# Has street view changed the way you see (some) cities?



## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

We all have pre-conceived ideas about many different cities we have never or barely been to.

Of course the photothreads on SSC can be usefull to know them better but there is always a selection process. In the end photo threads tend to show us what the photographer wants, nothing more.

Now that google street view and some other local softwares is covering an increasing number of cities, we are almost free to look at how any place looks like directly.

So, like the title thus suggests, has street view changed the way you see some of these cities? Or even "Cities" as a whole?


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## gonzo (Jul 30, 2006)

Well, I've learned about the style of cities through streetview..but I can't say I have many preconceived ideas about waht the city will look like.

Although, yes, if I 'streetview' a European or Japanese city I will have a preconceived idea that the city will be dense..


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## intensivecarebear (Feb 2, 2006)

I had a lot of preconceived ideas about Paris, for example. I had been there once before but I only had time to see some of the touristic areas. Although I always consider myself someone who's eager to explore off the beaten path.
But I was looking at the city on streetview and realized that, yes it is a *real* city and even within the ring road there are plenty of gritty areas, Mcdonalds', poverty, and lots of different people from around the world (not just tourists) in most neighborhoods. But also plenty of beauty around random corners that make the city so varied and interesting. Often this side of Paris is confusingly absent in most media depictions of it. So I wish I could have seen more of contemporary Paris in person instead of the touristy 19th century idea of what many people consider the city to be

I also enjoyed seeing Rio de Janeiro on Streetview

I found London and Barcelona to be rather ugly in the looks department. I was surprised at how beautiful Madrid looked on Streetview but a little to "classical" and "old world" for my taste:lol:


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## GENIUS LOCI (Nov 18, 2004)

Not particular preconceived ideas, but streetview, anyway, gave me the opportunity to 'visit' many places of cities you can hardly visit as 'tourist', as suburbs, for istance. Learning many many interesting things... ubviously it is stuff for urban maniacs like SSC forumers, not for normal people


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## Piltup Man (May 21, 2010)

I think it will be an excellent tool for future historians. Can you imagine if we had detailed pictures of almost every single building and street in cities from the past?

In fact on Google Earth there is already something like that as you can get (in some cases) aerial and satellite images going back to the 1970s.


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## city_thing (May 25, 2006)

Australia just looks boring on Street View.

But I could have told you that before.


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## Chrissib (Feb 9, 2008)

Piltup Man said:


> I think it will be an excellent tool for future historians. Can you imagine if we had detailed pictures of almost every single building and street in cities from the past?
> 
> In fact on Google Earth there is already something like that as you can get (in some cases) aerial and satellite images going back to the 1970s.


There are even pre-war pictures of German cities. You can see the intact street and building-pattern.


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## binhai (Dec 22, 2006)

Yeah, its really gave me a better understanding of how Latin American cities are structured (they may look messy, thus poor, but no real slums). Also Macau looks ridiculously rich on street view, really made me want to take a visit there. Europe looks exactly like I envisioned it, except for Eastern Europe (only Czech Republic so far), a lot more commieblocks than I had thought. Hawaii looks awesome, but the rest of US and all of Japan are in low resolution so I have no desire to look at them until they retake the photos.


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

city_thing said:


> Australia just looks boring on Street View.
> 
> But I could have told you that before.


New Zealand looks like a greener Australia with more wooden houses as well as looking a bit poorer. So I guess the same can be applied to here.


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## Vovin (Jan 18, 2006)

I was quite surprised about the lack of houses in european suburbs and the quantity of it in Japan, i always thougth it would be the other way around. And i was surprised too that Hong Kong had only 6 millions inhabitants, because the way they put giant towers everywhere make it seens it could be much more.

And, although i'm not alienated and even thougth it was really fun to see all the brazilian forumers geting suddenly surprised that their country was so poor, but i was expecting something better from São Paulo.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

*it was really fun to see all the brazilian forumers geting suddenly surprised that their country was so poor*

I want to see that, was it a thread on the brazilian forum?


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## JPBrazil (Mar 12, 2007)

^^

Yes it was. Some people thought cities were like shiny glassy towers everywhere... 

Street View is a brilliant tool, in fact is a very nice way to understand the dynamic of cities. It has helped me to realize how boring sprawly cities are and how interesting dense places can be.


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## Vovin (Jan 18, 2006)

eklips said:


> *it was really fun to see all the brazilian forumers geting suddenly surprised that their country was so poor*
> 
> I want to see that, was it a thread on the brazilian forum?


The thread is huge but the bitching starts here

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1112017&page=40


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

^^ The reactions are very interesting, although there is clearly something pathetic about them...


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

intensivecarebear said:


> I also enjoyed seeing Rio de Janeiro on Streetview


ok, you enjoyed seeing it, but since the thread asks if SV changed the way you saw some cities, does it means you thought you wouldnt enjoy Rio in Streetview?


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

eklips said:


> ^^ The reactions are very interesting, although there is clearly something pathetic about them...


FEW people were surprised. Elitists who never left their rich bubbles. The nationalists who only praise Brazil at the international forums. 

the other people are just pointing out "it IS poor, stop being stupid"


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## Maria Theresa (Jul 1, 2005)

AcesHigh said:


> FEW people were surprised. Elitists who never left their rich bubbles. The nationalists who only praise Brazil at the international forums.
> 
> the other people are just pointing out "it IS poor, stop being stupid"


Brazil is not poor.

For a considerable minority, Brazil offers a splendid lifestyle, MUCH higher than the average european can dream of. 

If you are lucky enough to be in those bubbles in Brazil, few places in the world would match.


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

Maria Theresa said:


> Brazil is not poor.
> 
> For a considerable minority, Brazil offers a splendid lifestyle, MUCH higher than the average european can dream of.
> 
> If you are lucky enough to be in those bubbles in Brazil, few places in the world would match.


THUS, its poor. hno:hno:


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Maria Theresa said:


> Brazil is not poor.
> 
> For a considerable minority, Brazil offers a splendid lifestyle, MUCH higher than the average european can dream of.
> 
> If you are lucky enough to be in those bubbles in Brazil, few places in the world would match.


The richest 1% or 2% of the population lives very well everywhere!


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## Piltup Man (May 21, 2010)

> For a considerable minority, Brazil offers a splendid lifestyle, MUCH higher than the average european can dream of.


Well of course: the minority of rich people always live far better than average people. And your point is...?


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

Maria Theresa, those areas you showed are still MINUSCULE compared to the size of the cities. Now, stop spewing out your nonsense.

posting carefully selected photos can make Nairobi seem pretty rich! Hey, look, a large part of Nairobi´s population lives in very good areas!


