středa 12. října 2005

The North American Tragedy in Microcosm

Calgary is a really shocking place. When you are getting close to it, it looks like a slum city. Well, you realize that the houses are not exactly a slum for the lowest class, but a slum of the middle class. The subdivisions of half-million-dollar houses without any single tree look desperately.
An outspoken urban affair writer James Howard Kunstler writes on his blog (quoted by Edmonton Journal, Oct 9), that Calgary is ”an archetypal city of immense glass boxes in a sterilized centre surrounded by an asteroid belt of beige residential subdivisions.” He adds that a typical Western metropolis (though Edmonton is an exception) features poor urban design, with a core of uninteresting glass towers from which radiate districts comprise cookie-cutter homes and big box stores.
Fortunately I spent in Calgary a couple of minutes only. Truly, the first look was horrifying and I hope we never end like that in Europe. Edmonton is much nicer, with a colorful river valley joined by several creeks, parks, and much greener residential houses. Check Lucka’s photo pages to see how beautiful Edmonton can be, especially in Fall.



Back to native teepees!