List the things you like/dislike about your country/state/city

**Janszoon** · 04-03-2015, 07:14 AM

Poland is definitely high on my list of European countries I want to visit.

Pet_Sounds · 04-03-2015, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninetales

theres just no cons of Canada sorry everyone

x2.

I complain about the winter, but I'd probably complain more if there was no ice to play hockey on.

The Batlord · 04-03-2015, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yac

Another con is, people perceive Poles as thieving simpleton racists, we're the butt of many jokes and stereotypes.. which is somewhat true but isn't as funny as it might seem when it comes around for the 10,000th time. But I guess it's like this for many countries..

Luckily, as an American, the only stereotype for Poles I have is the screen door submarine thing.

Plankton · 04-03-2015, 08:02 AM

Our best welders/fabricators are Polish, and are highly respected around my place of employment. Also, I frequent a Polish deli that's located in a predominantly Polish area with some real cutie's that work behind the counter. I don't hear the Polish jokes too often, and when I do, it's usually some half wit ignoramus that no one pays attention to anyway.

Heck, my ex was Polish and she was always the first one to make fun of herself, and blame her heritage when she did something of questionable intelligence.

Which she did quite often.

Which is why I now refer to her as my ex.

ribbons · 04-04-2015, 02:09 PM

New York City

Pros:
exciting and high energy
very diverse population
thousands of diverse restaurants
art galleries and museums
great walking city
you can find entertainment and interest everywhere
great music scene – music venues ranging from very large to tiny clubs
Central Park – beautiful, and an endless oasis
Greenwich (West) Village
East Village (the West and East Villages are the best parts of NYC, imo)
the skyline
The Highline
Williamsburg (growing by leaps and bounds musically/artistically; yes, it’s hipster-ridden, but I don’t mind hipsters at all.)
Long Island City/Astoria (growing artistically/film industry-wise)
Upper West Side (there’s a saying here: On the Upper East Side they line their walls with mirrors, on the Upper West Side they line their walls with books. An unusually family-oriented neighborhood for Manhattan.)
Lower East Side

Cons:
hectic working life and everyday life
very expensive – astronomical rents and prices in general
rude people
snooty rich people, especially in SoHo
crazy cab drivers
incredibly competitive in every way
New Yorkers sometimes think the world revolves around them
dirty streets and garbage (much cleaner than it used to be, though)
overpopulated – crowds and lines everywhere
overbuilding and high rents have driven out interesting “mom & pop” stores in favor of chain stores
sardine-can subways
train delays
traffic
tourist trap Times Square
extremes of weather: sweltering, humid summers / freezing winters with dirty snow and ice

Trollheart · 04-04-2015, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ribbons

New York City

Pros:
exciting and high energy
very diverse population
thousands of diverse restaurants
art galleries and museums
great walking city

This is ****ing incredible! A city that walks! I have GOT to go there! (Or maybe it'll find its way here...)

ribbons · 04-04-2015, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

This is ****ing incredible! A city that walks! I have GOT to go there! (Or maybe it'll find its way here...)

New Yawk is made for walkin', and that's just what we'll do. One of these days we'll walk to Eire and walk all over you.

downwardspiral · 04-04-2015, 08:02 PM

So, Liverpool is the city I'm from and have lived in my entire life, so the pros and cons..

What I like:

How aesthetically beautiful it is, there are some truly amazing streets and lots of beautiful and imposing architecture around the city.

The layout of the city centre and how accessible it is, you can get from one side to the other in about 20 minutes flat (although where the city centre begins and ends varies depending on who you talk to, I don't think it's as definitive as some places).

How much ethnic diversity there is, but obviously that isn't exclusive to Liverpool and you'll often find that in most/all big cities in the UK now, however I found Newcastle to be very white when I visited last summer..

The amazing culture and how much there is to do, we are spoiled in Liverpool and do very well for ourselves considering we're next door to the 'capital of the north west' (Manchester). We have four amazing museums, numerous amazing art galleries (including a Tate), a beautiful central library, tonnes of great restaurants and some brilliant venues (one of which being the Kazimier which is, imo, the best small venue in the country) and a really great independent scene. And tying in with what I said before about the layout of the city centre, everything is within spitting distance of one another too, you don't have to take a bus or a train or a tube to get from one thing to the next, it's all within close proximity.

How Liverpool has reinvented itself over the past 7 years. If you're from the UK you'll no doubt know that Liverpool was a bit of a derelict hole up until about 2008/2009 when its regeneration really started taking place, the city was crowned Capital of Culture which obviously helped a great deal. Now, the city is thriving and it's the best it's ever been and it seems to just keep growing. The economy is the fastest growing outside of London and there are new and exciting things happening here all the time, it's so lovely to see.

What I dislike:

The fact that you can barely go anywhere without seeing/hearing about something to do with The Beatles. I get that they were huge and influenced a lot of modern music, but come on!

Obnoxious tourists. It's not particularly hard to avoid tourists, you just need to stay away from The Albert Dock and Mathew Street, but sometimes it's just exhausting. Though, without tourism, Liverpool would struggle a lot more than it does, so obviously I understand its importance.

The current rise in crime rates, Liverpool has never been a utopian paradise and anyone that claims it has and ever will be is delusional. It's always had its problems and that will never go away, but lately there has been a huge increase in violent crime and it's getting out of hand. We have our fair share of gang rivalries too and stuff like that happening in the city you live in is just really unpleasant. I've personally never experienced any issues and I feel safe here and have walked around different parts of suburbs in the dead of night and have felt fine, but I know there are some dangerous and awful people out there but I don't know of any major UK city that can say they don't have that, really.

Peoples misconceptions about the city and its people. As I mentioned earlier, before its recent generation a lot of Liverpool was run down and derelict and for years the papers targeted Liverpool for that reason and published a lot of propaganda about the city and how all Scousers are thieves, yada yada. It bothers me that to this day there are still people out there with these views, people who either have never ever visited Liverpool or haven't visited in 10+ years and have no idea what it's like now. People are legitimately shocked when they walk around and see how nice a place it is and how much it has to offer and sadly a lot of people also seem really annoyed that Liverpool has managed to come back from what was deemed the point of no return and become the place it is today. I'm not really sure I can use this point in my dislikes *about* the city, it's more about clueless outsiders, but still.

All in all, Liverpool is great, and I would wholly recommend it to anybody who hasn't visited before or who hasn't been back recently.

Carpe Mortem · 04-06-2015, 08:17 PM

No contest for me. I come from a hardy, tough people who can withstand subzero winters and blistering summers, on occasion a few days apart from one another. Detroit was once a beacon in America, setting the stage for factory life, where a normal man or woman could make a decent living without schooling. And its slowly coming back.

Motor city, dude. Member of the speed cult, of hot rods and bikers, of cigarette smoking blue collar men and women with a beer in their hand and murder mitten metal at their regular bars. I might someday leave, but I'll always love my roots, and the stench of exhaust clinging to denim and leather while we meander from city to the rural woodlands in less than half an hour.

I love this state, and no tourist could ever understand.

**Yac** · 04-08-2015, 07:58 AM

Thanks for the kind words about Poland, but just in case anyone is confused - I didn't come here to gather praise

Though I thank you all for it.
Anyway, since everyone is describing their cities, I figure it's only fair I do so too.
Poznań.

Pros:
Kind of a big city in a small package, you get the big city amenities without the big city hassle.
Really pretty
Really walkable
Great public transport
Beautiful parks
Tons of history - to choose only one part, there are 16 forts inside the city, remnants of old fortifications. Some are huge, some are small, all are fascinating.
It's close to everything, you can get to Warsaw, Berlin, to the sea and to the mountains in under 3 hours.
Cons:
The traffic where I live is terrible. It takes me ~40 minutes to walk to work or ~50 to drive there..
The old town square, while pretty, recently became kind of a scary place at night .. unless you're interested in getting your face bashed in by a bunch of football hooligans and/or regular drunk idiots.
You can't order any half decent take out. The choice is between crappy pizza or even crappier pizza .. and that's it. Plenty of good places to eat - but they don't deliver.

04-03-2015, 07:14 AM	#41 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Poland is definitely high on my list of European countries I want to visit. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

04-03-2015, 08:02 AM	#44 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	Our best welders/fabricators are Polish, and are highly respected around my place of employment. Also, I frequent a Polish deli that's located in a predominantly Polish area with some real cutie's that work behind the counter. I don't hear the Polish jokes too often, and when I do, it's usually some half wit ignoramus that no one pays attention to anyway. Heck, my ex was Polish and she was always the first one to make fun of herself, and blame her heritage when she did something of questionable intelligence. Which she did quite often. Which is why I now refer to her as my ex. __________________ See location...