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

*95% of Brazilian cities look like this Maria. Your pictures of the other 5% are not gonna change anything about that.*








http://www.superbrasilia.com/sat/ceilandia1.jpg


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Maria Theresa said:


> I´m not sure about Natal, but Sao Paulo and Curitiba have large areas of wealthy residential neighbourhoods. Of course they represent only a part of the city, nevertheless they are far from being "very rare".
> 
> You obviously didn´t look for the right areas, which is natural since you don´t know the cities.
> 
> Do you actually think a city like Sao Paulo, with 19 million people in a country where the wealth is so concentrated, has very few luxury areas?


Obviously in a city so large the absolute number is not small but as a proportion of the total number of homes then yes, I would say houses like the ones you posted are rare, making up not much more than 1% of the total. In the Sao paolo metro area that might be 60,000 homes but its still a tiny proportion.

And even these nice looking areas like alphaville or the lakeside homes in Brasilia are not as huge as the superlarge wealthy mansions that you posted in the other thread to compare with average Belgian houses, those megarich areas must be 0.1% of all homes, even in these relatively rich brazilian cities and thus the comparison is nonsensical.


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

joshsam said:


> *95% of Brazilian cities look like this Maria. Your pictures of the other 5% are not gonna change anything about that.*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


ok, thats not true either... at least for part of the country.

such poor areas are absolutely a minority in Porto Alegre for example. Jonesy, try searching the photos (since Street View is not available) in the Porto Alegre area. Tell me if you think its comparable to what you saw in Natal for example, or if you think its different. If you think its the same, well, ok.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

As a foreigner living in Brazil, i can tell you all that Brazilians are extremely complexed about the fact that their country is poor with all problems related. The upper classes prefer to build BIG, relatively poorly built, houses ,than well built smaller houses. You can crumble bricks with your hands, isolation for heat (or cold!) doesn't exist, even in wealthier houses you have to trow your used toiletpaper in a bin, because if not, the whole thing gets blocked.

They never ask you what your house is like, they'll ask you '' how many square meters''. 
But I suppose that's tipical of all nouveau riche, especially in a 3 world country.
Houses older than a few decades almost don't exist, or are crumbling apart, because of the poor quality, and the habit off building in the ''latest brazilian fashion'', which after 10 years nobody likes anymore. Even in the richest areas, streets, parks and other public places are badly maintained, asphalt is of such poor quality that it allways cracks or disappears after a few years. An exception perhaps are the gated communities, but I suppose that´s like living in a prison camp, only the criminals are waiting for you, if you leave the camp.
And the maids? Poor creatures, who hardly can write, but even so are allowed to bring up the children of the ''elite''. Maybe that´s why such a large part of the criminals are from the middle classes.


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> As a foreigner living in Brazil, i can tell you all that Brazilians are extremely complexed about the fact that their country is poor with all problems related. The upper classes prefer to build BIG, relatively poorly built, houses ,than well built smaller houses. You can crumble bricks with your hands, isolation for heat (or cold!) doesn't exist, even in wealthier houses you have to trow your used toiletpaper in a bin, because if not, the whole thing gets blocked.
> 
> They never ask you what your house is like, they'll ask you '' how many square meters''.
> But I suppose that's tipical of all nouveau riche, especially in a 3 world country.
> ...



great, the kinda of stupid posts by the likes of MaryT always seem to attract trolls that will bash the country with nonsense. Your first post uh? And you are not a troll? Riiiiiight.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Bashing?
What, of what I said, is not true?


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> Bashing?
> What, of what I said, is not true?


"The upper classes prefer to build BIG, relatively poorly built, houses ,than well built smaller houses"

"You can crumble bricks with your hands"

"even in wealthier houses you have to trow your used toiletpaper in a bin, because if not, the whole thing gets blocked." (this is absolutely not related to how the houses are built)

"They never ask you what your house is like, they'll ask you '' how many square meters''. "
:|

"Houses older than a few decades almost don't exist, or are crumbling apart, because of the poor quality"

"asphalt is of such poor quality that it allways cracks or disappears after a few years."

"And the maids? Poor creatures, who hardly can write, but even so are allowed to bring up the children of the ''elite''."




thus, your entire post is mostly false. Where exactly do you live in Brazil?


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Well, I suppose distorting the facts is also tipical .
I live in the ''wealthy, european'' part of Brazil, Santa Catarina.

http://revistaquem.globo.com/Revista/Quem/0,,EMI82625-9531,00-O+CRIME+MORA+NA+CLASSE+MEDIA.html

explaining that criminals more and more are of middle classes
do you really want me to post proves of everything?


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

"They never ask you what your house is like, they'll ask you '' how many square meters''. "


-----------------

maybe my ''bad luck'' is that I have to deal with Maria Therese - types, who by the way is a very good representative of the Brazilian ''elite''


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

AcesHigh said:


> Jonesy, try searching the photos (since Street View is not available) in the Porto Alegre area. Tell me if you think its comparable to what you saw in Natal for example, or if you think its different. If you think its the same, well, ok.


Of course there are thousands of nice prosperous districts in Brazil and much of the housing looks absolutely fine to me, I would happily live in many many places in Brazil and would love to visit all over your country. I just don't understand why some people feel the need to portray the lifestyles of millionaires with tennis courts and huge pools as typical of the country :dunno: 

It's not as if people will think any less of Brazil, there are plenty of crappy areas in virtually all countries, I will happily show them in my country, if problems are to be solved they first need to be recognised and addressed

The north does seem much poorer than the south and I think because of the size of Brazil, relatively weak internal transport etc some southern brazilians tend to forget that its all the same country and what is typical in florianopolis may be very unusual in the country as a whole.


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> Well, I suppose distorting the facts is also tipical .
> I live in the ''wealthy, european'' part of Brazil, Santa Catarina.
> 
> http://revistaquem.globo.com/Revista/Quem/0,,EMI82625-9531,00-O+CRIME+MORA+NA+CLASSE+MEDIA.html
> ...


did I quoted your statement about criminals from the middle class? No. I quoted your statement about middle class being brought up by maids. They are already rare in southern Brazil, you get at most cleaning maids, that clean your house once or twice a week (half period). Full time maids that bring up kids... in southern Brazil?? A REAL RARITY. 

Ok, so since you still havent proved anything of what I quoted being a lie, please, start proving at least ONE now.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Ok, you win. tipical for Brazilians is also the fact that they can't stand foreigners telling the truth.
Maybe even street view has censored the images?
Maybe the Brazilian governement has a hand in this, the Lula-clan is ''famous'' for it.


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

Jonesy55 said:


> Of course there are thousands of nice prosperous districts in Brazil and much of the housing looks absolutely fine to me, I would happily live in many many places in Brazil and would love to visit all over your country. I just don't understand why some people feel the need to portray the lifestyles of millionaires with tennis courts and huge pools as typical of the country :dunno:



because its MaryT. Dont pay attention to her. Her elitism borders on the trolling side. As I said, she is self-delusioned. 




