I lived in a suburban cul-de-sac for years while fighting depression. It’s seriously soul-crushing staring out at a sea of rooftops.
I still recommend walks every day though. It doesn’t matter if you have pretty views or not, you were designed to move around and walk, we are all descended from hunter-gatherers and people who walked huge distances for survival. Walking resets your current rumination session and reframes your present moment.
Part of surviving in the modern world is learning how to create your own mental states and perceptions of your environment so you don’t end up wallowing in a sense of hopelessness or feel trapped every day.
We’ve been dominantly settled farmers for millenia now, but that doesn’t change the equation: walking to the fields, walking to fetch water, walking around the house and attached vegetable gardens, going outside to chat with neighbours to keep up with local news and maintain social relationships as a fundamental part of survival.
The elites also weren’t spared the obligation to survey their holdings, visit their vassals or patrons/liege, participate in visible displays of wealth, influence and leisure to maintain legitimacy…
Particularly (but not only) post-industrial literature is teeming with works on the depressing alienation in cities.
Just walking through the neighborhood on the way to work, home or to the grocery store and greeting people I meet – strangers, for all intents – helps my mood.
Humanity thrived on activity and interaction. Let’s try to keep that.
Seriously though, it’s just a sub with an extra focus on having a ton of meat. I remember them being good, but I was also pretty young last time I had it and I wouldn’t trust my opinion.
That’s Piccadilly Circus, in the middle of London. Don’t like it? Hop on one of those buses and go somewhere else. Or use the Underground - there’s a station right there. Direct route to Cockfosters, and the station there is right next to Trent country park. http://trentcountrypark.com/Welcome.html
What an absurd thing to claim. You do know that the US is significantly larger than the entire continent of Europe, right? We’ve got national parks larger than some European countries.
Likewise, and I really disagree. Sure urban and suburban areas are like that, but so much more of the country is rural. If you only traveled to cities in 40/50 states I’m sure that’s the impression you might get. But surely some of those states were in the West, and you can’t deny that once you pass the sprawl it’s open range. Same here in Maine minus the open. After Portland communities are very localized, same in New Hampshire, same in Vermont, same in Upstate New York. Now, Maine and Vermont both have anti billboard legislation so that has a big effect but regardless, once you’re off the highway, outside of the East Coast megalopolis, things get real sparce real quick. I would argue that semi remote quasi wilderness is significantly more common in the US by population/land area than all but a few similarly sized countries, like Russia, Canada, and Australia.
Edit: let’s call “semi remote quasi wilderness” anything 5 miles or more from road access.
“Everywhere” is a figure of speech. It does not mean that literally every square inch is covered in this urban blight, just that it is so widely dispersed and pervasive that just about everyone has to suffer it.
We have a little bit of every terrain. You forget how MASSIVE this country is. One common thing Europeans have difficulty grasping is how varied and vast this land is. I hear every now and again Europeans say they’ll start the day in NYC, then drive to Disney World by night, and then drive to California the next day.
WRONG!
Not gonna happen. The trip from NYC to Orlando would be AT LEAST 12 hours alone. If not longer. And the drive from Orlando to California would be measured in days, not hours.
You think this whole country is one massive condensed urban deadlock? If that were true, we would have population in the hundreds of billions. For reference, all of earth has about 8 billion total.
I’ve road tripped through most of America. This is definitely in the majority of places near a freeway. Yeah, there’s a boatload of other stuff too, but if you were to pick a town right off a freeway, it’s very likely it’d look like this
So you took a tour of freeways, and conclude that’s what the whole US looks like? I don’t think anyone’s arguing there aren’t a huge number of places like the above, but those places make up a minuscule percentage of the whole US. It’d be like driving the Autobahn and concluding the whole of Europe looks like that.
Mate the argument isn’t that the entire US looks like this. I’ve been to all the US’s national parks, and a boatload of of state parks. I’ve lived in a small farming town with more cows than people. However, in terms of where the majority of people actually live in the US, this kind of road is very close by. I can’t find the numbers on what percentage live within a few miles of a freeway, but I’d guess it’s a majority. ~24% of people live within 500m of road that handles an average of 25,000 cars per day. Sure, in terms of space, the freeways are small, but people live near freeways. I’d argue that the sort of street in that picture is within 5-10 miles of pretty much everyone in the US.
That’s simply not a fair assessment. Have you ever seen America? Sedona, Estes Park, Mackinac Island, Grand Prismatic Spring, Ponce De Leon Springs, etc., etc.
Is this a USA comic I’m to European to understand?
The European mind can scarcely comprehend the soul-crushing sadness of suburban America.
Grindr has retail locations in America?
WTF are they selling?
Sausage
A safe meetup point, it’s crazy, they have no front doors. You have to enter from the back.
Meatballs
Top Men.
Bottom Men.
And Vers Men.
I, not being from any place where they use that word to describe a sandwich had a very similar reaction in college when I learned that fact.
@essell @kersploosh sausages
Moist fursuits.
Flesh
I lived in a suburban cul-de-sac for years while fighting depression. It’s seriously soul-crushing staring out at a sea of rooftops.
I still recommend walks every day though. It doesn’t matter if you have pretty views or not, you were designed to move around and walk, we are all descended from hunter-gatherers and people who walked huge distances for survival. Walking resets your current rumination session and reframes your present moment.
