Re: World cities
Le Sat, 18 May 2002 02:47:33 -0700, Icono Clast <[email protected]> a écrit :
>> there are cities, and there are "world cities". >> >> From my experience, world cities are - >> >> San Francisco Sydney London Berlin Seoul Tokyo Cairo Paris Rome Rio > I live in one and have visited four of the others. How can you have omitted > Manhattan? Perhaps because Manhattan isn't a city, it's a burough (did I spell that correctly ?). -- Desmond Coughlan |****#1 YGL#4 YFC#1 YFB#1 UKRMMA#14 two#38 desmond @ noos.fr |BONY#48 ANORAK#11 http://mapage.noos.fr/desmond/ Clé Publique : http://mapage.noos.fr/desmond/pgp/pubring.pkr |
Re: World cities
Any special reason for missing out New York (and if SF, why not Chicago and Los
Angeles?)...?! Seoul looks like a bit of an outlier in this company. PJW On 17 May 2002 20:20:16 GMT, mpprh <[email protected]> wrote: > >From my experience, world cities are - > >San Francisco Sydney London Berlin Seoul Tokyo Cairo Paris Rome Rio |
LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
I espied that on 18 May 2002, Go Fig <[email protected]> wrote:
-snip- > Los Angeles has the largest air cargo airport in the world and its passenger > airport is 3rd in the world. 3rd in terms of what? Physical size, passenger movements, or aircraft movements? (And if it's the latter, does that include local hobby flying?) The reason I ask is that I've been to LAX twice -- to change planes going from London to Auckland -- and found it woefully underserviced from the standpoint of international passenger facilities, certainly if you're in transit. A couple of bars and restaurants were about it - - and even some of those were closed because it wasn't the middle of the day. And the sockets for electric shavers in the washrooms -- in the international zone, mind you -- were US-only rather than those kind that accommodate all kinds of shaver plugs that I'm used to in hotels. (Mind you, I had the same problem with the shaver socket in a large international chain hotel near the airport -- I rented a room to sleep during the 8-hour stopover -- so "international" isn't the first word which springs to my mind to describe LA airport.) On my return the last time I changed at Chicago, which was a *lot* better in terms of necessary services. -turn on rant mode- And where in LA do they get those guys on the passport examination desks? From some Institute for the Incurably Thick? Changing planes, I knew that they would need to question me about the purpose of entering the US and length of stay. So I present my passport, itinerary and the boarding pass for the next leg of the journey (leaving in 3 hours.) He seems to look closely at all of the documents. Me, trying to help: I'm in transit from Auckland to London. Him: What is the purpose of your visit to the United States? Me, after a slight pause: To change planes. (Me thinks: "I thought it was the jet-lagged one of us that was supposed to have problems adding 2 and 2 together.) Him: How long do you plan to stay in the United States? (Me thinks: some vague acknowledgement that you've actually got this information in written and verbal form would be pleasant.) Me: Just long enough to change planes. Him: Are you intending to extend your visit? (Me thinks: only if you decide to confiscate my boarding pass, mate.) Me (pleasantly, not sarcastically, honest): No, I'm just changing planes. Him: Passes documents back without comment. (Me thinks: what a fun guy. Maybe he's insulted that I have no desire to stay in his country. Or maybe he knows how boring this airport is, and can't believe that someone wouldn't get out of it as quickly as possible......) -turn off rant mode- -- Cheers, Harvey |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
On Sat, 18 May 2002 10:06:50 GMT, Harvey V
<[email protected]> wrote: <snip> Reminds me of the story Bill Bryson wrote about arriving at Logan Airport in Boston - "As I approached the last immigration official, he said to me "Any fruit or vegetables?" I considered for a minute. "Sure, why not" I said, "I'll have four pounds of potatoes and some mangoes if they're fresh" Instantly, I could see that I had misjudged my audience and that this was not a man who ached for banter. He looked at me with one of those slow, dark, cerebrally challenged expresions that you never want to see in a uniformed official, but especially in a US Customs and Immigration officer because, believe me, these people have powers you really do not want to put to the test. If I just mention the words "strip search" and "rubber gloves" I think you will latch on to my meaning. When I say they have the right to interrupt your passage, I mean it in every possible sense. Luckily, this man appeared to conclude that I was just incerdibly thick. "Sir", he enquired more specifically, "are you carrying any items of a fruit or vegetable nature?" "No sir, I am not", I answered at once and fed him the most respectful and grovelling look I believe I have ever mustered. "Then keep moving please" he said. I left him shaking his head. I am sure for the rest of his career he will be telling people about the knucklehead who thought he was a greengrocer. (Bill Byson, "Notes from a Big Country") (PS - if anyone construes this as an "Americans are thick" posting, I hasten to add that I have met equally thick officials in the UK). Keith Bristol UK Remove NSP to reply |
