4 ms·

This. Maybe I'm just an uncouth American but the idea of living with so many other people in such a small places makes me claustrophobic.

Doctor_Fegg 10y ago
I don't know Florence, but compact settlements aren't necessarily claustrophobic or cramped. They can and do have green space and open areas. The difference is that this space is public, not private. I live in the densest part of a little English town. We have hardly any garden; our house is three storeys high, narrow and terraced. But it isn't claustrophobic. We can go to the town park/playing field, or the water meadow in the valley, or the walk through the grounds of the big house, or half a dozen other places. Yet the town is still compact and walkable, because this open space is shared between everyone, not walled off.
- quantumhobbit 10y ago
  The existence of all that greenspace in a dense area implies a degree of city planning that is sadly lacking in many parts of America.
tirant 10y ago
Don't you feel claustrophobic when spending most of your time inside of a car when commuting? I love Mediterranean cities like Florence or Barcelona. They are great places to live and to raise your kids/family.
- quantumhobbit 10y ago
  In fact I do. And also in the crowded open plan office I work in. Maybe I just have a claustraphobia problem ;)
Piskvorrr 10y ago
Well...the most claustrophobic place I've visited was also the one most profoundly American: lower Manhattan ;) But yeah, I see your point - and like with Manhattan, not all who live there also reside in that spot. (I commute from the center, to a slightly less crowded - yet still urban - locality)
SteveMouzon 10y ago
Actually, just the opposite is true. When you build in a really compact way, the countryside is never far away... and that makes the real estate more valuable because a lot of people love the idea of living in the city but having access to the country. In Bath, England, for example, you can stand in the center of town and look down the street and see sheep grazing on hillsides a short distance away. In Atlanta and other sprawling places, you could walk for a day and not reach the countryside.

Doctor_Fegg 10y ago

I don't know Florence, but compact settlements aren't necessarily claustrophobic or cramped. They can and do have green space and open areas. The difference is that this space is public, not private. I live in the densest part of a little English town. We have hardly any garden; our house is three storeys high, narrow and terraced. But it isn't claustrophobic. We can go to the town park/playing field, or the water meadow in the valley, or the walk through the grounds of the big house, or half a dozen other places. Yet the town is still compact and walkable, because this open space is shared between everyone, not walled off.

quantumhobbit 10y ago
The existence of all that greenspace in a dense area implies a degree of city planning that is sadly lacking in many parts of America.

tirant 10y ago

Don't you feel claustrophobic when spending most of your time inside of a car when commuting? I love Mediterranean cities like Florence or Barcelona. They are great places to live and to raise your kids/family.

quantumhobbit 10y ago
In fact I do. And also in the crowded open plan office I work in. Maybe I just have a claustraphobia problem ;)

Piskvorrr 10y ago

Well...the most claustrophobic place I've visited was also the one most profoundly American: lower Manhattan ;) But yeah, I see your point - and like with Manhattan, not all who live there also reside in that spot. (I commute from the center, to a slightly less crowded - yet still urban - locality)

SteveMouzon 10y ago

Actually, just the opposite is true. When you build in a really compact way, the countryside is never far away... and that makes the real estate more valuable because a lot of people love the idea of living in the city but having access to the country. In Bath, England, for example, you can stand in the center of town and look down the street and see sheep grazing on hillsides a short distance away. In Atlanta and other sprawling places, you could walk for a day and not reach the countryside.