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Chat thread 95: old people can't hang anymore

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what percentage of americans do you think really love where they live and truly think it's great and need to tell other people about it? it's funny to me that we have these regional/city rivalries which for the most part are based on very little reality, but we talk shit all the time about how where I live is so much better than where you live; and the sports players who happen to be employees of the team that plays in my city somehow REPRESENT our city, etc.

i hate on atlanta because i hate traffic, but it's not empirically a BAD place. if I was forced to move there from charlotte I'd see approximately zero change in my daily life. same with Philly, DC, etc. New York and SF are slightly different animals and my life would be different there, but only like 5% of it. I'd still sleep, work, eat, hang out - it would just be in a smaller space and the things i do in a car now would be modified somewhat.
 
a good question

what is the main attraction of your city
 
As bad as traffic can be around here sometimes, none of us long for the near constant gridlock of the NE corridor.
 
Obviously where I live is significantly better than where all of you live.
 
but if we all lived there, that would cease to be true. a not insignificant component of the appeal of the Mako Ranch is that no one else lives there.
 
I've taken Amtrak from Seattle to Portland and then also from Seattle to Vancouver. I don't think either trip was more than 4 hours, and the views were really cool. Much of the Seattle/Portland route is right along the Puget sound. Personally I find train travel to be much more enjoyable than plane travel; it's just so much more laid-back. However, as others have mentioned, there aren't that many places in the US where going from one destination to another via train makes all that much sense. I have no desire to spend 10 hours on a train, if I can fly to that place in 2 hours or so, or even drive to it in 5 or 6 hours.

The Seattle/Portland/Vancouver routes are perfect, in that the stations for all three cities are in the city center area, and they are all cities in which you really don't need a car. I've thought it would be fun to fly into DC for a few days, then train on up to someplace like Philly for a day or two, and then train on up into NYC, before eventually flying back home out of NYC. But train from DC to Chicago (if it is even possible) - no thanks.
 
DeacDiggler said:
but if we all lived there, that would cease to be true. a not insignificant component of the appeal of the Mako Ranch is that no one else lives there.
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This is true. Then I'd have to jump across the state line and live in Grayson County. People are terrible.
 
for me, Charlotte is a good blend of large and small city. We have enough restaurants that I could eat out every night for 2 years and never eat at the same place twice. We have theater, opera, sports, etc. Sure, we have to wait a little longer to see Hamilton than if I lived in New York, but that doesn't bother me. We have more than enough breweries. We have the whitewater center. We have good weather, traffic isn't awful, and I have a nice yard where I can enjoy owls, bluebirds, deer, and the blue heron, all while being a 10 minute drive from downtown.

The "downside" to charlotte is that it has no THING that you have to see. If someone comes from out of town to visit, they don't have a list of things to do unless they're a nascar fan. We just end up doing the same things we'd do in another city - go out to eat and hang out.

I put downside in quotes because i don't actually think those are bad things - I don't need to live in a tourist destination.
 
mako1331 said:
This is true. Then I'd have to jump across the state line and live in Grayson County. People are terrible.
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i assume that you have a Mako Ranch sign hanging over the gravel/dirt driveway right? if not why
 
BiffTannen said:
As bad as traffic can be around here sometimes, none of us long for the near constant gridlock of the NE corridor.
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that's what the trains are for

but srsly the traffic can definitely suck

it takes a stupid amount of time to get to richmond or charlottesville from DC in normal traffic times, covid less so

even to get to shenandoah it can take forever on the 66 side just getting past dulles

going north isn't always terrible though

lately i've been getting to ny in 4.5 hrs or less with stops to feed the baby

i do feel like people overhype the challenges of driving in NE cities. i haven't driven in boston, but i have driven quite a bit in NY, DC, and Philly, without much incident.
 
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Driving in Boston is pretty “easy” compared to most major cities in terms of navigation and whatever. The traffic is horrific though because downtown is such a small footprint so congestion is just crazy coming in and out. So just tons of time sitting there.
 
I've driven in all of those and Boston. Boston's really no different unless you wind up driving down by the harbor on the old non-grid roads where they used to drive the cattle. It just takes forever to get anywhere in the north due to volume and you constantly feel like you're trying to merge.

In the South it sometimes seems like it takes forever to get anywhere on the interstate highways due to construction or a big wreck.
 
And driving out of NYC to Long Island for the weekend is awful. Same with Boston to Cape Cod.
 
BiffTannen said:
And driving out of NYC to Long Island for the weekend is awful. Same with Boston to Cape Cod.
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Yeah I used to sit in my apartment and watch endless miles of traffic going south on 93 to the Cape on the weekends. Just looked fucking miserable. And then you get there and it’s just some cold ass beach with freezing water.
 
DeacDiggler said:
what percentage of americans do you think really love where they live and truly think it's great and need to tell other people about it? it's funny to me that we have these regional/city rivalries which for the most part are based on very little reality, but we talk shit all the time about how where I live is so much better than where you live; and the sports players who happen to be employees of the team that plays in my city somehow REPRESENT our city, etc.

i hate on atlanta because i hate traffic, but it's not empirically a BAD place. if I was forced to move there from charlotte I'd see approximately zero change in my daily life. same with Philly, DC, etc. New York and SF are slightly different animals and my life would be different there, but only like 5% of it. I'd still sleep, work, eat, hang out - it would just be in a smaller space and the things i do in a car now would be modified somewhat.
Click to expand...

I am only about a month in, but I am really enjoying the DFW area. Lots to see right here with both Dallas and Ft Worth, people are great, can't wait for football season to start. I was concerned about the MAGA crowd, but with the influx of out of staters, it really hasnt been an issue. Every planned community kinda looks the same, but they are nice. The last place I lived in the US was the DMV, and after that this is really a breath of fresh air.
 
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