Conversation

Replying to
My list of worst features: Ann Arbor: snow Austin (circa 2001): self-absorption Ithaca: too small Rochester: snow, provincialism DC: anti-intellectual wasteland Vegas: sheer trashiness, soul-sucking desert starkness Seattle: Fire pollution, insularity Los Angeles: Fire pollution
5
31
These assessments shift. I didn’t think of Ann Arbor as provincial when I lived there but based on visit last year, now I do. Even if you’re at the university. Insular != provincial. Seattle is very worldly and global (has amazon and Starbucks after all) but still insular.
2
12
Provincial = kinda clueless about wider world. Insular = self-involved. A kind of regional narcissism. Cultural autarky.
3
18
Self-absorption is different from both insularity and provinciality. Austin is neither. But it is very self-absorbed, like a lot of attention directed inward at live music scene. If you’re not into that, the city isn’t that interested in you.
1
11
Applied to the US as a whole, the worst feature at the moment is definitely “Trump.” I bet he’s the top reason people who’re leaving voluntarily are doing so.
10