Part of surviving in the modern world is learning how to create your own mental states and perceptions of your environment so you don’t end up wallowing in a sense of hopelessness or feel trapped every day.
We’ve been dominantly settled farmers for millenia now, but that doesn’t change the equation: walking to the fields, walking to fetch water, walking around the house and attached vegetable gardens, going outside to chat with neighbours to keep up with local news and maintain social relationships as a fundamental part of survival.
The elites also weren’t spared the obligation to survey their holdings, visit their vassals or patrons/liege, participate in visible displays of wealth, influence and leisure to maintain legitimacy…
Particularly (but not only) post-industrial literature is teeming with works on the depressing alienation in cities.
Just walking through the neighborhood on the way to work, home or to the grocery store and greeting people I meet – strangers, for all intents – helps my mood.
Humanity thrived on activity and interaction. Let’s try to keep that.
Tbf we do have spots like this too in Europe, not everywhere is some picturesque scenery
This is every town in the US right next to where you get off the Interstate (Highway).
This looks like South Carolina, but think it’s out of date. I don’t think there are any Grinder locations left.
What kind of food did they serve? I’ve never heard of them before. I googled it and got a few results about Italian-American food and sandwiches?
Submarine sandwich, grinder, hero, hoagie, wedge, spuckie.
It’s in the name, they served grinders.
Seriously though, it’s just a sub with an extra focus on having a ton of meat. I remember them being good, but I was also pretty young last time I had it and I wouldn’t trust my opinion.
Are you sure you want to throw shade?
I would much rather walk this than the photo in OP
Yes, I still want to throw shade.
That’s Piccadilly Circus, in the middle of London. Don’t like it? Hop on one of those buses and go somewhere else. Or use the Underground - there’s a station right there. Direct route to Cockfosters, and the station there is right next to Trent country park. http://trentcountrypark.com/Welcome.html
This is like sending a picture of LA when someone says they’re American
Which is exactly what the commenter is doing by referring to the one picture as representing the USA. Thanks for explaining my comment.
But it’s damn near everywhere in the US and it’s ugly as sin.
What an absurd thing to claim. You do know that the US is significantly larger than the entire continent of Europe, right? We’ve got national parks larger than some European countries.
It absolutely isn’t and all that comment shows is ignorance about rural America
I’ve been to about 40 outta 50 states. It’s damn near EVERYWHERE.
Likewise, and I really disagree. Sure urban and suburban areas are like that, but so much more of the country is rural. If you only traveled to cities in 40/50 states I’m sure that’s the impression you might get. But surely some of those states were in the West, and you can’t deny that once you pass the sprawl it’s open range. Same here in Maine minus the open. After Portland communities are very localized, same in New Hampshire, same in Vermont, same in Upstate New York. Now, Maine and Vermont both have anti billboard legislation so that has a big effect but regardless, once you’re off the highway, outside of the East Coast megalopolis, things get real sparce real quick. I would argue that semi remote quasi wilderness is significantly more common in the US by population/land area than all but a few similarly sized countries, like Russia, Canada, and Australia.
Edit: let’s call “semi remote quasi wilderness” anything 5 miles or more from road access.
“Everywhere” is a figure of speech. It does not mean that literally every square inch is covered in this urban blight, just that it is so widely dispersed and pervasive that just about everyone has to suffer it.
Everywhere has rural areas and farmland. That’s not unique to America.
Built up areas however tend to be car-centric, billboard clad hellscapes in America in a far larger proportion than most of the rest of the world.
It absolutely is NOT.
I’d say the majority of America is farmland.
We have a little bit of every terrain. You forget how MASSIVE this country is. One common thing Europeans have difficulty grasping is how varied and vast this land is. I hear every now and again Europeans say they’ll start the day in NYC, then drive to Disney World by night, and then drive to California the next day.
WRONG!
Not gonna happen. The trip from NYC to Orlando would be AT LEAST 12 hours alone. If not longer. And the drive from Orlando to California would be measured in days, not hours.
You think this whole country is one massive condensed urban deadlock? If that were true, we would have population in the hundreds of billions. For reference, all of earth has about 8 billion total.
I’ve road tripped through most of America. This is definitely in the majority of places near a freeway. Yeah, there’s a boatload of other stuff too, but if you were to pick a town right off a freeway, it’s very likely it’d look like this
So you took a tour of freeways, and conclude that’s what the whole US looks like? I don’t think anyone’s arguing there aren’t a huge number of places like the above, but those places make up a minuscule percentage of the whole US. It’d be like driving the Autobahn and concluding the whole of Europe looks like that.
Mate the argument isn’t that the entire US looks like this. I’ve been to all the US’s national parks, and a boatload of of state parks. I’ve lived in a small farming town with more cows than people. However, in terms of where the majority of people actually live in the US, this kind of road is very close by. I can’t find the numbers on what percentage live within a few miles of a freeway, but I’d guess it’s a majority. ~24% of people live within 500m of road that handles an average of 25,000 cars per day. Sure, in terms of space, the freeways are small, but people live near freeways. I’d argue that the sort of street in that picture is within 5-10 miles of pretty much everyone in the US.
That’s simply not a fair assessment. Have you ever seen America? Sedona, Estes Park, Mackinac Island, Grand Prismatic Spring, Ponce De Leon Springs, etc., etc.
This is like accusing Tokyo of being too urbanized.
too*