> It's not as if people will think any less of Brazil, there are plenty of crappy areas in virtually all countries, I will happily show them in my country, if problems are to be solved they first need to be recognised and addressed


she used to love, love, love, love California. Recently, she started to be more nationalist and consider Brazil (not the entire country, but the bubble she lives in) as paradise on Earth. I guess she was mistreated while visiting California. Or maybe she is really an elitist and didnt like the fact she wasnt a marajah in California, maids were too expensive and she was just "one more" there.

if I am not mistaken, she started liking Cape Town. Probably because it had tons of gated condos just like Brazil, and also plenty of poor people to serve you and for her to maintain her sense of superiority.




> The north does seem much poorer than the south and I think because of the size of Brazil, relatively weak internal transport etc some southern brazilians tend to forget that its all the same country and what is typical in florianopolis may be very unusual in the country as a whole.


actually, I think people from the south are more than aware of that. To the point where we say "Brazil is not all like that" instead of "Brazil is not like that".


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> Ok, you win. tipical for Brazilians is also the fact that they can't stand foreigners telling the truth.


I havent won yet. You can prove me wrong. You still have not tried. 

are you disputing the fact that full time maids that bring up kids are a rarity in southern Brazil?

just by looking at apartment/condos drawings you can already see the difference. In the north, northeast, and even a little more to the south (Minas, Rio), most apartments sold STILL have small bedrooms for full time maids.

Those are a RARITY in Rio Grande do Sul. Either you get them in a minority of apartments that cost over U$1 million or in older apartments from the 80s or before.




I can dispute or PROPERLY explain all those other claims you made too.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

*''*

are you disputing the fact that full time maids that bring up kids are a rarity in southern Brazil?

just by looking at apartment/condos drawings you can already see the difference. In the north, northeast, and even a little more to the south (Minas, Rio), most apartments sold STILL have small bedrooms for full time maids.

Those are a RARITY in Rio Grande do Sul. Either you get them in a minority of apartments that cost over U$1 million or in older apartments from the 80s or before.

--------------------------------------------

As i said, maybe it's my bad luck that I have to deal with the ''elite'', but all of the families I know, have a ''baba''. And maybe it's my bad luck, that all the 12 ''empregadas'' (cleaning ladies) I had were illiterate. I suppose somebody living in a slum, never can take care of houses ( or children) of other classes.
Maybe you have an explanation for the fact that criminals are more and more of middle classes?

http://www.cefetsp.br/edu/eso/comportamento/classemediaviolencia.html

=====
''Crise de valores leva a classe média ao crime, diz antropólogo ''


''


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

are you disputing the fact that full time maids that bring up kids are a rarity in southern Brazil?

================

no
as you said yourself.....the world of Marie T is a very, very, very restrict one


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

> They never ask you what your house is like, they'll ask you '' how many square meters


sounds like the US. Maybe thats a sympton of countries with large territories, not of noveau rich. Still, I rarely see such behavior.



> "Houses older than a few decades almost don't exist, or are crumbling apart, because of the poor quality"


thats pure nonsense. You only need to look at thread of Porto Alegre or even my city, Novo Hamburgo, to see the big number of old houses (50s and before) in good state. Again, bullshit this "poor quality" argument.

if you find a lack of older houses, the explanation lies much more in the fact cities population grew much later than in Europe. Thats so obvious, too bad you can see that. Also, most older houses were near the core and many were replaced by highrises, while newer houses are built in the periphery. 

In 1960, Florianopolis had only 97 thousand people, compared to 500k today. Its quite obvious that you wont find many older houses from when the town was only 97 thousand! Specially considering most of the population back then probably lived in the area that today is completely taken by apartment buildings!




> asphalt is of such poor quality that it allways cracks or disappears after a few years.


asphalt in Brazil suffers because of the truck traffic, not because of poor quality. We dont have railroads. Everything is truck here, you should know if you live here. Another problem is the sewer system, which means there is constant opening and repavement of the asphalt.

of course, there ARE places with poor asphalt quality. But to generalize like you did and point out the wrong factors for the bad state of some streets, like "poor asphalt quality", is nonsense.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Maybe thats a sympton of countries with large territories, not of noveau rich. 
---

or; new countires without older cultures, having to proof their ''superiority'' by quantity
-------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
"Houses older than a few decades almost don't exist, or are crumbling apart, because of the poor quality" 
-----

thats pure nonsense

Specially considering most of the population back then probably lived in the area that today is completely taken by apartment buildings!

------------------------------------------------------
not much proof left then

-------------------------------------

Quote:
asphalt is of such poor quality that it allways cracks or disappears after a few years. 

asphalt in Brazil suffers because of the truck traffic, not because of poor quality. 

===============

LOL.....that's too pathetic for words........
you win, because as allways, Brazilians may complain , but foreigners are not allowed.....must be the ''vira-lata' complex


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> As i said, maybe it's my bad luck that I have to deal with the ''elite'', but all of the families I know, have a ''baba''. And maybe it's my bad luck, that all the 12 ''empregadas'' (cleaning ladies) I had were illiterate.


yes, probably bad luck. The woman that cleans my house (very pale skin, green eyes) at tuesdays and friday mornings know how to read and write. So does the blonde blue eyed one (pointed that out because its also a stereotype that only dark skinned people are poor in Brazil) that cleans the house of my girlfriend´s mother.




> I suppose somebody living in a slum, never can take care of houses ( or children) of other classes.


what do you mean? That poor people are all criminals? :|




> Maybe you have an explanation for the fact that criminals are more and more of middle classes?


there are plenty of explanations, specially considering the fact you are saying nonsense. The ELITE may have nannys. Not the middle class, which is the class with more and more criminals according to your articles.


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

^^ Why do you live in Brazil when you hate is so much?


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> Maybe thats a sympton of countries with large territories, not of noveau rich.
> ---
> 
> or; new countires without older cultures, having to proof their ''superiority'' by quantity
> ...



you can complain if you do it using your brain.

example: complain of Brazil´s infrastructure and lack of railroads, making our roads ultra dangerous and in bad state because of the truck traffic. And you say thats ridiculous? Thats PROVED. :|

you can complain about the lack of insulation for example. Thats a reality. The reasons are more complex though. There is not a culture for it. So what? Its not related to house quality or anything. Its just that people dont think its needed. 



as for your "older houses inexistance" comment, you say they dont exist because of their poor quality. Thats bullshit and I gave the REAL explanation why they exist in much smaller number than europe.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

''very pale skin, green eyes'' know how to read and write.
-------------------
nobody was talking abaout races?

''BBC Brasil - Notícias - Um em cada cinco brasileiros é analfabeto ''
claro, ninguem no Sul...........

----------------------------------------------

what do you mean? That poor people are all criminals? 
--------

nobody said that....

---------------
Quote:
Maybe you have an explanation for the fact that criminals are more and more of middle classes? 

there are plenty of explanations, specially considering the fact you are saying nonsense. The ELITE may have nannys. Not the middle class, which is the class with more and more criminals according to your articles. 
__________________


again, the world of Marie T is a very very very restrict one
''plenty of explanations''..but an explanation of a foreigner is nonsens......kkk


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

as for your "older houses inexistance" comment, you say they dont exist because of their poor quality. Thats bullshit 

-------------
than explain me , why ''older'' (of about 30,20 or even 10 years) houses, built in your ''latest fashion'', don't sell, and are crumbling apart, as i can see with my own eyes in Florianóplis?
Instead of buying and repairing those houses, Brazilians just built other ones, much BIGGER of course, with the result that the cities are expanding without any logic


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Why do you live in Brazil when you hate is so much? 
===

work and money
and i don't hate it, it's a nice country for a short holiday


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> ''very pale skin, green eyes'' know how to read and write.
> -------------------
> nobody was talking abaout races?


no, but since we are diving into stereotypes, I supposed we would soon be saying all poor people in Brazil are dark.



> ''BBC Brasil - Notícias - Um em cada cinco brasileiros é analfabeto ''
> claro, ninguem no Sul...........


5% in Santa Catarina. If you get 12 maids that cant read or write, that IS bad luck.




> what do you mean? That poor people are all criminals?
> --------
> 
> nobody said that....


you said leaving elite kids with poor favela resident nannys was the best explanation for the rise of criminality in the middle class. 

you didnt said poor people are all criminals? You were THAT CLOSE to saying it.





> Quote:
> Maybe you have an explanation for the fact that criminals are more and more of middle classes?
> 
> there are plenty of explanations, specially considering the fact you are saying nonsense. The ELITE may have nannys. Not the middle class, which is the class with more and more criminals according to your articles.
> ...


we are not talking about Mary T here.

Anyway, EXPLAIN how the ELITE having nannys results in rising criminality among the MIDDLE CLASS :|


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

I believe this henry69 guy is Mary T alter ego. By the way, did you subscribe only to post here, to do this Brazil bashing?


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

5% in Santa Catarina. If you get 12 maids that cant read or write, that IS bad luck.

----------

ofcourse, you forget the ''analfabetos funcionais''....I love the way Brazilians ''forget''
=============
you said leaving elite kids with poor favela resident nannys was the best explanation for the rise of criminality in the middle class. 

you didnt said poor people are all criminals? You were THAT CLOSE to saying it.

---------

''odeio pobre''......isn't that something Brazilians love to say?


------------------------------------

Quote:
Quote:
Maybe you have an explanation for the fact that criminals are more and more of middle classes? 

there are plenty of explanations, specially considering the fact you are saying nonsense. The ELITE may have nannys. Not the middle class, which is the class with more and more criminals according to your articles. 
__________________


again, the world of Marie T is a very very very restrict one
''plenty of explanations''..but an explanation of a foreigner is nonsens......kkk 

we are not talking about Mary T here.

Anyway, EXPLAIN how the ELITE having nannys results in rising criminality among the MIDDLE CLASS 
__________________


the article doesnt use the separation of classe a+, classe AA, classe AAA, classe AAB..etc, as Brazilians love to do
poor slum nannies are good educators.....you are right...offcourse you feel that way, you're Brazilian

BUT, you ´re right, ok?..... (discussing with latinos is the most useless thing to do!You should DO more, and TALK less!)


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> as for your "older houses inexistance" comment, you say they dont exist because of their poor quality. Thats bullshit
> 
> -------------
> than explain me , why ''older'' (of about 30,20 or even 10 years) houses, built in your ''latest fashion'', don't sell, and are crumbling apart, as i can see with my own eyes in Florianóplis?
> Instead of buying and repairing those houses, Brazilians just built other ones, much BIGGER of course, with the result that the cities are expanding without any logic


can you prove that? Again, for a city that gained 400 thousand people in the last 40 years, you want MAGIC for the new population to all live in older houses hno:hno:hno:



btw, your KKKKK laugh in a previous posts was TYPICAL of brazilian internet slang. I never, NEVER met a foreigner in Brazil using "kkkkkk" specially when talking in english. And Ive talked to plenty of them. 

I am thinking more and more you are a troll. Now it seems you are a brazilian troll.


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

Yuri S Andrade said:


> I believe this henry69 guy is Mary T alter ego. By the way, did you subscribe only to post here, to do this Brazil bashing?


hi Yuri. Funny that you said that a bit before I noticed this "foreigner" wrote KKKKKKKKK (brazilian internet slang for laughter) in the end of one of their posts. I will ask for a mod to check the IPs.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

''I will ask for a mod to check the IPs. ''

=============================

very south american..............if you don't agree..........


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)

henry69 said:


> ''I will ask for a mod to check the IPs. ''
> 
> =============================
> 
> very south american..............if you don't agree..........


its not a question of agreeing or not, is it? Its a question of you using a typical brazilian slang that I NEVER observed when talking with any other expat. Plus the fact you registered ONLY to talk in this topic.


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Its a question of you using a typical brazilian slang that I NEVER observed when talking with any other expat
-------------

I do speak portuguese, you know? even some ''giria''.........
de novo......vc ganha.........

Let's get back to topic, I'm almost becoming a Brazilian!!
Talking too much, and doing nothing!
See ya


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## Norf_London_boi (Nov 5, 2010)

*Streetview*

I absolutely love streetview - and like nothing better than "visiting" random cities I've never been to!

Mostly places are as I imagined actually. The US (except Manhattan and downtown Chicago) is far too sprawling and homogenous for fun streetviewing. Likewise Australia and Canada. 

I'm pretty familiar in real life with most European cities but I have enjoyed exploring rough Parisian banlieues - I lived for six months once in the 14th but never ventured out to Clichy-sous-Bois, Sarcelles etc. Surprised how seriously run down they are : far worse than the worst American or UK council estates/projects I can find. 

Really like exploring tiny villages in southern Spain and Italy - like time has stood still for centuries!

Mexico City seems LOVELY - the centre at least seems 1st world. Far nicer than Sao Paolo - I was surprised even the CBD seems rough. 

In South Africa I've enjoyed exploring the notorious inner-city districts of Jo'burg - Hillbrow, Yeoville etc - that in real life are apparently too dangerous to walk around even in broad daylight. Interesting to see the once-genteel streets and apartment blocks have completely gone to rack and ruin as the whites have fled to the suburbs - it's like an extreme version of what happened in America in the 70s. 

I'd be interested to hear what people who've never been here thought of the UK while streetviewing?


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

Quoting Cedar Teeth;

''Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuri S Andrade 
But, calm down: majority of Brazil people do NOT live in shit tiny houses. Proper sewer? In my state (11 million people), for example, virtually 100% of the houses get sewer. 

Hahahahahahah where the hell did you get that data from? 100% of homes have sewer? 

http://www2.rpc.com.br/aguasdoamanha/?p=413

http://www.parana-online.com.br/edit...ARES+DO+ESTADO

http://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/vidae...tml?id=1038157

Less than half of the people in your state have access to proper sanitation. And let's not forget Paraná is a role-model state by Brazilian standards, its above the average. The amount of people with access to sewer in the more average and poorer areas of the country is far less than that. 

I, for example am a very hygienic person, so I can't tolerate people who say they live in a marvelous house by the beach, when they need to call the "limpa-fossa" every week to clean their home's basement. For those who are unfamiliar: limpa fossa is a massive vaccum cleaner attached to a tanker truck used by the most privilleged in Brazil to clean the feces they had stored under their homes for the week due to not having access to sanitation. 
Just google limpa fossa and you will find hundreds of results for this business. The wealthy people living in those theresian mansions are privillged enough to afford a weekly limpa fossa service. They pay a hefty price for it, and it is a sign of status in the Brazilian upper class, because unlike the poor who just dump their raw excrements in cannals and lakes, the rich are classy enough to have their doodoo vacuumed by a truck and then dumped in those same rivers and cannals. 
__________________
O Brasil precisa de grandes obras e só eu tenho a capacidade para levar o Brasil ao primeiro mundo, vou construir uma estrada direto para os EUA cortando pela Amazônia, o povo precisa de emprego e não de árvores.

- Paulo Salim Maluf ''


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## henry69 (Nov 3, 2010)

''Surprised how seriously run down they are : far worse than the worst American or UK council estates/projects I can find. ''
================

I suppose british and americans have another sense of aesthetics....I think the Bronx for example looks worse than poor parts of São Paulo


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## monkeyronin (May 18, 2006)

Norf_London_boi said:


> Mostly places are as I imagined actually. The US (except Manhattan and downtown Chicago) is far too sprawling and homogenous for fun streetviewing. Likewise Australia and Canada.


Ahh yes, the rest of the entirety of the US, Canada, and Australia...so sprawly, and it all looks the same... :|


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

^^ Those are only found in the older USA cities, The ones that where build in the 18hundreds...
If you can find me such an area in lets say Arizona or Texas somewhere...good luck!

Btw arn't some of those Canadian cities you showed us? Canadian cities have much more area's that are stayed intact or with denser developments than USA cities...
And what is one sqare mile of old dense development against 500sqmi of single family housing?


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## jefferson2 (May 31, 2008)

google streetiew is the best! it didnt really change my impression of many places... I like how they drove through various neighbourhoods in rio and the hills in mexico city look nice

japan looked how i thought it would, but was still cool to see... 

johannesburg looks like a bit of a fortress.. but still some nice residential areas

looking forward to forward to when they put more african and indian cities on there


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## jefferson2 (May 31, 2008)

joshsam said:


> ^^ Those are only found in the older USA cities, The ones that where build in the 18hundreds...
> If you can find me such an area in lets say Arizona or Texas somewhere...good luck!
> 
> Btw arn't some of those Canadian cities you showed us? Canadian cities have much more area's that are stayed intact or with denser developments than USA cities...
> And what is one sqare mile of old dense development against 500sqmi of single family housing?




true enough... but still lots of good street viewing in the USA and Canada... 

I was looknig at the suburbs of indianapolis the other day, on the water. They have some big houses


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## Fitzrovian (Oct 12, 2011)

NordikNerd said:


> I have looked here, great grand houses a bit
> similar to Londons Notting Hill.
> 
> But where are the people ?


Come on NordikNerd, think about it. When do you think they drive around in their Google cars snapping those pictures in busy cities like New York? During peak hours with heavy traffic, or in off hours when things are quiet (early morning, etc.)? If you look on streetview at most major cities in the world, including London and Paris, the residential streets look quiet. Look in Notting Hill - on purely residential streets - and tell me how many people you see. 



NordikNerd said:


> intensity, street vendors, pawn shops, fruitmarkets, jazz clubs, pizza parlors, charming restaurants



You are not gonna see them on every street - things don't work like that mate. In Park Slope the action is on 5th and 7th Avenues. If you wanna find areas with commercial activity, you need to switch from Streetview to the Map view and look for concentrations of restaurant, bar and shop logos that google marks on their maps. There is plenty of those in each of the neighborhoods I 
mentioned. 



NordikNerd said:


> and I see no ortodox jews.


That's almost exclusively in Borough Park and Williamsburg.



NordikNerd said:


> I expected Brooklyn to be a dead ringer for pre war Krakow !! Maybe Brighton Beach has more of this atmospheare ?


Plenty of those types of areas as well, but they tend to be in the farther reaches of Brooklyn that was developed early to mid 20th century. The old part of Brooklyn (that's closer to Manhattan) is full of gorgeous 19th century brownstones and plenty of dense, vibrant urban neighborhoods.


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## Bronxwood (Feb 7, 2010)

Even in London there are specific high streets where most of the hustle and bustle is centered while the back streets are quiet. In park slopes case that would be 7th and flatbush aves. 

All of which he asks already exists in the outer boroughs. Austin st and Roosevelt avenue in Queens, Arthur Avenue (between crescent ave and fordham) and Fordham rd in the Bronx, practically the entire north east of Brooklyn. It's there, but he's obviously just being too picky and lazy and is wasting our time.


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## LADEN (Mar 8, 2011)

South Africa on street view is pretty cool. You can easily see the first world and the third world in the townships.


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## BringMe (May 7, 2011)

I completely love street view but i want to see more countries like Argentina,Chile,Colombia


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## aaabbbccc (Mar 8, 2009)

BringMe said:


> I completely love street view but i want to see more countries like Argentina,Chile,Colombia


me too I love it , I wish Morocco had it too especially Casablanca , this city is so diverse from one extreme type of high density to another extreme type of low density , let us hope the entire globe gets street view one day


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## roe5745 (May 24, 2010)

Would love to see Poland, Greece, Turkey and the rest of Eastern/Southern Europe on street view to compare it with Western Europe!


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## -Corey- (Jul 8, 2005)

Mexico doesnt look that bad on GSV, I found Brazil poorer than Mexico.


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## aaabbbccc (Mar 8, 2009)

-Corey- said:


> Mexico doesnt look that bad on GSV, I found Brazil poorer than Mexico.


Looks can be very deceiving anyways I would love to visit Brazil , I have been to Mexico and I had a great time there , I do love to travel and learn about different cultures


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## -Corey- (Jul 8, 2005)

Well, i know that, and it doesnt suprise me at all, Mexico is doing better than Brazil.


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## xrtn2 (Jan 12, 2011)

-Corey- said:


> Mexico doesnt look that bad on GSV, I found Brazil poorer than Mexico.


Thats why the STREET VIEW are available in few areas in Brazil

Now Curitiba is availible, the best urban-structure of latin america

Florianopolis is available too, i dont found favelas there by street view

Curitiba for example


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## snowland (Aug 20, 2011)

Curitiba actually looks pretty nice.


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## Iluminat (Jan 16, 2008)

roe5745 said:


> Would love to see Poland, Greece, Turkey and the rest of Eastern/Southern Europe on street view to compare it with Western Europe!


Well you can see "EE" or rather "CEE" on Norc
http://www.norc.cz/street-view/

they are already 3 years old though and many places look much different now


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

Corey is obsessed about Brazil. Boring.


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## Bronxwood (Feb 7, 2010)

-Corey- said:


> Mexico doesnt look that bad on GSV, I found Brazil poorer than Mexico.


São Paulo is a mess and practically devoid of good architecture. Drab concrete highrises is the norm there, it's easy to forget you're looking at a world class city. Mexico City at least has pockets of colonial/historic areas that are charming and a lot easier on the eyes. The historic core blew me away! 

The streets are definitely more intact in Mexico whereas in areas of Brazilian cities it's falling apart to the point where it's better to just have a dirt road. Overall Mexico does appear more healthier. At least Rio is amazing. It's everything I thought it would be and I much prefer it over São paulo.

In terms of which is poorer, both countries have their chunks of poverty. Mexico's poverty simply appears "neater" while Brazil's more dirty and messy overall. But Poverty is poverty really. On a second thought, it's really not a fair comparison as we have yet to see more of Brazil. I'm hoping to see more of the north and west of the country soon.


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## Fitzrovian (Oct 12, 2011)

Bronxwood said:


> Sao Paulo is a mess and practically devoid of good architecture. Drab concrete highrises is the norm there, it's easy to forget you're looking at a world class city. Mexico City at least has pockets of colonial/historic areas that are charming and a lot easier on the eyes. The historic core blew me away!


 
Having visited both cities, I agree with this statement 100%.


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## snowland (Aug 20, 2011)

Sao Paulo does look messy. I find Curitiba, Porto Alegre and Rio much better in Brazil.


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

GSV allows me to check some cities and, especially, some back roads I'd otherwise not look at.

It also makes funny threads with "Google Street View" snapshot wars in various SSC threads, with people trying to prove a point with cherry-picked screen shots.





BarbaricManchurian said:


> Yeah, its really gave me a better understanding of how Latin American cities are structured (they may look messy, thus poor, but no real slums).


The slums are, usually, either inaccessible by car or too dangerous to be filmed because of gangs etc.


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## snowland (Aug 20, 2011)

BarbaricManchurian said:


> Yeah, its really gave me a better understanding of how Latin American cities are structured (they may look messy, thus poor, but no real slums).


Please don't generalize the region based in what you have seen about Brazil and Mexico.


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## bayviews (Mar 3, 2006)

snowland said:


> Curitiba actually looks pretty nice.


Yeah, Curitiba is considered a model city in US planning circles. 

Indeed, many US cities have copied Curitiba's bus rapid transit system.


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

bayviews said:


> Yeah, Curitiba is considered a model city in US planning circles.
> 
> Indeed, many US cities have copied Curitiba's bus rapid transit system.


Model city? It is a violent place with a huge, run-down ring of poor neighborhoods.

Moreover, bus rapid system is for 3rd World cities who can't afford rail. Buses are outdated and inherently dangerous.


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## xrtn2 (Jan 12, 2011)

^^^^ Surbubanist 

Nunca voce esta contente com nada no Brasil.


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## snowland (Aug 20, 2011)

bayviews said:


> Yeah, Curitiba is considered a model city in US planning circles.
> 
> Indeed, many US cities have copied Curitiba's bus rapid transit system.


Curitiba was a model city during the 90's. Now crime rate has increased so much. However, it still doesn't have many problems with poverty. I think it's a good city.


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## ManRegio (Jul 6, 2005)

Suburbanist said:


> Model city? It is a violent place with a huge, run-down ring of poor neighborhoods.
> 
> Moreover, bus rapid system is for 3rd World cities who can't afford rail. Buses are outdated and inherently dangerous.


100% agree with you about BRT. It's for cities who can't afford Rail. But it can work well as a complement of a Subway or Ligh Rail for short distances. 

Regards.


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## xrtn2 (Jan 12, 2011)

Curitiba will be a subway in the next years

And BRT is very good for all countries in the world


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## bayviews (Mar 3, 2006)

Suburbanist said:


> Model city? It is a violent place with a huge, run-down ring of poor neighborhoods.


Sad to hear, sounds like Curitiba's gone way downhill from the model city it was considered in the 1990s. 

We had US delegations coming down to learn from Curitiba. 

Surprising given Brazil's rise to one the booming BRICs over the past decade. 

What happened to Curitiba? Change in local politics, etc?


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

bayviews said:


> Sad to hear, sounds like Curitiba's gone way downhill from the model city it was considered in the 1990s.
> 
> We had US delegations coming down to learn from Curitiba.
> 
> ...


It is not like that. Curitiba developed a crappy bus system that caught attention in US because it was cheap (and, for most areas in US, transit is more of a welfare program than something appealing to middle class families). 

It also adopted some regulations to allow higher buildings along these BRT corridors. 

However, it got a huge population influx of poor people (as pretty much every other big metropolitan area in Brazil) that have always lived in precarious, substandard buildings.

Mind you, despite having a mild weather with some cold winters (although without snow, temperatures often go on the 5-10 oC range), heating is almost unheard off, which is a clear sign of poverty IMO.

So it is not like the place is decaying as much as the place had been bloated above its league in the past just because it took an old technology (buses) and put it on steroids (BRT).


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

xrtn2 said:


> ^^^^ Surbubanist
> 
> Nunca voce esta contente com nada no Brasil.


Contrary to many forumers (not saying it is necessarily your case), my participation on the international SSC forums doesn't mean I have to be an ad-hoc self-nominated propaganda agent of none of the countries I'm a citizen of. I don't feel obligated to upload nice pictures and negate bad facts as if I were in a mission to promote Brazil, Italy or wherever else.


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## gcoliveira (Sep 4, 2008)

Amazing... Suburbanist, are you currently living in Curitiba? I say it because you made a very good analysis on what happened to this city (I live here) in the past two decades.

I fully support your words, our BRT system looks like crap to me (and I use it every single day to commute to work), always overcrowded, delayed and expensive. And what amazes me the most... it is NOT an integrated system unless you are lucky enough to find the bus lines you need within a terminal. C'mon, even Sao Paulo has a better system than we have here.