Re: World cities
In article <[email protected]>, Harvey V
<[email protected]> writes >Group 1B -- world cities due purely to size and economic importanace > > Mexico City, Seoul, Rio, Sydney, Hong Kong I'd have added Los Angeles to this group. -- congokid Eating out in London? Read my tips... http://congokid.com |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
"Harvey V" <[email protected]> skrev i meddelandet
news:[email protected]... > I espied that on 18 May 2002, Go Fig <[email protected]> wrote: > > Los Angeles has the largest air cargo airport in the world and its passenger > > airport is 3rd in the world. > > 3rd in terms of what? Physical size, passenger movements, or aircraft movements? > (And if it's the latter, does that include local hobby flying?) You may find the answer on > http://www.airports.org/traffic/index.html > The reason I ask is that I've been to LAX twice -- to change planes going from > London to Auckland -- and found it woefully underserviced from the standpoint of > international passenger facilities, certainly if you're in transit. Actually I've the same experience, the airport was somewhat run-down. Real unpleasant was the fact non-ticketed passengers (was 1998) were allowed inside the departure area as long as they passed the security checks. Some of them walking around asking for money to various projects. L.P |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
On Sat, 18 May 2002 10:06:50 GMT, Harvey V
<[email protected]> wrote: >The reason I ask is that I've been to LAX twice -- to change planes going from >London to Auckland -- and found it woefully underserviced from the standpoint of >international passenger facilities, certainly if you're in transit. Same is true of the international terminal in Boston, Logan airport. In the summer, always crammed beyond capacity. The arrival hall is a joke--luggage belt OK for a 727 maybe, *not* a 747. Weary travelers stand three deep around that belt for an hour, can easily wait another hour in line just to reach customs. A disgrace. A truly cool book: The World Is Already Yours Conscious living in the real world www.alreadyyours.com (sample chapter, etc...) |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
Harvey V wrote:
> > (Me thinks: what a fun guy. Maybe he's insulted that I have no desire to > stay in his country. Or maybe he knows how boring this airport is, and > can't believe that someone wouldn't get out of it as quickly as > possible......) Possibility #1: He was illiterate? Possibility #2: He didn't speak English? (Although the U.S. is SUPPOSED to be an English-speaking country, and few of our native-born citizens speak anything else, it appears to be "discrimination" if employers insist upon fluency in English, when hiring people who will be dealing with the public.) Possibility #3: He'd been told to ask those questions, and by God he was going to ask them, whether he already had the answers in front of him or not! (Most airport "security" personnel work for minimum wages - for that, you're lucky to get a warm body - you want intelligence, too?) > > -turn off rant mode- > > -- > Cheers, Harvey |
Re: World cities
Judith wrote:
> > > Well, yes, because as a CITY it fails to hold together. It is so disorganized that > hardly anyone knows where the center is, let alone actually goes there. LA feels > like the world's largest collection of suburbs to me. Probably because it IS! When I first came here, the San Fernando Valley and Orange County were rural areas with many small towns, separated by agricultural enterprises. (Orange County had not only the citrus "ranches" from which it took its name, but dairy farms - the "Valley" was more given over to cattle, plus other food crops). Now there's just one big urban sprawl, from San Diego to Santa Barbara. Some of the small communities allowed themselves to become officially (politically) part of Los Angeles, others retain their individual "city" governments although surrounded by "Los Angeles" on all sides. It's "unique", certainly, but as a "world class" city, I'd have to agree with Judith. |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
