7 ms·

Something tells me there are 100x as many cute country villages in the UK as there are in the US. Here if it's not a big city, it's a depressing shamble. The ex

Something tells me there are 100x as many cute country villages in the UK as there are in the US. Here if it's not a big city, it's a depressing shamble. The exceptions are insanely expensive retreats for the rich.

fooker 3y ago
You don't seem to have traveled a lot in the US.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- throwaway892238 3y ago
  Ya caught me. My 15 years of road trips across the US, moving across multiple states, and frequent visits to the UK have made me ill-equipped to comment on the state of US cities and villages. Dang. I thought I could get away with it too.
  - fooker 3y ago
    If you list some of the routes from your '15 years of roadtrips', perhaps I can point out the cute towns and villages you have missed?
  - bennyg 3y ago
    Were your eyes open? Sorry to poke but your original comment paints America as a pendulum when it really isn’t. From someone who’s lived across the Southeast, it’s so weird to read that statement said so confidently when it’s just not true. Plenty of small towns and small cities that aren’t depressing.
    - abalashov 3y ago
      I've lived in the southeast for 2/3 of my life, and ride my bike 10,000-12,000 mi/year, largely drawn in by charming rural towns. It's a lot of what keeps me engaged with the sport. I would nevertheless agree with the parent to whom you are replying that they are the exception, not the rule, and much of rural America is depressed or just a whole lot of nothing, at least from the perspective of charm. Most places there, too, are built at automobile scale, and lack sufficient sense of placehood or definition to qualify as anything like a hamlet in the European sense. It's just a ZIP code with a Circle K, a church, and a some houses scattered over an obscenely large area that can only be traversed by car. Sometimes, boarded up historical relics are included, although you may have to drive quite a bit from the civic centre (the Circle K) to find them. Food deserts, in which the Circle K feeds a massive radius (along with perhaps a Dollar General), are the norm. Getting from the Circle K to the Dollar General requires a car. In between, there's not much. There are some delightful exceptions, and I love to visit and capture their splendid sights and sounds. They are few and far, and I find the parent's generalisation highly valid, at least as the Sourheast goes. I grew up in the Midwest and had a similar sense there. Perhaps the West Coast and New England are quite different, and it sounds like they are. "Flyover country" has little to recommend it in the whole, however, and there's a reason they call it that.
      - CalRobert 3y ago
        For what it's worth I find that college towns are usually quite pleasant, though I'm not sure they match the small size the poster is thinking of here. New England has some charming towns (example: Bath, Maine). But one of the elements of "charm" is narrow, walkable streets, and _those_ are rare in the US outside of New England. Where they once existed they've often been bulldozed. https://www.strongtowns.org/ https://www.strongtowns.org/ talks a lot about what makes towns great and as it turns out those characteristics also tend to make them charming.
        abalashov 3y ago
        I love Strong Towns. Sadly, nobody in the southeast has read that. I live in a college town (Athens, GA). It's okay, if you're 19 and like drinking.
compiler-guy 3y ago
New England has many absolutely charming small towns, especially in the fall. North and South Carolina have utterly charming small beach towns, not to mention all the lovely towns along the Blue Ridge parkway. Louisana coastal towns have some of the most terrific seafood you can find in tiny little shacks that look like they might blow away. The country is full of places like this. Sure, there is blight and both urban and rural decay, but there is also much to like.
- Belopolye 3y ago
  This. When I turned eighteen my grandparents took me on an autumn driving tour of New England to visit the haunts of my favorite writers, get a real lobster roll, etc. It was so nice to see the coziness and warmth- charm was the right word for it.
anon291 3y ago
That is not my experience at all. There are so many small towns studded along the highways and back roads. They're perfect for a romantic getaway or a weekend trip with the family. Fun activities, active downtowns, accomodations for all budgets, etc. Truly a lovely thing. California especially has a large number of these.
conradev 3y ago
Maine and Vermont are all small towns and they’re all cute
- ElongatedMusket 3y ago
  I'll second this. Vermont was extremely charming when I drove back roads one summer. Another wonderful drive was the 1A up coastal New Hampshire, all the buildings and infrastructure were quaint and humble.
  - markphip 3y ago
    It was probably Maine (or Massachusetts). In New Hampshire we probably only have a few miles of 1A that is like this (Rye). It is basically the beach, Rye, then you hit Portsmouth and you are in Maine. Driving along the coast in Maine would be a really long trip
- markphip 3y ago
  I live in a small town in NH. In our part of the state it is all small towns. Western Mass is also all small towns.
- throwaway892238 3y ago
  If all I'd ever seen is rednecks in pickup trucks picking up milk from the gas station, I guess I'd think it was cute. Visit a hamlet in the UK some time, tell me what you think then.
piperswe 3y ago
The coasts tend to have lots, e.g. New England and along California SR 1.