And the subway project looks like a joke to me... it will take 10 "Brazilian years" to cover only one of the current BRT axis. In other words, they will replace the current BRT system to a subway system, so if Curitiba's BRT is that good as praised by urbanists from all around the world why to replace? Not counting that they'll reduce the stations by half... 

About GSV here in Curitiba... I really doubt they'll be able to shoot (no pun intended) our large slums, they'd be robbed without a doubt.


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

No, not really. Because most of the cities that are on street view are western cities that we already knew 

It´s a shame that cities from Africa, Arabia, South America are so poorly represented on street view. Because those are the cities that would be most interesting to see, because they are more unknown than western cities.

But probably governments in those countries don´t want us to see in how bad shape some of those cities are, like in Africa or in the Middle East...


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## xrtn2 (Jan 12, 2011)

^^ Today , there is +50 cars in Brazil


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## bayviews (Mar 3, 2006)

Suburbanist said:


> Model city? It is a violent place with a huge, run-down ring of poor neighborhoods.
> 
> Moreover, bus rapid system is for 3rd World cities who can't afford rail. Buses are outdated and inherently dangerous.


But how far away are many US cities from being what you'd consider Third World? 

Cleveland built a BRT down Euclid Av because their just weren't enough funds for even the types of low-cost rail rapid transit that it built in the 1950s. 

And don't even get me started about cities in even worse shape like Detroit!

We're still a superpower, still the most powerful at that. But becoming a lot more like the kind of superpower the Soviet Union was.


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

bayviews said:


> But how far away are many US cities from being what you'd consider Third World?


The problem of US cities in regard of "cheap" (in the pejorative sense) transit is that, in all but a few US cities, transit projects, _usually_ are either:

(a) vintage/touristic/developer bait projects like woefully slow streetcars operating in a downtown loop without serving much commuter traffic

(b) de-facto welfare programs, that must be as cheap as possible.


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## messicano (Sep 27, 2010)

snowland said:


> Please don't generalize the region based in what you have seen about Brazil and Mexico.


formosa,san juan,chaco,gran buenos aires,etchno:

cuando llega GSV a argentina te vas a llevar muchas sorpresas,el unico pais latinoamericano con buen urbanismo es Chile...el UNICO


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## Jundiaiense da Silva (Aug 14, 2008)

messicano said:


> formosa,san juan,chaco,gran buenos aires,etchno:
> 
> cuando llega GSV a argentina te vas a llevar muchas sorpresas,el unico pais latinoamericano con buen urbanismo es Chile...el UNICO


I really don't know what people want to mean with "good urbanism". It would be the road network's design, buildings' appearance... what? Chile's cities actually have a great layout of their streets, but the constructions seems very simple. As well as the poor places of the US, as we can see on GTA :lol:. I think that the midia make us have distorted impressions. Every places are, in the end, more of the same.


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

Street view hasn´t really changed my view on some cites, but rather confirmed it 

I thought that US-cities were all plenty with skyscrapers in the center but a lot of family-houses around the city. And this was pretty much confirmed. I was maybe a little surprised to see that cities like Houston and Detroit have some areas that are almost slum (I mean slum by western standard, because they aren´t really slum, but just very poor and bad looking), I didn´t expect that from big american cities.

I thought that Brasilian cites looked great in the center but awful in the suburbs. And also this was confirmed. Both Rio de Janeiro and Saó Paolo are cities of contrasts: very modern and nice in the center, but almost like the third world in the suburbs, at least this is the case with Sao Paolo....Mexico City maybe doesn´t look as bad as I feared, even that we all know that there is much crime in this city. But generally I don´t find it a bad looking city, at least not overall (even that there ARE some bad areas).

No surprises reguarding european cities, as I am european myself and have already visited a lot of european big cities


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## messicano (Sep 27, 2010)

Gobbo said:


> Street view hasn´t really changed my view on some cites, but rather confirmed it
> 
> I thought that US-cities were all plenty with skyscrapers in the center but a lot of family-houses around the city. And this was pretty much confirmed. I was maybe a little surprised to see that cities like Houston and Detroit have some areas that are almost slum (I mean slum by western standard, because they aren´t really slum, but just very poor and bad looking), I didn´t expect that from big american cities.
> 
> ...


is not much crime in mexico city...this is a myth


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## Fitzrovian (Oct 12, 2011)

messicano said:


> is not much crime in mexico city...this is a myth


This looks pretty dangerous:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mexic...=YERmtr4ZcxQyI05VEEfXdw&cbp=12,189.65,,0,3.18


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

Fitzrovian said:


> This looks pretty dangerous:
> 
> http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Mexic...=YERmtr4ZcxQyI05VEEfXdw&cbp=12,189.65,,0,3.18



Maybe I am blind, but I followed that link and can´t see what´s dangerous there?


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## Jundiaiense da Silva (Aug 14, 2008)

Since you're not involved with crime, there is a little chance you be stolen or something like. There is actually a myth, and it worth to everywhere. All the places are the same thing, but the media distorts things a bit. At least, I never was robbed, and I really don't take care.


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

Of course there is crime everywhere. Also Copenhagen, that has the myth of being a quiet and pacific city, has crime. Almost every month we read about gang members killing eachother in Copenhagen. But fortunately, they almost never kill people who are not gang members, but only other gang members. Maybe it´s the same in Mexico City, I don´t know. But let´s say that Mexico City certainly has the fame of being a dangerous city. Maybe it´s unfair, who knows. But the myth stilll excists..and also the myth of Copenhagen as a peaceful city still excists, even that every month we have shootings in the city.:nuts:


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## Kiboko (Nov 30, 2011)

Though the pictures on this forum are nice, most of the time they don't give a realistic view of a city. Very often when i see a picture of a beautiful building, i wonder what is behind the photographer. Does the building stand in a also beautiful environment? Maybe ther are slums on the other side of the road? Streetview gives the extra information the photograper doesn't want to reveal about his city.

Too bad google is so slow nowadays. My ancient computer doesn't like it anymore


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

Jep Kiboko, 

just because a city has a nice skyline with 20 huge skyscrapers, that doesn´t mean that it can´t be a bad city to live in - and it could still have some horrible zones behind the nice skyline...

Houston for example does indeed have a nice skyline, but the zones behind it look pretty sad and boring, or at least many of them. Paris is a



messicano said:


> is not much crime in mexico city...this is a myth


I don´t have any numbers for Mexico City, but I did find the five cities in the world that had the highest number of murders in 2009. The numbers indicate the number of murders for every 100.000 inhabitants:

1. Ciudad Juarez, Mexico 133
2. Caracas, Venezuela 96
3. New Orleans, USA 95
4. Tijuana, Mexico 75
5. Cape Town, Sydafrika 62

- so you still have two mexican cities represented there...