Keith Anderson wrote:
> > > (PS - if anyone construes this as an "Americans are thick" posting, I hasten to add > that I have met equally thick officials in the UK). Perhaps it's just a case of "petty officialdom is thick"? > > Keith Bristol UK Remove NSP to reply |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
Lennart Petersen wrote:
> > Actually I've the same experience, the airport was somewhat run-down. Real > unpleasant was the fact non-ticketed passengers (was 1998) were allowed inside the > departure area as long as they passed the security checks. Some of them walking > around asking for money to various projects. And the loud-speaker system announcing at intervals in several languages that those soliciters were not there under airport sanction, and passengers were not required to to give them money! (Funny thing is, though, even now that no one is allowed past the check-points without a ticket, that loud-speaker announcement is still being made - one would think, by now, they'd have changed the recording!) > L.P |
Re: LA "International" airport (was Re: World cities)
grey wrote:
> > > Same is true of the international terminal in Boston, Logan airport. In the summer, > always crammed beyond capacity. The arrival hall is a joke--luggage belt OK for a > 727 maybe, *not* a 747. Weary travelers stand three deep around that belt for an > hour, can easily wait another hour in line just to reach customs. A disgrace. I agree! Especially if you are accustomed to the usually streamlined procedures at European airports. It's true, due to the physical size of the country, there are probably a great many more domestic flights departing from U.S. airports than there are international ones. But that's supposedly the purpose of having "international" terminals, isn't it? (Which should thus, in theory, be geared to international travel?) > A truly cool book: The World Is Already Yours Conscious living in the real world > www.alreadyyours.com (sample chapter, etc...) |
Re: World cities
In article <[email protected]>, "Evelyn Vogt Gamble (Divamanque)"
<[email protected]> wrote: > Judith wrote: > > > > > > Well, yes, because as a CITY it fails to hold together. It is so disorganized > > that hardly anyone knows where the center is, let alone actually goes there. LA > > feels like the world's largest collection of suburbs to me. > > Probably because it IS! When I first came here, the San Fernando Valley and Orange > County were rural areas with many small towns, separated by agricultural > enterprises. (Orange County had not only the citrus "ranches" from which it took > its name, but dairy farms - the "Valley" was more given over to cattle, plus other > food crops). Now there's just one big urban sprawl, from San Diego to Santa > Barbara. Some of the small communities allowed themselves to become officially > (politically) part of Los Angeles, others retain their individual "city" > governments although surrounded by "Los Angeles" on all sides. It's "unique", > certainly, but as a "world class" city, I'd have to agree with Judith. Fair enough... but its influence on modern culture is quite significant and tourism dollars is a huge actual number in the economy of Los Angeles. Los Angeles' economy compares to some of the entire economies of the other cities countries. jay Sat, May 18, 2002 mailto:[email protected] -- Legend insists that as he finished his abject... Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move." |
Re: World cities
Harvey V wrote:
> > (A for classifying of places, I like the way that local newspapers in boring > suburban towns invariably play up those "liveability" surveys in which their > backwater winds up as the finest locale in the nation. They tend not to point out > that such surveys often don't allow for the excitement of big, complex and historic > urban places, because they couldn't be measured quantitatively.....) They also don't allow for availability of jobs, for those who must support their families, need to know they can find work, and so cannot afford to relocate simply because the "quality of life" may be better. (It generally is, where the people are affluent enough to support all the factors that make for "quality" life - good schools, adequate law enforcement, clean, safe surroundings.....) |
Re: World cities - Moscow etc.
Miguel Cruz wrote:
> Important countries are the ones where things happen and decisions are made that > have ongoing regional and/or global impact. And I would mean that Russia is one of them. > > > miguel > -- > Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world: http://travel.u.nu //Emil Jelstrup |
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