most livable cities

[Enrique Diaz-Alvarez]

Michael Yates wrote:
> 
> BTW, if any list members tell me what a great city Las Vegas is, I
> condemn them to stand for six hours without a hat or sunglasses on any
> afternoon in August anywhere on the strip.  Enjoying the dust and
> congestion. Watching "Boobus americanus" (H.L. Mencken's apt phrase)
> enjoying him (her)self.  I once heard a guy tell his wife in front of
> the grotesque "New York,New York" hotel and casino that "It doesn't get
> any better than this."

I don't understand why watching average people enjoying themselves is so
painful to you. One of the things I miss the most about Spain is just
that, average people enjoying themselves in public places. The Las Vegas
strip is one of the few urban areas in America that doesn't become a
ghost town by sundown. The streets are crowded pretty much all the time,
with groups of people who seem to be having a fairly good time in spite
of being neither wasted nor shopping. People there actually dress up to
go out, a nice break from the usual American
the-world-is-an-extension-of-my-living-room-so-fuck-you attitude towards
personal attire.

Of course, the sight of gambling addicts in the casinos is pretty
depressing. And the place turns into the usual American urban wasteland
two blocks from the strips. But I'd still take Las Vegas over Cleveland
any day.

-- 
Enrique Diaz-Alvarez            Office # (607) 255 5034	
Electrical Engineering          Home #   (607) 272 4808
112 Phillips Hall               Fax #    (607) 255 4565
Cornell University              mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu
Ithaca, NY 14853                http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique