I’m back in the states for holidays but this time it was such a shock to realize everything looks so old, like from the airport to the convenience stores, malls, gas stations, etc. Why does everything look like it hasn’t changed from the 90s? And I was out just for a couple of months but things look newer and shinier in Panama and El Salvador compared to here. I cannot even imagine what some of you coming back from east Asia must feel. Did our country peak in the 90s and other countries are going through their renaissance? I love the convenience of the US where everything is open 24 hrs and you can get things delivered to your door basically overnight if you pay the price but I feel like we’re stuck with very old and boring infrastructure, makes me feel almost the same way I felt when I went to eastern Europe
I agree
I love the convenience of the US where everything is open 24 hrs
Lolwut
Even in major east coast cities it’s a struggle to find anything open 24/7 outside of NYC
Part of it is just that it is…old.
The US got to a lot of technological touch stones significantly before much of the world, when the technologies were newer.
Many places didn’t do major infrastructure projects like an actually good international airport until much later, when there was better technologies.
It’s not fully worth building a NEW airport instead of upgrading the existing one, and there are limits to what you can do.
It’s not like other countries that were front runners in the industrial revolution looks sparkly and new.
SIN airport in Singapore is 41 years old.
LAX is 95.
A lot can be done with upkeep, but much of what makes SIN so nice compared to LAX was better planning, which they had a LOT more knowledge about city planning and and airport design to work with.
SIN airport in Singapore is 41 years old.
LAX is 95.
None of the 95-year-old buildings is still in use (except for storage or historical purposes).
“Modern” LAX was built in two bursts: the 1960s and the 1980s.
Sure, but it was still limited by some of those initial decisions.
Like location, and portions of the layout.
Building to expand as is demanded looks a lot different than preemptively designed to expand.
Why would we invest in public infrastructure when our taxes could be used for better things?
Like bailing out banks, murdering foreigners, and lining the pockets of the 1%???
Indeed!
Stuff is new in Asia because they have only recently built everything from scratch. In Victorian England everything was new and it’s all still here.
Narita is 40-ish years old, HKIA is 25. So not extremely old, but not extremely new either. Upkeep and cleanliness are pretty amazing.
Exactly.
It doesn’t? You just are in a shitty area
OP hasn’t stepped out of the newest Asian megamall and thinks the entire continent is like that.
I’m in currently in Rome. Your perception of old is strange
OP would go to pieces in Rome, what with all the “crumbling old buildings.”
It’s because our Constitution is so old and government doesn’t serve the people anymore.
Generally: our cities are in bad shape and are in decline. Most expanded too big too fast due to subsidies and an abundance of land + wealth, and generations later can’t afford to maintain basic infrastructure. And if you’re in a part of town where you can visibly tell your government isn’t making the reinvestments to maintain basic stuff, you wouldn’t be incentivized to fork up lots of capital to maintain your own property/business.
The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from. Which is why the Matrix was redesigned to this: the peak of your civilization.
Because CEOs are paid for cutting costs. They pocket their bonuses rather than spend money to leave the company strong and growing. As for updated public infrastructure, many Americans think that sort of stuff is too socialist.
You are seeing what you chose to see… as a fellow avid traveler, the majority of the world arguably looks more dated than the U.S. Especially many parts of Central & S. America and Asia.
Too many tax cuts are coming home to roost.
Fund the government so it can fund infrastructure to benefit all.
Lol, lmao
Fixed that for you: Fund the government so that a fake job DEI commissar can tell you you’re evil for being white.
Its because the US is not a first world country by any means, thats the reason plain and simple.
I think this depends entirely on where you are. I’m from the Phoenix metro area, which has more than doubled in population since the 90s with millions of new inhabitants. From my experience, stuff looks nicer every time I go back. The area around my old university looks MUCH shinier and newer than it did when I was a student (completely unrecognizable in some areas), downtown areas in several metro-area cities have been revitalized, etc. I find Arizona to be more developed every time I go back. I found it felt newer and more modern than most of where I went to in Europe (though old looking Europe is part of the charm).
My friend from Ohio has the opposite experience. Every time he returns to Cleveland, it’s older and worse than it was before. I think this experience very much depends on where you’re from.
Interesting bc Cleveland probably has more new construction now than ever
It seems like the new buildings are just shiny boxes. No imagination or interesting architecture in most places (in the PNW where I am - not sure about Cleveland)
That’s true, Phoenix does have some impressive, shiny new buildings. The new Intel factory being a standout example. The infrastructure is solid. The airport and light rail are shiny and new.
It has its share of ugly areas, but as a whole I think the city is well-managed and modern.
Exactly. “The US” really isn’t a useful unit to compare, like, how many pretty new buildings you see.