fooker 3y ago

You don't seem to have traveled a lot in the US.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
throwaway892238 3y ago
Ya caught me. My 15 years of road trips across the US, moving across multiple states, and frequent visits to the UK have made me ill-equipped to comment on the state of US cities and villages. Dang. I thought I could get away with it too.
- fooker 3y ago
  If you list some of the routes from your '15 years of roadtrips', perhaps I can point out the cute towns and villages you have missed?
- bennyg 3y ago
  Were your eyes open? Sorry to poke but your original comment paints America as a pendulum when it really isn’t. From someone who’s lived across the Southeast, it’s so weird to read that statement said so confidently when it’s just not true. Plenty of small towns and small cities that aren’t depressing.
  - abalashov 3y ago
    I've lived in the southeast for 2/3 of my life, and ride my bike 10,000-12,000 mi/year, largely drawn in by charming rural towns. It's a lot of what keeps me engaged with the sport. I would nevertheless agree with the parent to whom you are replying that they are the exception, not the rule, and much of rural America is depressed or just a whole lot of nothing, at least from the perspective of charm. Most places there, too, are built at automobile scale, and lack sufficient sense of placehood or definition to qualify as anything like a hamlet in the European sense. It's just a ZIP code with a Circle K, a church, and a some houses scattered over an obscenely large area that can only be traversed by car. Sometimes, boarded up historical relics are included, although you may have to drive quite a bit from the civic centre (the Circle K) to find them. Food deserts, in which the Circle K feeds a massive radius (along with perhaps a Dollar General), are the norm. Getting from the Circle K to the Dollar General requires a car. In between, there's not much. There are some delightful exceptions, and I love to visit and capture their splendid sights and sounds. They are few and far, and I find the parent's generalisation highly valid, at least as the Sourheast goes. I grew up in the Midwest and had a similar sense there. Perhaps the West Coast and New England are quite different, and it sounds like they are. "Flyover country" has little to recommend it in the whole, however, and there's a reason they call it that.
    - CalRobert 3y ago
      For what it's worth I find that college towns are usually quite pleasant, though I'm not sure they match the small size the poster is thinking of here. New England has some charming towns (example: Bath, Maine). But one of the elements of "charm" is narrow, walkable streets, and _those_ are rare in the US outside of New England. Where they once existed they've often been bulldozed. https://www.strongtowns.org/ https://www.strongtowns.org/ talks a lot about what makes towns great and as it turns out those characteristics also tend to make them charming.
      - abalashov 3y ago
        I love Strong Towns. Sadly, nobody in the southeast has read that. I live in a college town (Athens, GA). It's okay, if you're 19 and like drinking.

compiler-guy 3y ago

New England has many absolutely charming small towns, especially in the fall. North and South Carolina have utterly charming small beach towns, not to mention all the lovely towns along the Blue Ridge parkway. Louisana coastal towns have some of the most terrific seafood you can find in tiny little shacks that look like they might blow away. The country is full of places like this. Sure, there is blight and both urban and rural decay, but there is also much to like.

Belopolye 3y ago
This. When I turned eighteen my grandparents took me on an autumn driving tour of New England to visit the haunts of my favorite writers, get a real lobster roll, etc. It was so nice to see the coziness and warmth- charm was the right word for it.

anon291 3y ago

That is not my experience at all. There are so many small towns studded along the highways and back roads. They're perfect for a romantic getaway or a weekend trip with the family. Fun activities, active downtowns, accomodations for all budgets, etc. Truly a lovely thing. California especially has a large number of these.

conradev 3y ago

Maine and Vermont are all small towns and they’re all cute

ElongatedMusket 3y ago
I'll second this. Vermont was extremely charming when I drove back roads one summer. Another wonderful drive was the 1A up coastal New Hampshire, all the buildings and infrastructure were quaint and humble.
- markphip 3y ago
  It was probably Maine (or Massachusetts). In New Hampshire we probably only have a few miles of 1A that is like this (Rye). It is basically the beach, Rye, then you hit Portsmouth and you are in Maine. Driving along the coast in Maine would be a really long trip
markphip 3y ago
I live in a small town in NH. In our part of the state it is all small towns. Western Mass is also all small towns.
throwaway892238 3y ago
If all I'd ever seen is rednecks in pickup trucks picking up milk from the gas station, I guess I'd think it was cute. Visit a hamlet in the UK some time, tell me what you think then.

piperswe 3y ago

The coasts tend to have lots, e.g. New England and along California SR 1.