04-04-2015, 08:02 PM	#48 (permalink)
downwardspiral Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Liverpool, UK Posts: 734	So, Liverpool is the city I'm from and have lived in my entire life, so the pros and cons.. What I like: How aesthetically beautiful it is, there are some truly amazing streets and lots of beautiful and imposing architecture around the city. The layout of the city centre and how accessible it is, you can get from one side to the other in about 20 minutes flat (although where the city centre begins and ends varies depending on who you talk to, I don't think it's as definitive as some places). How much ethnic diversity there is, but obviously that isn't exclusive to Liverpool and you'll often find that in most/all big cities in the UK now, however I found Newcastle to be very white when I visited last summer.. The amazing culture and how much there is to do, we are spoiled in Liverpool and do very well for ourselves considering we're next door to the 'capital of the north west' (Manchester). We have four amazing museums, numerous amazing art galleries (including a Tate), a beautiful central library, tonnes of great restaurants and some brilliant venues (one of which being the Kazimier which is, imo, the best small venue in the country) and a really great independent scene. And tying in with what I said before about the layout of the city centre, everything is within spitting distance of one another too, you don't have to take a bus or a train or a tube to get from one thing to the next, it's all within close proximity. How Liverpool has reinvented itself over the past 7 years. If you're from the UK you'll no doubt know that Liverpool was a bit of a derelict hole up until about 2008/2009 when its regeneration really started taking place, the city was crowned Capital of Culture which obviously helped a great deal. Now, the city is thriving and it's the best it's ever been and it seems to just keep growing. The economy is the fastest growing outside of London and there are new and exciting things happening here all the time, it's so lovely to see. What I dislike: The fact that you can barely go anywhere without seeing/hearing about something to do with The Beatles. I get that they were huge and influenced a lot of modern music, but come on! Obnoxious tourists. It's not particularly hard to avoid tourists, you just need to stay away from The Albert Dock and Mathew Street, but sometimes it's just exhausting. Though, without tourism, Liverpool would struggle a lot more than it does, so obviously I understand its importance. The current rise in crime rates, Liverpool has never been a utopian paradise and anyone that claims it has and ever will be is delusional. It's always had its problems and that will never go away, but lately there has been a huge increase in violent crime and it's getting out of hand. We have our fair share of gang rivalries too and stuff like that happening in the city you live in is just really unpleasant. I've personally never experienced any issues and I feel safe here and have walked around different parts of suburbs in the dead of night and have felt fine, but I know there are some dangerous and awful people out there but I don't know of any major UK city that can say they don't have that, really. Peoples misconceptions about the city and its people. As I mentioned earlier, before its recent generation a lot of Liverpool was run down and derelict and for years the papers targeted Liverpool for that reason and published a lot of propaganda about the city and how all Scousers are thieves, yada yada. It bothers me that to this day there are still people out there with these views, people who either have never ever visited Liverpool or haven't visited in 10+ years and have no idea what it's like now. People are legitimately shocked when they walk around and see how nice a place it is and how much it has to offer and sadly a lot of people also seem really annoyed that Liverpool has managed to come back from what was deemed the point of no return and become the place it is today. I'm not really sure I can use this point in my dislikes about the city, it's more about clueless outsiders, but still. All in all, Liverpool is great, and I would wholly recommend it to anybody who hasn't visited before or who hasn't been back recently. __________________

04-06-2015, 08:17 PM	#49 (permalink)
Carpe Mortem Crusher of tiny Nords Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Ugly Bag of Mostly Water Posts: 1,363	No contest for me. I come from a hardy, tough people who can withstand subzero winters and blistering summers, on occasion a few days apart from one another. Detroit was once a beacon in America, setting the stage for factory life, where a normal man or woman could make a decent living without schooling. And its slowly coming back. Motor city, dude. Member of the speed cult, of hot rods and bikers, of cigarette smoking blue collar men and women with a beer in their hand and murder mitten metal at their regular bars. I might someday leave, but I'll always love my roots, and the stench of exhaust clinging to denim and leather while we meander from city to the rural woodlands in less than half an hour. I love this state, and no tourist could ever understand. __________________ [SIG][/SIG] Mirth is King Be Loving & Open With My Emotions

04-04-2015, 02:09 PM	#45 (permalink)
ribbons Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,265	New York City Pros: exciting and high energy very diverse population thousands of diverse restaurants art galleries and museums great walking city you can find entertainment and interest everywhere great music scene – music venues ranging from very large to tiny clubs Central Park – beautiful, and an endless oasis Greenwich (West) Village East Village (the West and East Villages are the best parts of NYC, imo) the skyline The Highline Williamsburg (growing by leaps and bounds musically/artistically; yes, it’s hipster-ridden, but I don’t mind hipsters at all.) Long Island City/Astoria (growing artistically/film industry-wise) Upper West Side (there’s a saying here: On the Upper East Side they line their walls with mirrors, on the Upper West Side they line their walls with books. An unusually family-oriented neighborhood for Manhattan.) Lower East Side Cons: hectic working life and everyday life very expensive – astronomical rents and prices in general rude people snooty rich people, especially in SoHo crazy cab drivers incredibly competitive in every way New Yorkers sometimes think the world revolves around them dirty streets and garbage (much cleaner than it used to be, though) overpopulated – crowds and lines everywhere overbuilding and high rents have driven out interesting “mom & pop” stores in favor of chain stores sardine-can subways train delays traffic tourist trap Times Square extremes of weather: sweltering, humid summers / freezing winters with dirty snow and ice

04-08-2015, 07:58 AM	#50 (permalink)
Yac Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: It's a secret too. Posts: 1,363	Thanks for the kind words about Poland, but just in case anyone is confused - I didn't come here to gather praise Though I thank you all for it. Anyway, since everyone is describing their cities, I figure it's only fair I do so too. Poznań. *Pros:* Kind of a big city in a small package, you get the big city amenities without the big city hassle. Really pretty Really walkable Great public transport Beautiful parks Tons of history - to choose only one part, there are 16 forts inside the city, remnants of old fortifications. Some are huge, some are small, all are fascinating. It's close to everything, you can get to Warsaw, Berlin, to the sea and to the mountains in under 3 hours. *Cons:* The traffic where I live is terrible. It takes me ~40 minutes to walk to work or ~50 to drive there.. The old town square, while pretty, recently became kind of a scary place at night .. unless you're interested in getting your face bashed in by a bunch of football hooligans and/or regular drunk idiots. You can't order any half decent take out. The choice is between crappy pizza or even crappier pizza .. and that's it. Plenty of good places to eat - but they don't deliver.