. The encampment was ultimately cleared out, the homeless people dispersed and now you don't see them. I'm sure it's been made clear that they are not welcome here and that their visibility makes residents uncomfortable and will not be tolerated.
My neighbors are evidently pretty awful people in a general sense. The progressives are overly sensitive to sociopolitical issues and I find very little commonality with them either. I have no sense of community despite having owned a home here for 11 years. I have no friends or family here.
I love my house and the area but I hate the people here. They're nothing like Portlanders, who I find to be much more liberal, tolerant, accepting, friendly and warm. My interactions with the people I do business with around town are pleasant and fine but surface level only. I am friendly but guarded. Rural America is unpleasant in so many respects. I hate it here.
Trump, a Queens boy, tried to move his father’s real estate base to Manhattan (hence Trump Tower). Ivana urged him to ally himself with the real movers like Bill Paley and Larry Tisch. Trump was ridiculed then (“short-fingered vulgarian”) AND now as an incompetent and purveyor of shoddy but gilded workmanship.
I am tired of this constant attempt to divide people based on things that are blown out of proportion. I grew up in St Louis, moved to a medium-sized town in Texas, then a medium-sized city in TN, back to Texas, back to TN and then to small towns in CT. While I enjoyed different things in Texas, TN and CT, when it came time to retire I headed back to St Louis County. There are so many things to do here that aren't available in medium and small towns. I'm attending a docent tour of the St Louis Art Museum (built for the 1904 World's Fair), I walk through our fantastic Botanical Garden, visit our History Museum, our Zoo, a nearby sculpture park, a Frank Lloyd Wright home, our public library and other historic buildings in St Louis, the Muny (outside musicals), I have season tickets for a nearby university that has a repertory theatre, and I could go on and on and on. I also see physicians who are part of Washington University/Barnes Jewish Hospital. Cities, and the surrounding areas, offer so much and, parking is almost always free. I think people enjoy what they grew up with, but it shouldn't be a "good" vs "bad" situation; that's just plain stupid.
While I didn’t grow up in St. Louis, I have lived here now for 45 years. a transplant from the east coast I agree with you 100%. Thanks for sharing.
Cities are also where these right wing maga anti-urban propagandists end up - living well as they foment rural resentment against their lifestyle.
Donald Trump grew up in an affluent racially segregated Queens neighborhood , Jamaica Estates, far from public transit, with mansion-style homes on lots that look shrunken and minuscule nowadays. As a New Yorker, a working class kid that benefited from excellent public education, transportation, access to world class cultural institutions, I have to wonder if GOP anti urbanists are posing or actually believe what they say. Then I wonder if it matters …
"The resulting diversity requires you to learn to live with many different kinds of people." Precisely. If "liberal" means realizing that other people are human even if they look different" then cities are a breeding ground. Even if you don't have diverse neighbors on your block, you encounter diversity everywhere. Franchises like 7-11 are run by minorities; store checkouts and floor helpers are minorities; doctors are diverse; you rub up against all sorts of people at events from cultural to protest to town halls. And restaurants with delicious and authentic "foreign" food abound--there is more to Mexican than Taco Bell can dream of. WAY more to Asian than "teriyaki takeout" can cover. In all of them you meet the staff, and often the owners.
And of course, recognizing that humans are diverse and more often than not delightful is anathema to a person that prefers to live in fear.
This bares watching. Populist movements have always pilloried the cities because in America the rural areas are supposed to be the inheritors and custodians of a virtue held by earlier generations. W.J. Bryan.was particularly good at this. In the famous Cross of Gold speech he said, "The great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.". He was primarily referring to monetary issues, but the anti-urban animus was there also. The idea of an earlier virtuous rural garden of Eden is an old, old theme and even in the 21st century still has lots of adherents, and politicians who use it to their advantage. The future of this political tool in America is uncertain. Were it not for the Electoral College and Senate, the two most undemocratic elements of our structure, it would have disappeared.
Finally, it’s immensely ironic that Trump accuses big cities as a harbor for rape … after being accused, and found by a jury, if the very same thing.
Yup. Bedrooms in community outside Portland, OR here. My town is full of MAGA bigots who live to wail and moan about the towns growth and development and how awful it is. They are utterly convinced that Portland is a lawless hellhole. While there is a significant and visible urban homelessness epidemic there, I have never felt unsafe shopping, going to appointments and concerts there, etc.
We had a visible homeless encampment in a rural part of my town. Residents in Facebook were terrible about it, constantly complaining. One typical comment on the community page advocated for burning down the encampment and it's inhabitants. Since Facebook showcases the worst of my neighbors and allows their inhumane rhetoric to proliferate, similar sentiments regarding homeless people, drug users and the mentally ill and disabled are very common. The encampment was ultimately cleared out, the homeless people dispersed and now you don't see them. I'm sure it's been made clear that they are not welcome here and that their visibility makes residents uncomfortable and will not be tolerated.
My neighbors are evidently pretty awful people in a general sense. The progressives are overly sensitive to sociopolitical issues and I find very little commonality with them either. I have no sense of community despite having owned a home here for 11 years. I have no friends or family here.
I love my house and the area but I hate the people here. They're nothing like Portlanders, who I find to be much more liberal, tolerant, accepting, friendly and warm. My interactions with the people I do business with around town are pleasant and fine but surface level only. I am friendly but guarded. Rural America is unpleasant in so many respects. I hate it here.
And son-in-law Jared Kushner is recognized as having made the worst real estate deal in NYC history: 666 Fifth Avenue.
Great work.
And Bob Gibson pitched there! ⚾️
Trump, a Queens boy, tried to move his father’s real estate base to Manhattan (hence Trump Tower). Ivana urged him to ally himself with the real movers like Bill Paley and Larry Tisch. Trump was ridiculed then (“short-fingered vulgarian”) AND now as an incompetent and purveyor of shoddy but gilded workmanship.