4 ms·

Back in 2008, I landed a very nice fiancée who was from Catalonia, and she came out to visit me in the springtime. Now I live in a suburb/college town in a majo

Back in 2008, I landed a very nice fiancée who was from Catalonia, and she came out to visit me in the springtime. Now I live in a suburb/college town in a major metropolitan area, and we rented bicycles and we took buses everywhere. It was working great, she enjoyed it a lot and had no issues with my modes of transportation. We went sight-seeing, we went shopping, we went to church. People would see us on the bus holding hands, and they remarked at how cute we were together. Then one day I took her to The Big Downtown on the way to an art museum nearby. We made a transfer at the central bus station. It was Saturday. We stood in the middle of that deserted bus station and she looked around, going "where is everyone?" I said, "this is downtown; it's a business district and nobody lives here. There's no reason to go here on weekends." She was flabbergasted. Because in Europe, of course, the city centers are hubs of activity, having mixed-use buildings with businesses on the ground floor and lots of housing above. I witnessed this in Barcelona. People live where they work. They also populate the lovely parks and promenades on weekends, because they live nearby, with no reason to flee downtown in those times, either.

rhaway84773 3y ago
And unsurprisingly RTO in Europe numbers are much higher than the US ranging from 70-90% pre-pandemic levels vs 40-60% in US cities.
nprateem 3y ago
Try going to the City of London on a weekend. Nothing's open.
- vijayr02 3y ago
  Not true anymore. With major tourist destinations such as St Paul's there's sufficient draw for weekend tourist traffic to keep shops and restaurants open. Some may be closed but it's not the wasteland this comment implies. Also true for Canary Wharf, the other financial centre in London
  - nprateem 3y ago
    St Paul's isn't new. There's plenty of stuff around Bank that's dead on a weekend.
- 4gotunameagain 3y ago
  Which is probably the only example in Europe where this is the case (and the UK created US in its own image [Genesis 1:27]). Even in the business districts of Munich or Brussels, it is not as deserted during the weekends. More calm, sure.
  - ensocode 3y ago
    Frankfurt am Main ;-)
    - chmod775 3y ago
      Coincidentally the only city in Germany that built skyscrapers. Another exception.
      - walrus01 3y ago
        The center of Frankfurt was extensively bombed during the war, what they had left in "downtown" was rubble heaps... So it got rebuilt in modernist architecture.

rhaway84773 3y ago

And unsurprisingly RTO in Europe numbers are much higher than the US ranging from 70-90% pre-pandemic levels vs 40-60% in US cities.

nprateem 3y ago

Try going to the City of London on a weekend. Nothing's open.

vijayr02 3y ago
Not true anymore. With major tourist destinations such as St Paul's there's sufficient draw for weekend tourist traffic to keep shops and restaurants open. Some may be closed but it's not the wasteland this comment implies. Also true for Canary Wharf, the other financial centre in London
- nprateem 3y ago
  St Paul's isn't new. There's plenty of stuff around Bank that's dead on a weekend.
4gotunameagain 3y ago
Which is probably the only example in Europe where this is the case (and the UK created US in its own image [Genesis 1:27]). Even in the business districts of Munich or Brussels, it is not as deserted during the weekends. More calm, sure.
- ensocode 3y ago
  Frankfurt am Main ;-)
  - chmod775 3y ago
    Coincidentally the only city in Germany that built skyscrapers. Another exception.
    - walrus01 3y ago
      The center of Frankfurt was extensively bombed during the war, what they had left in "downtown" was rubble heaps... So it got rebuilt in modernist architecture.