vaughnnegut, jr.

melanyouth:

Sunset lighting up downtown Seattle. View down Aurora. 2009-06-17.
(If I had the wherewithal, I would Photoshop out that Taco Bell sign, and maybe the Days Inn sign too, but I don’t)..

I see what you mean about wanting to get get rid of the signs- it would certainly make the picture more traditionally or easily beautiful. But to me, its a more believable photo because they’re there. I can see you, standing on a thin strip of sidewalk in front of a shopping mall, taking this picture of the sky line. The signs emphasize the difference and the distance between the city of skyscrapers and sophistication and the suburbs that are just like Anywhere Else, USA. Suburbs and the chains that go with them are what I hate most about American cities, but without them, I doubt I would love cities so much. Growing up where all the houses look the same, where all the coffeeshops are starbucks and where no building is more than two or three stories just makes the unique old houses, distinctive neighborhood cafes and stores, and impressively tall buildings that much better.
In Richmond, the suburbs started as a business person’s phenomenon- those with enough money lived outside the city on a trolley line, where they could enjoy grass and space and racial excluisivity. It gained steam with white flight and has gradually sapped downtown of its strength as a commercial center. Until recently, all the movie theaters in Richmond were outside the city limits, and so were the malls. Lack of a strong tax base just made the problems worse, and city schools remain notoriously poor. But, thankfully, my generation and the one before it has spent enough time in the suburbs that they’re ready to reinvest in a city. I’ve watched a street in my neighborhood blossom from having a pub, catering company and a tailor’s to now also having a coffeshop, wine store, yoga studio, bookstore and icecream shop.
This inward movement is something this picture evokes to me- the call of the city drawing you past cheap hotels and predictable dinners to a more promising adventure.

Sunset lighting up downtown Seattle. View down Aurora. 2009-06-17.

(If I had the wherewithal, I would Photoshop out that Taco Bell sign, and maybe the Days Inn sign too, but I don’t).
.

I see what you mean about wanting to get get rid of the signs- it would certainly make the picture more traditionally or easily beautiful. But to me, its a more believable photo because they’re there. I can see you, standing on a thin strip of sidewalk in front of a shopping mall, taking this picture of the sky line. The signs emphasize the difference and the distance between the city of skyscrapers and sophistication and the suburbs that are just like Anywhere Else, USA. Suburbs and the chains that go with them are what I hate most about American cities, but without them, I doubt I would love cities so much. Growing up where all the houses look the same, where all the coffeeshops are starbucks and where no building is more than two or three stories just makes the unique old houses, distinctive neighborhood cafes and stores, and impressively tall buildings that much better.

In Richmond, the suburbs started as a business person’s phenomenon- those with enough money lived outside the city on a trolley line, where they could enjoy grass and space and racial excluisivity. It gained steam with white flight and has gradually sapped downtown of its strength as a commercial center. Until recently, all the movie theaters in Richmond were outside the city limits, and so were the malls. Lack of a strong tax base just made the problems worse, and city schools remain notoriously poor. But, thankfully, my generation and the one before it has spent enough time in the suburbs that they’re ready to reinvest in a city. I’ve watched a street in my neighborhood blossom from having a pub, catering company and a tailor’s to now also having a coffeshop, wine store, yoga studio, bookstore and icecream shop.

This inward movement is something this picture evokes to me- the call of the city drawing you past cheap hotels and predictable dinners to a more promising adventure.