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Having lived and traveled both “places” (and speaking in jest):
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America’s cities are vastly more uniform than European ones, especially the mid-size ones. The approach goes big box stores > strip malls > suburbs > trendy strip malls > abandoned downtown > highrise downtown complex. In Europe, it’s more quaint medieval village > commercial area > medium density living > high density living > medieval city core
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America’s landscapes are vastly more uniform than European ones, outside of a few highlights. Driving cross-country is city > farm land > more farm land > desert > National Park (yay!) > desert > farmland > city. Europe is more city > shrubs > border wait > mountains > border wait > lake > valley > border wait > city
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Europeans think of any European country as an equivalent to America as a whole. That’s simply stupid. America as a whole is equivalent to Europe as a whole, and American states roughly equivalent to European countries. States are on average half as big as countries in Europe, but America as a whole is roughly equivalent to the EU. So, yes, a European should know what the capital city of Florida is if they expect an American to know the capital of Poland. (Only Germans and people from Montana can reliably tell you the state capital of Montana, though.)
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American regional cultures are almost as diverse as European ones. Europeans seem to think that it is the language barrier that keeps regional cultures intact and diverse, but an American from California and an American from Texas use the same language but might as well be from different universes. People from Utah think drinking coffee is sinful and drown their uncaffeinated selves in thinly diluted sugar while next door in Colorado climbing 14ers (4300 meter mountains) is a social event that requires crowd control and permitting.
The second to last point makes no sense, since the capital of Montana plays no role in international geopolitics, so it’s useless information. Poland is not the biggest international player either, but at least it’s not just part of a federation
Europeans think of any European country as an equivalent to America as a whole. That’s simply stupid. America as a whole is equivalent to Europe as a whole, and American states roughly equivalent to European countries. States are on average half as big as countries in Europe, but America as a whole is roughly equivalent to the EU. So, yes, a European should know what the capital city of Florida is if they expect an American to know the capital of Poland. (Only Germans and people from Montana can reliably tell you the state capital of Montana, though.)
I tried to make a very similar point in one of the European communities on Lemmy earlier this year (in response to a post about Americans being bad at European geography) and basically the whole community jumped on me for it. Watch your back. They’re rabid over there if you dare suggest that a US state is comparable to a European country. :P
My mother was from Montana which is why I know. I know Billings more though.
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Ackshually in the California photo you can clearly see that there are no above ground power lines. Thanks regulation!
I’ve spent some summers in Europe over the past few years. Americans don’t know what you are missing:
Greece:
Italy:
Spain:
Why are all the exits in Spain Italian cities?
i think the last two got mixed up
Oops! How could I possibly have mixed up Barcelona with Rome?
Were you just another car in a lane?
Stock photos because I didn’t photograph getting around from the airport into the cities.
But many of my actual city photos are shockingly similar all over Europe. Outside of a few streets it’s mostly fake styling. Like in Zurich where the building might look older but then you walk close and it’s poured concrete to look like stone and the store itself is a Starbucks or Sephora.
So just like home, then.
i want to start a trend of writing european place names like american films do:
- Leipzig, SN
- Nice, PACA
- Luleå, BD
- Louisville, America
People might learn something, because I have no clue what SN, PACA or BD means. You’d need an extra part for the small villages to make it work though: Some place, XYZ (Country)
SN is Sachsen, PACA is Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
and BD is Norrbotten
And (country)?
Edit: i expect Sweden, but could be Finland, do not know if another language has å.
that should be evident
likewise ;)
I drove from Montréal to Orlando, on the highway and various exits in town, you see :
- NY State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc
- PA State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc
- WV State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc
- VA State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc
- NC State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc + Jesus ads + SOTB Pedro ads
- SC State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc + Jesus ads
- GA State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc
- FL State: Target, Hobby Lobby, JC Penney, Home Depot, etc
That is amazing that you see so many JC Penneys still in business
During their last bankruptcy, one of the mall groups (Simon?) bought them to add to their portfolio of dying / dead mall brands.
I assume it’s some ploy to rent their own mall space to failed brands they own.
it was a few years ago :)
Still plenty of Jesus ads in GA and FL.
And several Waffle Houses on each exit.
Yep.
Why bother traveling anywhere in this country? Anywhere you go, you haven’t left.What do Jesus ads try to sell you exactly ?
He’s a carpenter you muppet he wanna make you tables, but in this 3D printed word business is not exactly booming…
😂 Reminds me of that sketch “I’ve been busy with non-carpentry work…”
I don’t know, a saving?
Yeah, roads look pretty much the same everywhere, but if you think every state looks the same and has the same culture, you haven’t traveled around the US.
I suppose it’s the same as in every country.
I see. Some of the stroads have electric poles on the sidewalk! … found waldo.
I’ve driven through a lot of the USA. I also took a road Trip in central Europe once. I totally agree with this sentiment about USA. Very sick of living here and hoping to have the opportunity of emigrating to somewhere in Europe soon, I just want to try it once. I may regret not trying more than trying and failing to live there.I live in Germany now and have taken the opportunity to visit other European nations. I’ve also done a coast to coast road trip of the US.
Overall Europe has way better smaller cities and villages. They are actually liveable and have their own charm and feel. The largest cities are comparable to the largest US cities. They offer different things to those that live their and visit, but overall comparable.
Although the suburban sprawl of the US is an absolute hellscape and is just about the ugliest type of community imaginable.
Once you get outside of the suburbs though. The US natural landscapes wins hands down. There’s a reason people from across the world visit Yellowstone. Not to mention the amount of empty space especially out west is something I truly miss. At least in Germany the greatest distance between any two buildings is 10km. That’s the most remote you can get in the entire country. True wilderness is definitely something I miss
Kept saying the only real reason for me to visit the USA are national parks. They are the only places us whites haven’t ruined there yet but alas, conservatives rolled out big plans to destroy those ancient forests too.
The national parks are not being logged. National forests are being opened up to more logging though, but national forests have always been logged. Of course they are opening up more wilderness area that’s never been logged and it’s a huge loss for the entire country.
So places like Yellowstone, the Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, etc. are still preserved*.
*In terms of logging. There is other fuckery going on. I worked for the NPS before I left and there are some major issues going on harming the regulatory side of park management but not full scale logging.
I like how you drew a penis on a penis
Yo dash, I heard you like Florida…
Houston in the 70s, I just saw this shot in a recent episode from Wendover. Not that it’s like, a different city or anything, but the same area has far fewer parking lots and is somewhat more walkable now. Still a lot of parking lots, but definitely improved at least:
Fewer people know about the extensive pedestrian tunnel system underneath downtown Houston:
It’s equal parts shopping mall, liminal space, and 70s engineering marvel.
Blade Runner has nothing on this
I swear GTA San Andreas have better distinction between Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas.
Well in their defense it’s not literally like this everywhere.
The Stroads that lead into and come off of the Interstate system have all become the same strip mall. If you want to see the interesting parts of the US, drive the old highway system and not the freeways.
Ok but I’m stealing ‘tumblypoos’ cause it’s weirdly adorable.
Should have included Texas, looks totally different (our traffic lights are horizontal instead of vertical almost always)
I got Texas for American Truck Sim, and its mostly the interstates with some highways, but what was really wacky was that every interstate seems to have a side road and all the exits are just on offs to these side roads that run paralell the whole way and lots of bridges.
I am probably not even describing it in a productive way. I just know it is weird next to every other interstate I have seen in the game, and been on IRL.
No the feeder roads as they are called are a real thing and give the highways here a different flavor (there is a lot more highway-facing development here). The frontage roads are like bonus stroads.
In Idaho they’re called farmer roads, since they’re basically the only ones who use them
That is fair, that difference is like that between a sauvignon and a pinot grigio
I can cherry pick bad example photos of any other country too. If your complaint is “it looks all the same from major roadways unlike the glorious non-roadway places of other destinations” the I suggest getting off the fucking highway and take a walk in a park. The forest in my back yard looks nothing like PNW or the California redwood forest, or the evergreen tree that dominate woods further north.
Funny meme idea, poorly executed.