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## Jundiaiense da Silva (Aug 14, 2008)

Gobbo said:


> Of course there is crime everywhere. Also Copenhagen, that has the myth of being a quiet and pacific city, has crime. Almost every month we read about gang members killing eachother in Copenhagen. But fortunately, they almost never kill people who are not gang members, but only other gang members. Maybe it´s the same in Mexico City, I don´t know. But let´s say that Mexico City certainly has the fame of being a dangerous city. Maybe it´s unfair, who knows. But the myth stilll excists..and also the myth of Copenhagen as a peaceful city still excists, even that every month we have shootings in the city.:nuts:


Yeah, this is the point. I would say, there is two problems in the world: money - dirty money - and women. Take care and don't involve yourself with them, and you will avoid a lot of problems. Including be murdered. :lol:


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## Fitzrovian (Oct 12, 2011)

Gobbo said:


> Jep Kiboko,
> 
> just because a city has a nice skyline with 20 huge skyscrapers, that doesn´t mean that it can´t be a bad city to live in - and it could still have some horrible zones behind the nice skyline...
> 
> ...


Mexican border towns do not count.


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## Gobbo (Jul 26, 2007)

Jundiaiense da Silva said:


> Yeah, this is the point. I would say, there is two problems in the world: money - dirty money - and women. Take care and don't involve yourself with them, and you will avoid a lot of problems. Including be murdered. :lol:


Yep, there certainly IS something about that...most of the murders, at least I think so, are either because of drugs/money or because of jalousi/women 

Then there are of course generally more murdes in poor countries, but mainly because of desperation (people need money and do stupid things...)....


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## Jundiaiense da Silva (Aug 14, 2008)

Gobbo said:


> Yep, there certainly IS something about that...most of the murders, at least I think so, are either because of drugs/money or because of jalousi/women
> 
> Then there are of course generally more murdes in poor countries, but mainly because of desperation (people need money and do stupid things...)....


Maybe because the police and the State aren't so strong and so present as the ones of the richest countries - in the case of traffickers. Maybe because people want resguard his 'honor' and solve your problems 'on the knife' - or we said in Brazil's Northeast, 'na peixeira'. Believe me, people do stupid things and it's not because they need money. They're just stupid.


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## gabrielbabb (Aug 11, 2006)

Gobbo said:


> - so you still have two mexican cities represented there...


Yes but Mexico City is not dangerous, it is a normal city, for its size the number of incidents is minimum, and those are border cities with USA the ones which have the drug war, Mexico City doesn't have anything of that.


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## kam4rade (Dec 6, 2007)

gabrielbabb said:


> Yes but Mexico City is not dangerous, it is a normal city, for its size the number of incidents is minimum, and those are border cities with USA the ones which have the drug war, Mexico City doesn't have anything of that.


+1


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

Looks very brittish Londonish on the sides, but the building in the front looks like new world architecture.









^^the old building in the middle doesn't fit in to the picture. 
It's a Collision between the Old and new world








the firestairs on the walls are not beautiful, to say the least.








The future and the past in one picture, seems like a typical view in Boston.









the expansions on the houses gives an oldfashioned english feel to the street, but
the highrises are always lurking around the corner.








narrow street, not very common view in american cities ?








I'm imagining the scene of a Dickens novel here,or something written by HP Lovecraft.









Some parts of Boston, MA look livable and pleasant. No highrises or concrete slabs, but narrow walkable streets.

That was not the picture I had about american cities


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

^^ I'm amused how some people can be blinded to crime statistics just because "it hadn't happened to me so I don't care". 

Is this mentality that allows the crime epidemic in many places to continue.

Even more shocking, at least for me, is how some people on SSC (not only on this thread) consider "boring" a problem at par with "dangerous (crime-wise)".


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## mhays (Sep 12, 2002)

Your "boring" places often have much higher traffic deaths, and worse average health, obesity, etc. 

Your personal crime trauma clouds your judgement as usual.


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

mhays said:


> Your "boring" places often have much higher traffic deaths, and worse average health, obesity, etc.


Nothing precludes YOU or ME staying fit in any possible housing arrangement. Or eating healthy.

BTW, death rates per million inhabitants are higher in places like NY or Boston than in Phoenix or Houston. That is because, nowadays, cars are much safer and the majority of deaths in traffic are those of pedestrians that are hit. But that is not the issue here, the issue is that wile it is one's own option to stay fit and healthy, a crime-ridden place doesn't give you an option to exclude yourself from the victim pool.


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## dars-dm (Oct 13, 2007)

Moscow:
very untypical modern buildings for Moscow









Why do some embassies look like prisons?









Rather interesting view:









There's something Londonese in this new building:


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## isakres (May 13, 2009)

In Latam, i must say I expected more from Sao Paulo. Rio in the otherhand is just breathtaking.

Maybe Rio and Mexico City are my current favorite cities in GSV so far. Both cities seems to have a lot of charachter.

Guadalajara and Curitiba seems very clean and neat in GSV but i found them a bit flavourless or lacks the wow factor Mexico City and Rio certainly have.

Bucaresti, Romania was a surprise for me, I mean, i knew Romania was a bit poorer than western countries but found many neighborhoods that could be pretty familiar to any latinamerican. Im not saying it was a surprise in a bad way, nor in a good one, it was surprising because of the similarities of some neighborhoods.

I found Tokyo a bit gray (maybe the pictures quality didnt help), the houses a bit small and the streets super narrow hehe. Anyway it was interesting to see a bit of Japan.

Southafrica was interesting too, great infraestcructure can be perceived by GSV. Anyway, the inequility seems to be pretty extreme down there.


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## snowland (Aug 20, 2011)

messicano said:


> formosa,san juan,chaco,gran buenos aires,etchno:
> 
> cuando llega GSV a argentina te vas a llevar muchas sorpresas,el unico pais latinoamericano con buen urbanismo es Chile...el UNICO


Don't be such a patethic. I know my country. Actually I didn't refer to Argentina, so why you started this pitty conversation? I just said that cities in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Venezuela do look very different from each other, thus the guy shouldn't say "I've seen Brazil and Mexico... Now I know how is Latinamerica".


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## HMMS (Mar 10, 2010)

henry69 said:


> Bashing?
> What, of what I said, is not true?



Is not true, not at all!!!!!!!!!!!hno:hno:


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## HMMS (Mar 10, 2010)

These are pictures of streets, where the middle class living in Campinas, which is the city I live and has 1,100,000 inhabitants, there are many similar ones.

It does not seem rich but also not poor, as many who do not know Brazil, imagine them to be Brazilian cities


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

-Edit-


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

One city that is very nice on Street View is Johannesburg


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

^^ Personnally south Africa surprised me a lot. Can't pretend I've been all over the country with street view (and it's not available in lots of areas) but the place looks much more Australian/North American than I imagined.


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